If you’ve dabbled in Christianity at any point (or even attended school in Qld where RE is still compulsory), you’ve probably come across the idea that some of the guys written about in the history sections of the Bible had more than one wife.  Which begs the question, why do Christians have a problem with it?  Some of the wisest guys in the Old Testament like David and Solomon had more than one wife.

The first guy in the Bible to have more than one wife, was called Lamech, he was the great great great grandson of Cain, the dude who committed the first murder.  The point of what is written between Cain’s murder of his brother until the flood, was to show that the world was growing further and further away from God and the state of perfection (aka sinlessness or innocence) that existed when the world was first created.  Lamech is the first person who has any sort of narrative in the genealogy, and the first, and therefore most significant thing mentioned is that he had two wives.  I’ve pasted a copy of the text from the NKJV:

Genesis 4.16-24

16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. 17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.
19 Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. 20 And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. 22 And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
23 Then Lamech said to his wives:
      “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
      Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech!
      For I have killed a man for wounding me,
      Even a young man for hurting me.

 24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,
      Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

Obviously the dude was not a nice guy, and one of the issues with him was one too many wives.

More important, to Christians than the OT is the NT, and the message is pretty clear, although it is important to note some cultural changes.  Israel had been conquered by Greece and then Rome before Jesus arrived on the scene.  The Greeks treated monogamy as a rule, as did the Romans, and this influenced the people living in Israel/Judea as well.  Whilst the only instance that I can think of where Jesus deals with some one being married multiple times is when he is asked about a woman who was married to several brothers, with the question being who’s wife will she be in heaven.  However in that example they aren’t all married at the same time.  The other instance is when Jesus meets a woman at a well and when he asks her to go and get her husband and she replies that she has none, he observes that she has had several, and was living with a man at the time.  Again, the writing seems to indicate that she was not married to them at the same time.  Generally the text quoted to support the Christian idea of only being married to one person comes from Paul’s first letter to Timothy, when he describes the requirements (for a man) to be a bishop or elder.

1 Tim 3.2-6

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money,^[b] but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); 6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.

I’ve bolded the important bit, but left the rest of it in as it puts it in context (and is imho relevant to choosing leaders and people in positions of responsibility in a variety of fields).  So with this in mind, most countries which have had a Christian influence have forbidden polygamy, in the few instances it was actually practiced before hand.  But it is a fairly primitive practice, and as in my previous blog, and generally associated with societies which have a