First Q: In Matthew 19:4-5, Jesus seems to refer to marriage as a sacred institution ordained by God. But some passages of Scripture -- namely First Corinthians 7:1 and First Cor. 7:7-8 -- disapprove of marriage. Arent these statements contradictory?
A: No. Pauls statements in First Corinthians 7 do not disparage or disapprove of marriage between a man and a woman who are called to marriage by God -- or, one could say, between a man and a woman who are not called to celibacy. Lets take a look at those passages:
First Corinthians 7:1-2 ~ It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband."
The impression kinda changes when one includes 7:2! Clearly Paul is not forbidding marriage; he is saying that marriage is good, if one is called to marriage, and celibacy is also good -- and allows one greater singleness of mind and devotion of energy for ministry -- if one is called to celibacy.
(Btw, some commentators suspect that the sentence at the end of 7:1 (It is good for a man not to touch a woman) is a quotation by Paul of something which some teachers in Corinth were saying.)
First Corinthians 7:7-9 ~ For I wish that all men were even as I myself [i.e., celibate]. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that. But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn.
Again, when one considers the full text (without the ellipsis featured in the SABs citation), it is clear that Paul does not disapprove of marriage for those who are called to be married. Not everyone is called to be married. Paul was not thus called; he realized that the lack of a wife and children had some advantages for missions-work. At the same time, Paul knew that not everyone was called to be celibate, and he makes both points in this passage.
Second Q: What about polygamy? Jesus and Paul both refer to a man and his wife, not wives. But didnt lots of men in the Old Testament have more than one wife?
A: Lots of men in the Old Testament had more than one wife. The real question, though, ought to be whether or not God approved of that. All the men in the Old Testament were sinners; that doesnt mean that God approved of their sins. Lets briefly run through the list of verses which the SAB cited as support for the view that polygamy is okay.
Gen 4:19 -- A true account, yes. An endorsement, no.
Gen. 16:1-4 -- A true account, yes. An endorsement, no. If you look closely, you may see in the step-by-step progression of events here something of an echo of the scene in the Garden of Eden when Eve offered the forbidden fruit to Adam. Also, as the narrative progresses, quite a bit of trouble and stress results from Abrahams decision to go in unto Hagar.
(Also, though this is a tangential point, this wasnt technically polygamy; it was a sort of surrogacy/concubinage, like what is mentioned in some of the ancient laws found at the site of Mari.)
Genesis 25:6 -- Again, no endorsement here.
Genesis 26:34 -- Esaus two wives, as the very next verse says, were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah. Certainly no endorsement there.
Genesis 28:9 -- Still no endorsement here.
Genesis 31:17 -- Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives on camels. -- No endorsement here either. Jacob, btw, is something of a special case. He had not intended to have two wives. He was tricked into marrying Leah, the elder daughter of Rachel, for whom he had worked 7 years.
Exodus 21:10 - If he take him another wife.... -- This regulation would effectively discourage polygamy (since the first wifes rights must be maintained), though it does not forbid polygamy outright. No endorsement here.
Deut. 21:15 -- If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved -- No endorsement of polygamy here, though there is an acknowledgement that it was a feature of Hebrew society.
Judges 8:30 -- And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives. -- Again, no endorsement here. And, as the narrative proceeds, Gideons polygamy and concubinage ends up nearly swallowing up his family-line: Abimelech, the son of Gideon and a concubine, proceeded to kill almost all of his half-brothers, except for Jotham the youngest. Part of the background here is that in Deuteronomy 17:17, the Law provided that a king should not multiply wives for himself. The author of Judges mentions Gideons many wives to convey that the people were failing to remember and apply the Law -- even leaders like Gideon.
First Samuel 1:1-2 -- No endorsement here; its a simple statement that Elkanah had two wives. The text also relates, as the narrative progresses, how Elkanah gave a double-portion to his wife Hannah (twice as much as he gave to Peninnah), and how Peninnah made Hannah miserable on account of her (Hannahs) infertility. Overall, this kinda conveys that bigamy invited favoritism and unwholesome competitiveness.
Second Samuel 12:7-8 -- Lets open up that ellipsis in the SABs citation: Thus says the LORD God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your masters house and your masters wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. All true, but theres nothing here indicating that David co-habitated with any of Sauls wives; the text only says that they were delivered into his care. Since David was already married to Sauls daughter Michal, I dont think David would have married any of his wifes fathers widows. But David would have had full control over what happened to Sauls widows; i.e., as king, he had the power to distribute the widows of his predecessor to his friends. (Whether he did so or not is an open question; the text only implies that David had the power to do so.)
First Kings 11:2-3 -- Solomon ... had seven hundred wives ... and three hundred concubines. -- No endorsement here whatsoever. If the reader reads the whole of First Kings 11:1-11, it is very obvious that Solomons foreign harem, the members of which were allowed to worship foreign deities, was a stumblingblock to Solomon, and It was so, that when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, and so forth. In other words, Solomon -- Solomon! -- was morally ensnared as a result of his polygamy with foreign wives.
Fist Chronicles 4:5 -- And Ashur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah. -- No endorsement here.
Second Chronicles 11:21 -- Rehoboam ... took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines. -- No endorsement here.
Lets look into that; heres the full text: Now Rehoboam loved Maacah the granddaughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and begat twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. It sounds to me like the author is noting that Rehoboam had a queen whom he singularly adored; though as a way of making political family-based alliances he took many wives and concubines; to him, it seems, that was business.
Second Chr. 13:21 -- But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives.... -- No endorsement here; this is a reflection of Abijahs scope of power ~ more wives meant more family-alliances ~ not on his integrity.
Second Chr. 24:3 -- Jehoiada took for him two wives.... -- This is about as close as we get to an endorsement of bigamy, since in 24:2 the text says that Joash did what was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoida, and in the following verse, Jehoida got two wives for Joash to marry, and Joash proceeded to have sons and daughters -- presumably by these two just-mentioned wives. (It should be noted, though, that the text doesnt say that Joash deliberately chose to have two wives. The wives seem to have been provided for Joash by Jehoida when Joash was young. Joashs son Amaziah was 25 when he began to reign, and his father was 47 at that point. So, Joash was 22 when he had his firstborn (surviving) son.) I take this as a concessionary special case; the taking of two wives was probably, to Jehoiada, a way of claiming a right to reign over all of the land, both the northern and southern kingdoms (though, alas, theres not sufficient data in the text to prove that one wife was from the Southern Kingdom and the other one was from the Northern Kingdom).
Matthew 25:1 -- Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. -- Theres no endorsement of polygamy here: the virgins in this parable are bridesmaids, not brides.
So, whatever was tolerated under the Law was tolerated, not necessarily approved. The New Testament standard of monogamy, though often difficult to attain to in first-generation Christians in cultures previously engaged in bigamy, polygamy, and concubinage, is clearly endorsed by Christ, who based it on the mandate of creation (i.e., the relationship of Adam and Eve ought to be considered a divinely arranged pattern for the human family-unit).
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
A: No. Pauls statements in First Corinthians 7 do not disparage or disapprove of marriage between a man and a woman who are called to marriage by God -- or, one could say, between a man and a woman who are not called to celibacy. Lets take a look at those passages:
First Corinthians 7:1-2 ~ It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband."
The impression kinda changes when one includes 7:2! Clearly Paul is not forbidding marriage; he is saying that marriage is good, if one is called to marriage, and celibacy is also good -- and allows one greater singleness of mind and devotion of energy for ministry -- if one is called to celibacy.
(Btw, some commentators suspect that the sentence at the end of 7:1 (It is good for a man not to touch a woman) is a quotation by Paul of something which some teachers in Corinth were saying.)
First Corinthians 7:7-9 ~ For I wish that all men were even as I myself [i.e., celibate]. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that. But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn.
Again, when one considers the full text (without the ellipsis featured in the SABs citation), it is clear that Paul does not disapprove of marriage for those who are called to be married. Not everyone is called to be married. Paul was not thus called; he realized that the lack of a wife and children had some advantages for missions-work. At the same time, Paul knew that not everyone was called to be celibate, and he makes both points in this passage.
Second Q: What about polygamy? Jesus and Paul both refer to a man and his wife, not wives. But didnt lots of men in the Old Testament have more than one wife?
A: Lots of men in the Old Testament had more than one wife. The real question, though, ought to be whether or not God approved of that. All the men in the Old Testament were sinners; that doesnt mean that God approved of their sins. Lets briefly run through the list of verses which the SAB cited as support for the view that polygamy is okay.
Gen 4:19 -- A true account, yes. An endorsement, no.
Gen. 16:1-4 -- A true account, yes. An endorsement, no. If you look closely, you may see in the step-by-step progression of events here something of an echo of the scene in the Garden of Eden when Eve offered the forbidden fruit to Adam. Also, as the narrative progresses, quite a bit of trouble and stress results from Abrahams decision to go in unto Hagar.
(Also, though this is a tangential point, this wasnt technically polygamy; it was a sort of surrogacy/concubinage, like what is mentioned in some of the ancient laws found at the site of Mari.)
Genesis 25:6 -- Again, no endorsement here.
Genesis 26:34 -- Esaus two wives, as the very next verse says, were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah. Certainly no endorsement there.
Genesis 28:9 -- Still no endorsement here.
Genesis 31:17 -- Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives on camels. -- No endorsement here either. Jacob, btw, is something of a special case. He had not intended to have two wives. He was tricked into marrying Leah, the elder daughter of Rachel, for whom he had worked 7 years.
Exodus 21:10 - If he take him another wife.... -- This regulation would effectively discourage polygamy (since the first wifes rights must be maintained), though it does not forbid polygamy outright. No endorsement here.
Deut. 21:15 -- If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved -- No endorsement of polygamy here, though there is an acknowledgement that it was a feature of Hebrew society.
Judges 8:30 -- And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives. -- Again, no endorsement here. And, as the narrative proceeds, Gideons polygamy and concubinage ends up nearly swallowing up his family-line: Abimelech, the son of Gideon and a concubine, proceeded to kill almost all of his half-brothers, except for Jotham the youngest. Part of the background here is that in Deuteronomy 17:17, the Law provided that a king should not multiply wives for himself. The author of Judges mentions Gideons many wives to convey that the people were failing to remember and apply the Law -- even leaders like Gideon.
First Samuel 1:1-2 -- No endorsement here; its a simple statement that Elkanah had two wives. The text also relates, as the narrative progresses, how Elkanah gave a double-portion to his wife Hannah (twice as much as he gave to Peninnah), and how Peninnah made Hannah miserable on account of her (Hannahs) infertility. Overall, this kinda conveys that bigamy invited favoritism and unwholesome competitiveness.
Second Samuel 12:7-8 -- Lets open up that ellipsis in the SABs citation: Thus says the LORD God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your masters house and your masters wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. All true, but theres nothing here indicating that David co-habitated with any of Sauls wives; the text only says that they were delivered into his care. Since David was already married to Sauls daughter Michal, I dont think David would have married any of his wifes fathers widows. But David would have had full control over what happened to Sauls widows; i.e., as king, he had the power to distribute the widows of his predecessor to his friends. (Whether he did so or not is an open question; the text only implies that David had the power to do so.)
First Kings 11:2-3 -- Solomon ... had seven hundred wives ... and three hundred concubines. -- No endorsement here whatsoever. If the reader reads the whole of First Kings 11:1-11, it is very obvious that Solomons foreign harem, the members of which were allowed to worship foreign deities, was a stumblingblock to Solomon, and It was so, that when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, and so forth. In other words, Solomon -- Solomon! -- was morally ensnared as a result of his polygamy with foreign wives.
Fist Chronicles 4:5 -- And Ashur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah. -- No endorsement here.
Second Chronicles 11:21 -- Rehoboam ... took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines. -- No endorsement here.
Lets look into that; heres the full text: Now Rehoboam loved Maacah the granddaughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and begat twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. It sounds to me like the author is noting that Rehoboam had a queen whom he singularly adored; though as a way of making political family-based alliances he took many wives and concubines; to him, it seems, that was business.
Second Chr. 13:21 -- But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives.... -- No endorsement here; this is a reflection of Abijahs scope of power ~ more wives meant more family-alliances ~ not on his integrity.
Second Chr. 24:3 -- Jehoiada took for him two wives.... -- This is about as close as we get to an endorsement of bigamy, since in 24:2 the text says that Joash did what was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoida, and in the following verse, Jehoida got two wives for Joash to marry, and Joash proceeded to have sons and daughters -- presumably by these two just-mentioned wives. (It should be noted, though, that the text doesnt say that Joash deliberately chose to have two wives. The wives seem to have been provided for Joash by Jehoida when Joash was young. Joashs son Amaziah was 25 when he began to reign, and his father was 47 at that point. So, Joash was 22 when he had his firstborn (surviving) son.) I take this as a concessionary special case; the taking of two wives was probably, to Jehoiada, a way of claiming a right to reign over all of the land, both the northern and southern kingdoms (though, alas, theres not sufficient data in the text to prove that one wife was from the Southern Kingdom and the other one was from the Northern Kingdom).
Matthew 25:1 -- Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. -- Theres no endorsement of polygamy here: the virgins in this parable are bridesmaids, not brides.
So, whatever was tolerated under the Law was tolerated, not necessarily approved. The New Testament standard of monogamy, though often difficult to attain to in first-generation Christians in cultures previously engaged in bigamy, polygamy, and concubinage, is clearly endorsed by Christ, who based it on the mandate of creation (i.e., the relationship of Adam and Eve ought to be considered a divinely arranged pattern for the human family-unit).
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
