“Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.”
— Deuteronomy 17:17
Willem de Poorter — The Idolatry of King Solomon, Public Domain Image
God’s will for marriage is this: “Therefore [marriage] shall A man shall cleave unto his WIFE [singular], and they shall be one flesh.”[1] The first polygamist in the Bible was Lamech, a descendant of Cain. In keeping with their father, Cain’s descendants became great and skillful in many trades, they built cities, invented and innovated across many fields, and amassed great fortunes. Our study verse in context refers to the conduct of kings but it is profitable for us all to remember. In the same breath that the law forbids Israel’s king to multiply wives it also prohibits amassing and hoarding great wealth.
There is a connection here between polygamy and covetousness. There lies at the root of the practice a refusal to be content with the goodness that God has ordained for us, a union that is patterned on Christ’s love for His church.[2] Scripture equates covetousness with idolatry[3]. The reason the king must not multiply wives is so that his heart turn not away, as Solomon’s did when he had amassed a harem of pagan women[4]. In all things we must learn contentment with what the Lord has given us.
“Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth…And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?” — Proverbs 5:18-20
Amen.
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