-God created man kind, male and female.
-Marriage is between one man and one woman.
-The Kings of Israel weren’t permitted to take more than one wife and neither was anyone else. However they did anyway and people took that as an opportunity for polygamy. It was tolerated by God but it not commanded. Scholars emphasize that in the ancient world, royal marriages were primarily diplomatic tools used to consolidate power, secure territory, and build alliances. David’s choice of wives strategically expanded his influence across different regions but it was never permitted encouraged by the law.
The scripture references are outlined below:
Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and they will become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24, MEV)
He created them male and female. He blessed them and called them Mankind in the day when they were created. (Genesis 5:2, MEV)
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
and before you were born I sanctified you,
and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5, MEV)
4 He answered, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” (Matthew 19:4–6, MEV)
6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, 8 and the two shall be one flesh.’ So then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” (Mark 10:6–9, MEV)
17 He shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he acquire for himself excess silver and gold.
18 It must be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write a copy of this law for himself on a scroll before the priests, the Levites. (Deuteronomy 17:17–18, MEV)
“Though the Bible records instances of polygamy, this does not mean God approved of it. Monogamy is taught in the Bible by precedent, since God gave the first man only one wife; by the equal proportion of males and females God brings into the world; by precept of Old and New Testament commands; by punishment, since God punished those who violated his standard (1 Kings 11:2); and by the prophetic picture of Christ and his pure bride, the church (Eph. 5:31–32).”
The Big Book of Christian Apologetics
© 1999, 2012 by Norman L. Geisler Published by Baker Books a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
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