In The KJV Topics Bible

Polygamy

Bible verses about Polygamy in the King James Version.

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Nave’s Topical Bible

Forbidden

  • Deuteronomy 17:17

    Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

  • Leviticus 18:18

    Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.

  • Malachi 2:14

    Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.

  • Malachi 2:15

    And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

  • Matthew 19:4

    And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,

  • Matthew 19:5

    And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

  • Mark 10:2–8

    And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. …

  • 1 Timothy 3:2

    A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

  • 1 Timothy 3:12

    Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

  • Titus 1:6

    If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

Authorized

  • 2 Samuel 12:8

    And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

Tolerated

  • Exodus 21:10

    If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.

  • 1 Samuel 1:2

    And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

  • 2 Chronicles 24:3

    And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters.

Practiced by

  • Job 27:15

    Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.

Lamech

  • Genesis 4:19

    And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

Abraham

Genesis 16

Esau

  • Genesis 26:34

    And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:

  • Genesis 28:9

    Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.

Jacob

  • Genesis 29:30

    And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

Ashur

Gideon

  • Judges 8:30

    And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.

Elkanah

  • 1 Samuel 1:2

    And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

David

  • 1 Samuel 25:39–44

    And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife. And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife. And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. …

  • 2 Samuel 3:2–5

    And unto David were sons born in Hebron: and his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; And his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; And the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; …

  • 2 Samuel 5:13

    And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.

  • 1 Chronicles 14:3

    And David took more wives at Jerusalem: and David begat more sons and daughters.

Solomon

  • 1 Kings 11:1–8

    But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. …

Rehoboam

  • 2 Chronicles 11:18–23

    And Rehoboam took him Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David to wife, and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse; Which bare him children; Jeush, and Shamariah, and Zaham. And after her he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; which bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith. …

Abijah

  • 2 Chronicles 13:21

    But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.

Jehoram

  • 2 Chronicles 21:14

    Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods:

Joash

  • 2 Chronicles 24:3

    And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters.

Ahab

2 Kings 10

Jehoiachin

  • 2 Kings 24:15

    And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Belshazzar

  • Daniel 5:2

    Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.

See

Hosea

  • Hosea 3:1

    Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.

  • Hosea 3:2

    So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:

Mosaic law respecting the firstborn in

  • Deuteronomy 21:15–17

    If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated: Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn: But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

Sought by women

  • Isaiah 4:1

    And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

The evil effects of

Husband' s favoritism in

  • Deuteronomy 21:15–17

    If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated: Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn: But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

Jacob' s

  • Genesis 29:30

    And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

  • Genesis 30:15

    And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.

Elkanah' s

  • 1 Samuel 1:5

    But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb.

Rehoboam' s

  • 2 Chronicles 11:21

    And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)

Domestic unhappiness

In Abraham' s family

  • Genesis 21:9–16

    And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. …

Genesis 16

In Jacob' s family

  • Genesis 29:30–34

    And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years. And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me. …

  • Genesis 30:1–23

    And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. …

In Elkanah' s family

  • 1 Samuel 1:4–7

    And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb. And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb. …

With Solomon

  • 1 Kings 11:4–8

    For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. …

See Concubinage
See Marriage