Why Does Torah Law Allow Polygamy?

Just to magnify your question somewhat, you’ll note that Torah presents the original paradigm of marriage—that of Adam and Eve—as monogamous. Furthermore, virtually every instance of polygamy recounted in the Torah is related directly by the narrative to some sort of calamity—whether strife between competing wives, as was the case with Hannah and Peninah,1 or between rivaling half-siblings, e.g. Jacob’s2 and King David’s sons.3 Even the very verse4 in which the Torah provides a green light for polygamy frames it within an undesirable circumstance: “If a man will have two wives, one beloved and the other hated . . .”

Why, then, make room for trouble? If the ideal union of man and woman is an exclusive one, why should “a nation of priests and a holy people” compromise?

The simple answer is that Torah deals with life on earth, and the gamut of social life and human experience over all of history and world geography is too diverse to be restricted to one narrow ideal. Take, for example, an agrarian society whose male population has been decimated by war. How are women to survive, and how is the population to replenish itself, without the mechanism of polygamy? Similarly, a man married to a barren woman who could not produce sons to help in the field and defend the fort would find himself ill-put to survive in those times. In an exclusively monogamous society, his wife would find her position insecure. Although in normative circumstances being “only one of many” compromises a woman’s value as a person, in these situations a permit for polygamy is a form of compassion.

The only case of a polygamous rabbi recorded in the Talmud5 provides an excellent illustration: Rabbi Tarfon married 300 women. Why? Because there was a famine in the land. But Rabbi Tarfon had plenty of food, since he was a kohen and received the priestly tithes. The wife of a kohen is also permitted to eat those tithes. Those 300 women were very happy that the Torah permitted polygamy.

Torah discourages abuse of this permit—not just by recounting the calamitous narratives mentioned above, but also by placing requirements on the husband. For every extra wife, no matter how lowly her status, a man must provide “food, clothing and conjugal rights” commensurate to her needs and his capacity, and equal to any other wives.6 Additionally, the husband must provide separate housing for each wife. Divorce requires involvement of a scribe, and the sages later instituted the ketubah as a further impediment of divorce. (See also Why is Jewish Marriage So One-Sided?) We see that these means were in fact effective—polygamy in Jewish circles was historically a rare exception.

Rare, but necessary nevertheless. Even when Rabbi Gershom and his rabbinical court assembled to declare a ban on polygamy due to the conditions of their time (see previous link for more on this injunction), they nevertheless left the door open for extenuating circumstances. That loophole has proven vital in many an instance—for example, the case of a wife who has become (G‑d forbid) mentally incapacitated and is not halachically qualified to receive a divorce.

You may wish to think of Torah as the DNA of a highly resilient organism called the Jewish people. Whenever circumstances change, this organism looks back into its DNA and finds some code that allows for an adaptive modality. There’s plenty off limits, but there is enough leeway to provide for every situation human life on planet Earth can throw at you. Proof is, we’ve been through it all—nomadic, agrarian, civilized, industrial, technological—and in every part of the world, and we’re still here, strong as ever.

²⁴Now it will come about that instead of ^[r]sweet perfume there will be putrefaction;
Instead of a belt, a rope;
Instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp;
Instead of fine clothes, a donning of sackcloth;
And branding instead of beauty.
²⁵Your men will fall by the sword
And your ^[s]mighty ones in battle.
²⁶And her ^[t]gates will lament and mourn,
And deserted she will sit on the ground.

¹ For seven women will take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach!”

StormPrepper, when I asked you why you thought (Isaiah 4: verse) 1 refers to the millennial reign of Christ, you replied:

Because, it does. Unless you can come up with another day where all the all the fruit of the earth was excellent. Or God calling everyone in in Jerusalem holy.

The wicked and evil people of the earth are burned away at Christ second coming. Everyone left will be holy.

And later in your same post you added,

This is what Isaiah is referring to. In that day, or the Millennium, that people will rush to be compliant with all of God's commandments. The greatest, which unlocks all the glory that God can give to His children, is being being sealed for all time and eternity by the keys of the Holy Priesthood by a man to his wife.

These woman, are saying, we will provide our own food and clothing, just please be sealed to us.

It is evident that the rest of the verses in Chapter 4 refer to the Messiah, but you didn't really answer my question which was, when the women say, "To take away our reproach, why would their be any reproach at a time when, according to your earlier statement, there is no evil in the world?

But then I realize from your replies that none of what Isaiah says in the immediately preceding verses in Isaiah 3, or elsewhere, or even generally what Scripture actually states really matters to you. It doesn't matter to you here that there were no chapter divisions and verses in the original writings and that these were added later for convenience.

In the final analysis what matters to you is what your religious organization tells you Scripture says, and even then you have to interpret what THEY currently tell you Scripture says {which may be different than what they said in the past it says).

The foregoing is all evident from your outlandish, and frankly, nutty denial that 1 Cor 7:2 is 1 Cor 7:2 and you other strange takes on other Scripture passages, such as Deuteronomy 4:28. Why do you deny that 1 Cor 7:2 is 1 Cor 7:2? Because your Mormon religion tells you to, that's why. It's certainly not because you know Hebrew or koine Greek and have analyzed the texts and made some important new discovery.

You can believe whatever Joseph Smith and his cohorts said people ought to believe, and I'm afraid you do, even when they contradict and contradicted themselves.

It doesn't matter to you what Scripture actually says to you because Mormon definitions of common Christian terms are completely different from their ordinary meanings and usage.

My impression of our conversation is that you see things through a Mormon lens, a Mormon matrix, if you will, like that movie, and there's not much I can say to you that will get through to dispel the delusion. I generally dislike Mark Twain, but he was right when he said that it's easier to fool a man than to convince him he has been fooled.

Not that it matters to you what I say to you but I will say it anyway: Joseph Smith was a con man, like Hussein Obama is a con man, except Joseph Smith was more of a religious con man and Obama is more the political type - but both were and are deceivers.

May God have mercy on you and open your eyes to His truth, and bring you to saving faith in the true Christ. Amen

Cordially,

The phrase, “what you have meant for evil, God has worked for good.” Who said it, when, why?>>>>>

Elsie
Oh ?

There WAS no ‘marriage’!

Sari gave her SERVANT to Abram to ‘wife’.

Wink, wink.

Nudge, nudge.

Show me where Polygamy is Commanded and I will admit to having been wrong a LONG time!

Seems to me I am not the only one with a reading problem, and maybe attention span is also a problem.

The simple question is where is polygamy forbidden? do you know how to copy and paste ? the scriptures are online so it would be easy if it were there.

Elsiewrote There WAS no ‘marriage’!

Sari gave her SERVANT to Abram to ‘wife’.>>>>>

Is that a contradiction or what?

All I can say to that is ??????????????????? what in the hell is that supposed to mean?

Elsie wrote
Show me where Polygamy is Commanded and I will admit to having been wrong a LONG time!

Did any one say polygamy was commanded?

wastoute wrote
Wow. I have just been responding to you. I had not realized this thread had turned into a giant Mormon themed slug fest>>>>

Mormonism ? who said anything about Mormonism except you?

The phrase, “what you have meant for evil, God has worked for good.” Who said it, when, why?>>>>>>

Is that supposed to show where polygamy is forbidden?

Come on guys, you may be right and I may be wrong but if a simple question is asked why go all over the place trying to prove something that is not there?

And since you want to talk about Mormons and love to bash them so much, you are doing exactly the same thing to get your doctrine as what they do to get theirs only in reverse.

A little side note.
I started going to Church in the early seventies, this was at a time when the area of Phoenix had a brothel in the name of a massage parlor at about every square mile and in some areas a half a dozen.

Half of the people in the congregation were swapping wife`s or stealing them.

What did the Pastor continually talk about? smoking cigarettes, smoking was the only sin because at that time the government had started campaigns against smoking.

Another Church which I became familiar with was against drinking anything with liquor in it.

There were others and they all had a doctrine which they could not get from the bible unless they twisted scripture.

I determined after about three years that I would not go to a church that did anything except use the very words that came from the Bible and if those words convict the listeners then all the better.

I have found one Church which does that.

My argument is not if polygamy is right or wrong, it is about what the word of god says and what it don`t say.

People has screwed up the word of God so much through their preaching of their silly ideals that common sense has gone out the door.

Catholics will preach works but it is only the Catholics who live in extreme poor conditions that is apt to have compassion on some one who is thirsty.

Protestants will jump up and down and swear we are not saved by works, yea I can do anything I want and still be saved.

But then bash any one who thinks or lives a little than they do, they have more laws than carter has liver pills.

Those are just some of the reasons we should just teach what the Bible says by reading only the words that are plainly there.

Now let me ask the question one more time.

Where dos the Bible forbid Polygamy?

but you didn't really answer my question which was, when the women say, "To take away our reproach, why would their be any reproach at a time when, according to your earlier statement, there is no evil in the world?

Their reproach is that they are single. Not eternally married. They are not evil, but they have not met the requirements God has given for them to be exalted.

The foregoing is all evident from your outlandish, and frankly, nutty denial that 1 Cor 7:2 is 1 Cor 7:2 and you other strange takes on other Scripture

Denial??? In 7:2 Paul is saying to be married. Let every man have his wife and let every woman have her husband. What's your point?

Nutty?? I'll tell you what's nutty. It's the way modern religionist find away to twist every scripture so that it's meaning is void and it always points away from themselves.

They neuter the scripture so that it has no meaning and no application. It's a zero sum gain. Nothing is learned. Nothing is advanced. But it allows them to sleep at night because they don't have to worry about anything.

The devil is at the heart of it. He is the one that convinces people that they are, "Saved instantly, you don't need to do anything else...", "All you have to do is believe...". And the absolutely worst, the total deception of "We're not even going to be judged".

And you claim....I'm in the matrix???? Seriously???...

I watch time and time again people taking the scripture and nullifying their meaning. And by nullifying, I mean they take the scripture and twist it till they come up with an explanation that doesn't require any change on their part. And no action.

It doesn't matter to you what Scripture actually says to you because Mormon definitions of common Christian terms are completely different from their ordinary meanings and usage.

Someone once said to me, "If you do something wrong until you get it perfect, it's now perfectly wrong."

"common Christian terms" has no meaning at all to me. None. They have no clue what those terms mean, so I should hope my definitions are different. Sheesh.

Not that it matters to you what I say to you but I will say it anyway

My feelings exactly. I proudly stand with Joseph Smith. I will say here and I would say it to you face to face, Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. Period.

BTW, the nuttiest examples of nullifying of scripture are the examples of 1 Peter 3:19, 4;6, 1 Cor 15:40, 1 Cor 15:29, The entire book of James,...

BTW, the nuttiest examples of nullifying of scripture are the examples of things Mormonism has produced.

Trinity:

found in the Book of MORMON ----------- rejected in the Doctrines and Covenants

Book of Mormon:

Now Zeezrom said: Is there more than one God? And he answered, No. (Alma 11:28-29)

...and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil. (Alma 11:44)

...doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen. (2 Nephi 31:21)

...praises with the choirs above, unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost, which are one God, in a state of happiness which hath no end. (Mormon 7:7)

...power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son--And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth. And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father, being one God, (Mosiah 15:3-5)

...of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them. (Ether 2:8)

"Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name." (3 Nephi 9:15)

"And again the Lord called others, and said unto them likewise; and he gave unto them power to baptize. And he said unto them: On this wise shall ye baptize; and there shall be no disputations among you. Verily I say unto you, that whoso repenteth of his sins through your words and desireth to be baptized in my name, on this wise shall ye baptize them--Behold, ye shall go down and stand in the water, and in my name shall ye baptize them. And now behold, these are the words which ye shall say, calling them by name, saying: Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. And then shall ye immerse them in the water, and come forth again out of the water. And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name; for behold, verily I say unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one...And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one." (3 Nephi 11:22-27, 36)

Doctrine and Covenants:

According to that which was ordained in the midst of the Council of the Eternal God of all other gods before this world was, that should be reserved unto the finishing and the end thereof, when every man shall enter into his eternal presence and into his immortal rest. (Section 121:32)

And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, and make a covenant with her for time and for all eternity, if that covenant is not by me or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, through him whom I have anointed and appointed unto this power, then it is not valid neither of force when they are out of the world, because they are not joined by me, saith the Lord, neither by my word; when they are out of the world it cannot be received there, because the angels and the gods are appointed there, by whom they cannot pass; they cannot, therefore, inherit my glory; for my house is a house of order, saith the Lord God. And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them--Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths--then shall it be written in the Lamb's Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever. Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them. (Section 132:18-20)

Abraham received concubines, and they bore him children; and it was accounted unto him for righteousness, because they were given unto him, and he abode in my law; as Isaac also and Jacob did none other things than that which they were commanded; and because they did none other things than that which they were commanded, they have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods. (Section 132:37)

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