Does the Old Testament allow polygamy?
Image via WikipediaFor one thing, the Old Testament makes clear from the outset what God’s ideal is—an ideal built into creation. InGenesis 2:24, a “wife” is to cleave to her husband, who is to leave his “father and mother.” What’s more, God himself models this covenant-love for his people; this ideal union of marital faithfulness between husband and wife is one without competition.
Furthermore, a closer look at Leviticus 18:18 reveals a prohibition against polygamy. It is a transitional verse introducing another set of sexual prohibitions, right on the heels of incest prohibitions.
So that has led to confusion, but looking at the Hebrew text makes the prohibition quite clear. It forbids a man from marrying (literally) “a woman to her sister”—a phrase always referring to a female Israelite rather than biological sister.
This is reinforced by the term “taking a rival wife”—the same terminology used of Elkanah (1 Samuel 1) who married Hannah and Penninah (a rival wife)—and clearly not biological sisters.
Furthermore, from Lamech’s wives (Gen. 4:19) to those of Abraham, Esau (Genesis 26:34-5), Jacob, David, and Solomon, wherever we see God’s ideal of monogamy ignored, we witness strife, competition, and disharmony.
And God warns the one most likely to be polygamous—Israel’s king: “He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away” (Deut. 17:17). The Old Testament presents polygamy as not just undesirable, but also a violation of God’s standards; its narratives subtly critique this marital arrangement.
