POLYGAMY IN THE BIBLE.

POLYGAMY.

Although many of the Old Testament characters had more than one wife, this may have been the result of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden. In marriage, the two become “one flesh”; the addition of a third person does not fit God’s original model. Whatever was allowed previously, the New Testament is very clear that Christians should not have more than one wife at a time (1 Corinthians 7:2). All Christians agree with this. Yet if a man had two or more wives before he became a believer, he should not abandon any of them, but care for them all (Exodus 21:10). However, Paul did not want a man who already had two or more wives at one to be chosen as a leader in the church (1Timothy 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6). A person who remarries after a spouse has died remains eligible for church leadership. According to the bible, both men and women are free to remarry after the death of a spouse.

It is clear that sexual relations with anyone except one’s own spouse are strictly forbidden for all Christians, whether the other  person is married, unmarried, or is only a prostitute (1 Corinthians 6:15). Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral (Hebrews 13:4).