Bible verses about "polygamy" | NSB

⁹ When Leah realized she could not have any more children, she let Jacob marry her servant Zilpah.

⁴ Then Rachel let Jacob marry Bilhah. Jacob slept with Bilhah.

¹ Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because he was married to a Cushite woman from Sudan.

⁵ »When brothers live together and one of them dies without a son the wife of the deceased shall not marry outside the family to a strange man. Her husband's brother shall marry her and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. ⁶ »The firstborn son she bears will assume the name of the dead brother. That way his name will not be blotted out from Israel. ⁷ »If the man does not desire to take his brother's wife, his brother's wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say: My husband's brother refuses to establish a name for his brother in Israel. He is not willing to perform the duty of a husband's brother to me. ⁸ »The elders of his city must summon him and speak to him. If he persists and says: I do not desire to take her, ⁹ his brother's wife shall must to him in the sight of the elders. She will pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. Then she will declare: It is done to the man who does not build up his brother's house. ¹⁰ »His name in Israel will be: ‘The house of him whose sandal is removed.’

¹ There was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite of the mountains of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah. He was the son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph an Ephraimite. ² He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah was the mother of children. Hannah had no children.

¹⁴ »Enter the land Jehovah your God gives you. Possess it and live in it. You will say: I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me, ¹⁵ you shall surely set a king over you whom Jehovah your God chooses. It will be one from among your countrymen. You may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman. ¹⁶ »He must not increase his herd of horses. He must not send the people to return to Egypt to get more horses. For Jehovah said to you: You should never again return that way. ¹⁷ »He must not take many wives or his heart will turn astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. ¹⁸ »When he first sits on the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll taken in the presence of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ »He should keep it with him. He should read from it all the days of his life. In this way he will learn to respect Jehovah his God by carefully observing all the words of this Law and these statutes. ²⁰ »He must not think he is better than the rest of his people. He will not disobey these commandments in any way. So he and his sons will rule for a long time in Israel.

¹³ David left Hebron and moved to Jerusalem. He married many women from Jerusalem, and he had a lot of children.

¹ Solomon loved many women. They were of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites. ² Jehovah warned the children of Israel about these nations. He said: »You are not to take wives from them and they are not to take wives from you. They will certainly turn your hearts to go after their gods.« Solomon loved his wives anyway. ³ He had seven hundred wives, daughters of kings, and three hundred other wives. His wives influenced his heart to turn away. ⁴ When Solomon was old he allowed his heart to be turned away to other gods by his wives. His heart was no longer true to Jehovah his God as the heart of his father David had been.

⁵ Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.

³ Jehoiada procured two wives for Joash and he had sons and daughters.

⁸ »There are sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and virgins without number.

¹ Jehovah spoke his word to me again: ² »Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother. ³ »They played the prostitute in Egypt. They played the prostitute in their youth. There their breasts were pressed and there their virgin bosom was handled. ⁴ »Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

¹ Concerning the things that you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch (have sex with) a woman. ² Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. ³ Let the husband fulfill his marital duties to his wife and also the wife to her husband. ⁴ The wife has no authority over her own body, but her husband does. Likewise also the husband has no authority over his own body, but his wife does. ⁵ Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent for a time. That way you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer. Then come together again, that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

⁵ I left you in Crete for this purpose, that you should correct the things that were defective, and appoint elders in every city, as I gave you orders. ⁶ A blameless man will be the husband of one wife. He will have children that believe and who are not accused of violence and disobedience. ⁷ The overseer must be blameless as God's steward. He must not be self-willed, not prone to anger, not a brawler, and not violent (quarrelsome) (pugnacious), not greedy of dishonest gain. ⁸ but given to hospitality, as a lover of good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled;

¹⁹ Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.

³⁰ He had many wives and seventy sons.

¹ These were the sons of David born to him in Hebron: The firstborn was Amnon the son of Ahinoam of Jezreel; the second, Daniel the son of Abigail of Carmel; ² the third, Absalom the son of Maacah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; ³ the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; and the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah. ⁴ These six were born to David in Hebron, where he reigned seven years and six months. David reigned in Jerusalem thirty-three years, ⁵ and these were the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon. These four were by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel. ⁶ There were also Ibhar, Elishua, Eliphelet, ⁷ Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁸ Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet nine in all. ⁹ All these were the sons of David, besides his sons by his concubines. And Tamar was their sister.

²¹ Abijah became strong. He married fourteen wives and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

²¹ Rehoboam loved Maacah, Absalom’s granddaughter, more than all his other wives and concubines. He had eighteen wives and sixty concubines. He fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

⁸ »‘I gave you his kingdom and his wives. Then I made you king over Israel and Judah. If this had not been enough, I would have given you twice as much.

¹⁵ »If a man have two wives and loves one more than the other. The first son of either wife is the man's first-born son, even if the boy's mother is the wife he does not love. A man near death and dividing up his property must give a double share to his first-born son. This is because he was the first to be born. ¹⁶ »The day he wills his possessions to his sons, he should not put the firstborn son of the loved wife before the firstborn son of the unloved wife. ¹⁷ »He should acknowledge the firstborn son of the unloved wife. And give him a double portion of all that he has. He is the beginning of his strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him.

¹ Joash began to rule when he was seven years old. He ruled for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. ² Joash did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, as long as the priest Jehoiada lived. ³ Jehoiada procured two wives for Joash and he had sons and daughters.

¹ Seven women will grab one man and say: »We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes. Just let us marry you and be called by your name. Take away our disgrace.«

¹ »The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. ² »Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³ »The foolish took no oil with their lamps. ⁴ »The wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵ »They all slept, because the bridegroom delayed his arrival. ⁶ »There was a shout at midnight. ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come meet him.’ ⁷ »The virgins awoke and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ »All the foolish virgins said to the wise: ‘Give us your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ »But the wise answered: ‘There will not be enough for both of us. Go to the dealers and buy oil for yourself.’ ¹⁰ »While they were away, the bridegroom came. They that were ready went in with him to the marriage feast and the door was shut. ¹¹ »Later the other virgins came, saying: ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’ ¹² »But he told them: ‘I do not know you.’ ¹³ »Watch therefore, for you do not know the day or the hour. ¹⁴ »It is like a man going to another country. He called his servants and put them in charge of his property. ¹⁵ »To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one. He assigned according to the servants’ ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ »Right away the servant who received the five talents traded with them and made another five talents. ¹⁷ »In like manner, he who received the two gained another two. ¹⁸ »He who received the one dug a hole in the ground and hid his lord’s money. ¹⁹ »After a long time the lord of those servants came back to settle with them. ²⁰ »The servant who received five talents brought another five talents. He said: ‘Lord, here are your five talents, plus the five I gained.’ ²¹ »His lord said: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, so I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ ²² »The one who received two talents said: ‘Lord you gave me two talents and I gained another two talents.’ ²³ »His lord said: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things. I will appoint you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ ²⁴ »The servant who received one talent said: ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man. You reap where you did not sow and gather where you did not scatter. ²⁵ »‘I was afraid, so I hid your talent in the earth. See, you have what is yours.’ ²⁶ »But his lord answered: ‘You wicked and lazy servant. You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter. ²⁷ »‘You should have put my money in the bank. I should have received my money back plus interest. ²⁸ »‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. ²⁹ »‘More will be given to every one who has and he will have abundance. He who does not have will have every thing taken away. ³⁰ »‘Throw the worthless servant into outer darkness. There will be crying and grinding of teeth.’ ³¹ »When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² »All nations will be gathered before him. He will then separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ »He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ »The King will say to those on his right hand: ‘Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ »‘I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. ³⁶ »‘I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.’ ³⁷ »The righteous will answer him: ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ »‘When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and dress you? ³⁹ »‘When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ ⁴⁰ »The King will answer: ‘To the extent that you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me.’ ⁴¹ »Then he will tell those on his left: ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the ever-burning fire that is prepared for the Devil and his [fallen] angels. ⁴² »‘I was hungry and you did not feed me. I was thirsty and you did not give me drink. ⁴³ »‘I was a stranger and you did not take me in. I was naked and you did not dress me. I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴ »They will also ask: ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or in prison and not minister to you?’ ⁴⁵ »The King will answer: ‘To the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of my brothers, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ »These will go away into ever-burning fire (everlasting cutting off) (death) (total destruction) (doom) (punishment) (everlasting penalty), but the righteous to everlasting life.’«

¹⁰ »If a man takes a second wife, he must continue to give his first wife the same amount of food and clothing and the same rights that she had before.