Introduction
The beginning God made one man and one woman. Then He brought the two of them together in marriage. Thus God instituted a monogamous relationship. Not long after the time of Adam and Eve, however, polygamy began to be practiced, first by unbelievers, then by believers. Even some of the great heroes of faith who later were to receive honorable mention in Hebrews 11, were married to two or more women at the same time. The writers of the New Testament, nevertheless, consistently regard monogamy as God's will for man and woman in marriage.
How can this be explained? Was polygamy always a sin? If polygamy was always a sin, then why did God remain silent when the patriarchs engaged in plural marriages? Is it possible that polygamy once was acceptable in God's sight but is no longer?
It is these and similar issues which are addressed in this paper. First, however, a brief summary of Old Testament polygamy is in order.
Polygamy and the Old Testament
Only seven generations into human history Lamech introduced the practice of polygamy to the human race (Genesis 4:19). Apparently catering to the lust of his flesh, this descendant in the reprobate line of Cain took two wives. Polygamy has been practiced ever since. Following the flood, polygamy rapidly spread far and wide. By 2100 B. C. Abram left Ur of the Chaldees and ventured as far as Egypt. Not knowing that Sarai was the patriarch's wife, the pharaoh received her into his harem (Genesis 12:19). When Abraham later repeated the charade elsewhere, Abimelech welcomed Sarah into his harem (Genesis 20).
The human convention of polygamy soon seemed a viable alternative to barrenness. At his wife Sarai's insistence, Abram took a secondary wife (Genesis 16:3). Abraham, the founder of the Hebrew and Arab........
