In King David’s household, the proliferation of wives and children led to such dysfunction that they could have been their own reality show. David’s daughter Tamar by one wife was raped by his son Amnon from another wife (2 Samuel 13). When Tamar’s brother Absalom learned of her disgrace, he plotted vengeance and then killed his half-brother, Amnon.
David’s mishandling of his dysfunctional household may have led to his son Absalom’s hatred of him and subsequent attempt to take the throne. Had David embraced monogamy, none of this heartache would have happened, and he may never have had to run for his life from his own son (2 Samuel 15:14).
Solomon’s story, in particular, demonstrates the folly of taking multiple wives. King Solomon had been given everything his heart desired. God had given him wisdom beyond that of any other man (1 Kings 4:29–30) and had blessed him materially as well (1 Kings 10:23). God had even granted him “rest on every side, from adversaries and misfortune” (1 Kings 5:4).
Solomon was given the high honor of building the temple of the Lord (1 Kings 5:5). Yet he had married many wives from many countries, and, in his old age, his heart turned from the Lord because of his wives’ idolatry (1 Kings 11:3–4). Had Solomon contented himself with his first wife only and remained monogamous, he would never have encountered such temptation and may have remained faithful to the Lord until he died.
By New Testament times, monogamy was the norm in Jewish culture. Jesus taught monogamy. When Jesus was asked about divorce, His answer strongly implied that marriage is between one man and one woman, with no hint of polygamy: “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10:6–9). When Jesus says that the “two shall become one flesh,” the obvious implication is that this union is between two individuals only. It’s not three or more that become one; only two become one.
Nowhere does Jesus or any of the New Testament writers suggest this union should occur between a married individual and anyone else. In fact, when Paul gives explicit commands about marriage, he references the passage about being “one flesh” and compares it to Christ and His bride, the church (Ephesians 5:32). He concludes by instructing a husband to love his wife as he loves himself (verse 33). He does not tell a husband to “love all your wives.” The word wife is singular.
It is a stretch to try to apply the command about being “one flesh” to a man and several women. And the Bible never at any point implies that marriage can unite anything but a man and a woman. The concept of homosexual marriage is a contradiction in terms. Scripture does not directly address the practice of polygamy in the Old Testament, but God’s original intent for marriage was clearly monogamy.
The Bible shows the result of having multiple wives, and it never presents polygamy in a positive light. Marriage is to be a picture of the covenant Christ has with His church (2 Corinthians 11:2), a picture that fits well with God’s plan that marriage is for one man and one woman for life.
MICHAEL OPPONG-AMPONSAH
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