1 Sam 1 Intro "Two Wives" #71

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opened 2021-12-07 14:33:22 +00:00 by JohnH · 1 comment

JohnH commented

2021-12-07 14:33:22 +00:00

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Under Special Concepts, we have this note:

Two wives
This was a common practice in the ancient Near East. It was against the law of Moses. The men of Israel would have sinned if they married more than one woman. This type of marriage always creates problems because of jealousy. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/lawofmoses and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/jealous)

1 Sam does talk about a man with 2 wives (1 Sam 1:2), but is this note correct?

A GL translator pointed out:

"It seems that the Law of Moses regulated poligamy and defended the right of women and their children (Exodus 21:10; Deuteronomy 21:15-17). It seems it didn't forbid it."

The translator seems to be correct. Here are some comments from Biblehub

And he had two wives.—The primeval Divine ordination, we know, gave its sanction alone to monogamy. The first who seems to have violated God’s original ordinance appears to have been Lamech, of the family of Cain (Genesis 4:19). The practice apparently had become general throughout the East when the Mosaic Law was formulated. In this Divine code it is noticeable that while polygamy is accepted as a custom everywhere prevailing, it is never approved. The laws of Moses—as in the case of another universally accepted practice, slavery—simply seek to restrict and limit it by wise and humane regulations. The inspired writer in this narrative of the home life of Elkanah of “Ramah of the Watchers” quietly shows up the curse which almost invariably attended this miserable violation of the relations of the home life to which in the old Eden days the eternal law had given its sanction and blessing. The Old Testament Book contains many of these gently-worded but fire-tipped rebukes of sin and frailty—sins condoned and even approved by the voice of mankind

two wives] Polygamy, though at variance with the original institution of marriage (Genesis 2:24), was tolerated by the Mosaic law as an existing custom (Deuteronomy 21:15-17), and the fact that Abraham, Jacob, Gideon, David and Solomon were all polygamists, shews that no moral blame attached to the practice in this period. It gradually became less frequent, and no case is on record in the Biblical history after the Captivity, but it was reserved for Christianity to re-establish the primeval ideal.

Do we need this note at all? Or if we need to say something, what about this:

Two wives
This was a common practice in the ancient Near East. The law of Moses allowed a man to have more than one wife, but this practice is forbidden in the New Testament.

Under Special Concepts, we have this note: **Two wives** This was a common practice in the ancient Near East. It was against the law of Moses. The men of Israel would have sinned if they married more than one woman. This type of marriage always creates problems because of jealousy. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/lawofmoses and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/jealous) 1 Sam does talk about a man with 2 wives (1 Sam 1:2), but is this note correct? A GL translator pointed out: "It seems that the Law of Moses regulated poligamy and defended the right of women and their children (Exodus 21:10; Deuteronomy 21:15-17). It seems it didn't forbid it." The translator seems to be correct. Here are some comments from Biblehub And he had two wives.—The primeval Divine ordination, we know, gave its sanction alone to monogamy. The first who seems to have violated God’s original ordinance appears to have been Lamech, of the family of Cain (Genesis 4:19). The practice apparently had become general throughout the East when the Mosaic Law was formulated. In this Divine code it is noticeable that while polygamy is accepted as a custom everywhere prevailing, it is never approved. The laws of Moses—as in the case of another universally accepted practice, slavery—simply seek to restrict and limit it by wise and humane regulations. The inspired writer in this narrative of the home life of Elkanah of “Ramah of the Watchers” quietly shows up the curse which almost invariably attended this miserable violation of the relations of the home life to which in the old Eden days the eternal law had given its sanction and blessing. The Old Testament Book contains many of these gently-worded but fire-tipped rebukes of sin and frailty—sins condoned and even approved by the voice of mankind two wives] Polygamy, though at variance with the original institution of marriage (Genesis 2:24), was tolerated by the Mosaic law as an existing custom (Deuteronomy 21:15-17), and the fact that Abraham, Jacob, Gideon, David and Solomon were all polygamists, shews that no moral blame attached to the practice in this period. It gradually became less frequent, and no case is on record in the Biblical history after the Captivity, but it was reserved for Christianity to re-establish the primeval ideal. Do we need this note at all? Or if we need to say something, what about this: **Two wives** This was a common practice in the ancient Near East. The law of Moses allowed a man to have more than one wife, but this practice is forbidden in the New Testament.

SusanQuigley commented

2022-01-05 21:11:37 +00:00

Owner

Your note, John, is better. I'm fine with using your note, or something like my note, or just having no note at all. (I'm not sure about saying that the law of Moses allowed polygmay since it did not overtly say that it is permissible. It just dealt with the problem.)

Two wives
This was a common practice in the ancient Near East. The law of Moses recognized that some men had more than one wife, and it had rules about that. But this practice is forbidden in the New Testament.

Your note, John, is better. I'm fine with using your note, or something like my note, or just having no note at all. (I'm not sure about saying that the law of Moses **allowed** polygmay since it did not overtly say that it is permissible. It just dealt with the problem.) **Two wives** This was a common practice in the ancient Near East. The law of Moses recognized that some men had more than one wife, and it had rules about that. But this practice is forbidden in the New Testament.