Was Polygyny Ever
Intended?By Isaac Aluochier
I
t is the contention of some that Yahweh never intended that man be polygynous, having intended that one man should be married to only one wife, for Yah'shuah said, as recorded in Mattityahu 19: 4-6, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." (New King James Version throughout, unless otherwise specified.) The Pharisees then asked Yah'shuah why, if what he had said was the case, did Moses stipulate that a man gives his wife a certificate of divorce and put her away. Yah'shuah responded by stating, as recorded in verses 8 and 9, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery."It is therefore the contention of some that just as Yahweh did not intend divorce from the beginning, though he allowed it because of the hardness of the people’s hearts, so also the case with polygyny. In other words, as at the beginning Yahweh made one man and one woman and joined them together in marriage, so also was it his intention that human marriages be between one man and only one woman. Since he allowed polygyny, that is one man having more than one wife, this was due to the hardness of the people’s hearts.
Therefore, as people’s hearts should not be hard, and they should live life in the manner intended at the beginning, man should not be polygynous.
Is the above contention really the case? To find out, relevant scriptures need to be examined.
Concerning the matter of marriage and divorce, Yah'shuah clearly laid out the manner man ought to live. He allowed, just as Moses did, a man to divorce his wife! He laid out a condition that had to be fulfilled before that divorce could be considered valid before Yahweh, and that was the wife having committed sexual immorality (porneia). On no other ground did Yah'shuah permit divorce. Nevertheless, he allowed a man to divorce his wife, even as Moses did!
Why - why did he still allow a man to divorce his wife, yet he had just stated that what Yahweh has joined together let not man separate?
Is it therefore not the case that when a man divorces his wife for her committing sexual immorality (porneia) he does so with Yahweh’s authority? And therefore, is it not the case that in reality the man is not divorcing his wife, but it is Yahweh himself who is separating that marriage union? And as the man is not separating that which Yahweh has joined together, is it not the case that he thereby is not exceeding the bounds of his authority accorded him by Yahweh?
On the other hand, if the man divorces his wife on a ground other than her committing sexual immorality, he does so on his own authority, and not on Yahweh’s authority. He is therefore separating that which Yahweh himself has joined together. He is therefore breaking Yahweh’s word, and by so doing makes himself an adulterer, even as Yah'shuah taught in Mattityahu 5: 32. Such a divorce is not recognised by Yahweh, as Yahweh has not effected it.
It should therefore be clear that the only valid divorces are those effected by Yahweh himself. These divorces he effects using the man, the husband, as his agent. And the only ground on which he has authorised a man to divorce his wife is if she has committed sexual immorality (porneia). Therefore, when a man divorces his wife on the authorised ground of sexual immorality (porneia), it is Yahweh himself who has separated the marriage union, which he himself effected. The man has acted only as an agent of Yahweh.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 24: 1 reads: "... a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house". The word translated "uncleanness" is Strong’s No. 6172, ervah. Strong renders its meaning as follows: "ervah, er-vaw; from 6168; nudity, lit. (espec. the pudenda) or fig. (disgrace, blemish):- nakedness, shame, unclean (-ness). Strong renders word No. 6168 as follows: "arah, ar-raw; a prim. root; to be (caus. make) bare; hence to empty, pour out, demolish:- leave destitute, discover, empty, make naked, pour (out), rase, spread self, uncover.
The "uncleanness" in the verse quoted above is therefore concerned with nudity, or nakedness, or being bare. In other words, some sexual uncleanness, even as the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, (c) 1994, clarifies: "pu.den.dum n, pl -da [NL, sing. of L pudenda, fr. neut. pl. of pudendus, gerundive of pudere to be ashamed] (1634): the external genital organs of a human being and esp. of a woman--usu. used in pl. -- pu.den.dal adj".
Therefore, the reason Moses gave for allowing a man to divorce his wife had to do with his finding some sexual uncleanness or immorality in his wife.
This is exactly the same reason that Yah'shuah gave authorising a man to divorce his wife. It is therefore seen that the only reason Yah'shuah gave for authorising a man to divorce his wife was also the only reason Moses gave for authorising a man to divorce his wife.
HOW THE PEOPLE’S HEARTS WERE HARD
Yah'shuah stated, as already quoted above, that it was because of the hardness of the people’s hearts that Moses permitted them to divorce their wives, but that from the beginning it was not so. As the only ground that Moses gave allowing the men to divorce their wives was their wives committing sexual immorality, and as this was also the only ground Yah'shuah gave allowing men to divorce their wives, it must be the case that the reason Yah'shuah continued to allow men to divorce their wives was because of the hardness of the people’s hearts. Therefore just as people’s hearts were hard in and after Moses’ time, so also they remained hard in and after Yah'shuah’s time.
Now why were the people’s hearts hard? What was it in the people’s hearts that made them hard?
A wife who committed sexual immorality against her husband, who committed adultery against her husband, showed herself unfaithful, disloyal and unsubmissive to her husband. A man who committed adultery with a wife belonging to another man coveted or wrongly desired that which rightfully did not, and was not to, belong to him. The women committing adultery had unfaithful, disloyal and unsubmissive hearts. While the men committing adultery had covetous hearts. Both pursued pleasure more than they obeyed Yahweh’s commands, thereby showing themselves to have been idolatrous and spiritually adulterous, submitting to their desires for pleasure over and above obedience to Yahweh. It is these things that made the people’s hearts hard.
WHAT IF THE PEOPLE’S HEARTS HAD NOT BEEN HARD?
Now if both the men and women had remained fully submissive to Yahweh they would have obeyed Yahweh’s laws and commands. The men would not have coveted other men’s wives, nor would they have pursued pleasure more than abiding by Yahweh’s every word. The women would have remained faithful, loyal and submissive to their husbands, and would not have pursued pleasure more than abiding by Yahweh’s every word. This was how both men and women were intended to behave at the beginning, at the time they were created.
For had both men and women fully abided by Yahweh’s every word, wives would not have committed sexual immorality against their husbands, nor would men have committed adultery with other men’s wives. The only authorised ground by which a man may divorce his wife under Yahweh’s authority would not have occurred in actuality, and therefore men would not have validly divorced their wives. This is how both men and women were to behave at the time they were created, at the beginning. And had they so behaved no divorce in their marriages would have existed. Nevertheless, the record shows that men and women have not behaved in the manner they were meant to behave at the beginning. That is why divorce exists.
IS THE LAW ON DIVORCE IDENTICAL TO THE LAW ON POLYGYNY?
With respect to polygyny there is no record in the scriptures that Yahweh had not intended that men be polygynous. Therefore any postulation that Yahweh never intended that men be polygynous is merely an opinion lacking in scriptural support. Also, any postulation that Yahweh allowed polygyny because of the hardness of people’s hearts is merely an opinion lacking in scriptural support. For nowhere in the scriptures is there any record that Yahweh allowed polygyny because of the hardness of people’s hearts.
What are found in the scriptures are regulations governing conduct within polygynous marriages, just as are found regulations governing conduct in the case of a man divorcing his wife, and just as are found regulations governing conduct in other matters. Scriptural citations of regulations governing conduct in polygynous marriages include Shemot (Exodus) 21: 7-11 and Devarim 21: 15-17.
In Devarim 24: 1-4 Yahweh gave regulations governing conduct in the case of a man divorcing his wife. As already shown above, the only divorce that is valid in Yahweh’s eyes is that which he himself has authorised. It is therefore allowable and within Yahweh’s law and will for a man to divorce his wife on the only ground that Yahweh’s has authorised, that is the man’s wife having committed sexual immorality (porneia). Any man so divorcing his wife does not breach Yahweh’s law or word.
So also in the case of polygyny. Yahweh has given regulations governing conduct in the case of a man having more than one wife. It is therefore allowable and within Yahweh’s law and will for a man to have more than one wife, provided the man abides by Yahweh’s regulations governing conduct in the case of a man having more than one wife. Any man so having more than one wife does not breach Yahweh’s law or word.
In Ephesians 5: 22-33 the apostle Shaul (Paul) showed that the relationship between The Messiah and the called out ones is a marriage relationship. In verses 31 and 32 he made clear that the reason human marriage exists is because of the marriage relationship between The Messiah and the called out ones.
Now how can the existence of human marriage have been based on the marriage relationship between The Messiah and the called out ones, when The Messiah, together with his marriage relationship with the called out ones, did not in fact appear on earth until after some thousands of years of human experience?
Yahweh, who knows the end of a matter even from the time of its beginning, had already planned that there would exist a marriage relationship between The Messiah and the called out ones well before the foundation of the world. He therefore instituted human marriage at the commencement of human experience that humans may learn the lessons of marriage in preparation for their marriage to The Messiah when they would be numbered among of the called out ones. Human marriages are therefore typical of the marriage of The Messiah to the called out ones. (See Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 46: 8-11; Acts 2: 22-39; Romans 8: 18-30; 1 Corinthians 10: 1-11; 1 Kefa (Peter) 1: 2, 13-25.)
THE MARRIAGE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MESSIAH AND THE CALLED OUT ONES
To better understand how human marriage ought to be conducted, and also what is allowable within human marriage, it is instructive that we learn how the marriage between The Messiah and the called out ones is conducted, and also what is allowable within the marriage of The Messiah and the called out ones.
In the marriage between The Messiah and the called out ones it should be noted that this marriage relationship consists of one husband, The Messiah, married to a plurality of individuals, collectively called the called out ones. Each of these called out individuals is spiritually married to The Messiah and therefore all the called out ones are collectively spiritually married to The Messiah. When addressed collectively they are termed the wife of The Messiah. But it should not be forgotten that the wife of The Messiah is composed of several called out individuals who both individually and collectively call The Messiah their spiritual husband.
Recalling that human marriage is founded on the marriage between The Messiah and the called out ones, it is seen that as The Messiah is spiritually husband to several called out individuals, so it is within Yahweh’s law and will for a man to have more than one wife who each individually, and all collectively, call the man their husband. Polygyny is therefore seen to be within Yahweh’s will. A man practising polygyny within the bounds of Yahweh’s regulations governing polygyny is therefore not violating Yahweh’s word.
Also, as human marriage is founded on the marriage between The Messiah and the called out ones, it cannot correctly be said that polygyny was never intended at the beginning of human experience. For The Messiah is spiritually husband to several called out individuals, and not just to one individual. Therefore polygyny was within Yahweh’s will and laws even right from the commencement of human experience.
ANOTHER REASON EXPLAINING THE EXISTENCE OF HUMAN MARRIAGE
Revisiting Yah'shuah’s words in Mattityahu 19: 4-6 we read him saying "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."
Yah'shuah gave another reason for the existence of human marriage: because Yahweh made humans male and female. When a man leaves the household of his parents and becomes sexually joined to his wife in his own household, he, together with his wife, are no longer considered two, but have become one flesh. Yahweh has united the man and his wife in marriage, for it is Yahweh who unites a man and a woman in marriage.
It should be noted that the wording of Scripture does not exclude the man from taking and being enjoined to more than one woman, who are each individually described as his wife. Only that it is physically impossible for the man to be contemporaneously sexually enjoined to more than one woman. Therefore, even if a man takes more than one wife and is sexually enjoined to each of them, he can do so only sequentially, and not contemporaneously. His being married to one woman does not prevent him from being sexually enjoined to and becoming one flesh with another woman who is also his wife.
It should also be noted that just because a man sexually enjoins himself to a woman does not automatically make that woman he has become sexually enjoined to his wife. For unless Yahweh has so joined in marriage a man and a woman they are not married and are therefore not husband and wife. For Yahweh does not unite in marriage a man who sexually enjoins himself to a harlot, despite the man being one body with the harlot during their sexual enjoinment. For Yahweh states, through the apostle Shaul, that the man sins by being sexually enjoined to a harlot. (See 1 Corinthians 6: 13-20.)
On the other hand, when a man is sexually enjoined to his wife he is not sinning, for the act of sexual enjoinment of a man to his wife is within the will and law of Yahweh. But when a man, whether married or not, is sexually enjoined to a harlot he is sinning. For the man has no intention of taking the harlot as his wife, fulfilling to the harlot all the responsibilities of a husband to his wife. Also, the harlot has no intention of being wife to the man, remaining faithful, loyal and submissive to the man. As there is no intention of marriage on the part of either the man or the harlot, both commit sin, as they engage in an act reserved by Yahweh’s law only for those married to another.
It should therefore be noted that Yah'shuah’s words in Mattityahu 19: 4-6 do not exclude a married man from being sexually enjoined with another wife of his, for not only is it legally possible for the man to be sexually enjoined with another wife of his, it is also illegally possible for the man to be sexually enjoined with another woman who is not his wife, such as a harlot or an adulteress. One should therefore not conclude that Mattityahu 19: 4-6 excludes a married man from being sexually enjoined with another wife of his.
SPIRITUAL ONENESS WITH THE MESSIAH
It should also be remembered that believers, that is the called out ones, are each spiritually one with The Messiah when they abide in his word and are therefore spiritually joined to him (1 Corinthians 6: 17). As The Messiah is spiritually one with several called out individuals, by virtue of their being spiritually joined to The Messiah as they abide in his word, it should be clear that it is within Yahweh’s law and will that a man can be joined in marriage and be one flesh with more than one wife of his. As just as each called out individual abiding in The Messiah’s word belongs to The Messiah, so also does each wife a man has belong to the man. A man is therefore one flesh with more than one wife of his, in fact with all of his wives, just as The Messiah is one spiritually with all of the called out individuals who are betrothed to him. Being one with an individual wife of his does not exclude a husband from being one with another wife of his. Mattityahu 19: 4-6 does not therefore exclude a man from having more than one wife.
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© 1998, Isaac Aluochier, All rights reserved. Published by Servants of Yahweh, P O Box 22855, London, NW9 8ZF, United Kingdom. E-mail: servantsofyahweh@serveyahweh.org. Permission is hereby GRANTED to reproduce this and other publications in the Servants of Yahweh web site, http://www.serveyahweh.org, unless otherwise stated.
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