Jdg 19:1 a Levite ..had taken ..c from Bethlehem
Jdg 19:25 taking that man to his c, he took her out
2Sa 3:7 why have you come to my father’s c?
2Sa 16:22 Absalom came to the c of his father
Concubine (Heb. pîlegesh; ‘âmâh and shifjâh, servant ”). She inferior wife in the system of polygamy. The concubine was usually chosen from among the female slaves (Gen 16:2,3), and her husband could be more easily divorced than her main wife (21:10-14). Her children were considered inferior in relation to those born of the legitimate wife (Gen 25: 6; Jdg 8:31; 9:18; cf vs 14,15). Concupiscence. See Desire.
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
woman of the second order, in polygamy. In Mesopotamia, the barren woman could give her husband a slave so that she would have offspring and she recognized, adopted, the children born in this union as her own, as happened between Abraham and his wife Sarah ; she gave her Egyptian servant Hagar to her husband, and Ishmael was born of this union, Abraham being eighty-six years old, Gn 16, 1-15.
The same thing happened between Rachel and Jacob; he took Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, who conceived and gave birth to Naphtali, Gn 30, 1-8; when Leah stopped conceiving children, she gave her slave Zilpah to Jacob, who gave birth to Asher, Gn 30, 9-13. The kings had many concubines, like David, 2 S 5, 13; 15, 16; 16, 21-22; 1Ch 3, 9; like Solomon, who had three hundred concubines, 1 R 11, 3; Rehoboam had sixty concubines, 2 Chr 11, 21.
The concubines, whether they were taken from among the servants or from among the women taken prisoner in war, had their rights, established by the Mosaic Law, Ex 21, 7-11; Dt 21, 10-14.
Digital Bible Dictionary, Grupo C Service & Design Ltda., Colombia, 2003
Source: Digital Bible Dictionary
In the Bible, not a mistress but a woman lawfully united in marriage to a man in a lower relationship than wife. In the law of Moses it is assumed and stipulations are given about concubinage that tried to prevent its excesses and abuses (Exo 21:7-11; Deu 21:10-14). Concubines enjoyed only the right of legitimate cohabitation. They had no authority in the family or in household affairs. Their husbands could send them off with a small gift and their children, by means of small gifts, could be excluded from the inheritance (Gen 25:6).
The children were considered legitimate, although the children of the first wife were preferred in the distribution of the inheritance. Some of the prominent OT characters who had concubines were Nahor (Gen 22:24), Abraham (Gen 25:6), Jacob (Gen 35:22), Eliphaz (Gen 36:12), Gideon (Jdg 8:31) , Saul (2Sa 3:7), David (2Sa 5:13; 2Sa 15:16; 2Sa 16:21), Solomon (1Ki 11:3), Caleb (1Ch 2:46), Manasseh (1Ch 27:14) , Rehoboam (2Ch 11:21), Abijah (2Ch 213:21) and Belshazzar (Dan 5:2).
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
This was the name given to the partner of a man who cohabited with him, although for some reason the category of wife was not attributed to her. She was sometimes a slave, as in the case of Sarah’s servant, Hagar, c. of Abraham (Gen 16:1-2). There is documentary evidence (Code of Hammurabi) that it was customary to make a marriage contract in which it was provided that if the wife was barren, she should give her husband a maid so that she could have children. Those who were born in this way participated in the inheritance, but if the wife later had children, hers had precedence over those of the servant.
There is a famous story of a Levite who took “a wife for himself c. of Bethlehem of Judah† . When the woman was mistreated by people from the tribe of Benjamin, it caused a civil war (Judges 19:1-30). “Had Saul had a c. which was called †¢Rizpah†, which was later the cause of division between †¢Is-bosheth and †¢Abner (2Sa 3:7). The kings of Israel had c., which were clearly differentiated from their wives. But the attempt to cohabit with a c. real was a crime equated to the usurpation of the throne. Therefore †œ †¢Ahithophel said to †¢Absalom: Arrive at c. of your father† (2Sa 16:21). The NT insists on the original, monogamous marriage model, in which † œeach has her own wife, and each has her own husband † (1Co 7:2).
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
type, COST
vet, Wife of secondary category. Sometimes slaves given by wives to their husbands to have offspring (Gen. 16:2, 3; 39:29); it was not, however, the main reason for taking concubines. Deut. 21:11 gives the root of this practice: a man saw a beautiful woman, and coveted her. God seems to have simply allowed it for the same reason that the Lord Jesus affirms about the ease of giving the divorce certificate: “because of the hardness of your heart” (Mt. 19:8). The kings of Israel are forbidden to multiply women, lest they lead their hearts astray (Deut. 17:17). This was the cause of Solomon’s downfall (1 Kings 11:3). In Esther 2:14 and Dan. 5:2 it is seen that concubinage was also a custom among the Gentiles. Christianity denounces this evil, recognizing the monogamous conjugal relationship as God established it “in the beginning” (Gen. 2:23, 24; cp. Mt. 19:8, 9; 1 Tim. 3:2, 12; Tit. 1:6), and hence the sanctity of the marriage bond in those whom God has joined together.
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
The concubine occupied among the Hebrews a position similar to that of a secondary wife, and was sometimes spoken of as a wife. It seems that the concubines were slaves, who could be classified in one of the following categories: 1) a Hebrew girl sold by her father (Ex 21:7-9), 2) a foreign girl bought as a slave or 3) a foreign girl captured in war. (De 21:10-14) Some were slaves or servants of free women, as in the case of the women who served Sarah, Leah, and Rachel. (Ge 16:3, 4; 30:3-13; Judg 8:31; 9:18)
Concubinage already existed before the pact of the Law and was later recognized and regulated by it, which protected both the rights of wives and those of concubines. (Ex 21: 7-11; De 21: 14-17) The concubine did not have all the rights in the house that belonged to her wife; a man could have several wives and several concubines. 1Ki 11: 3; 2Ch 11:21 love her. (Ge 16:2; 30:3) The sons of the concubines were legitimate and could be heirs. (Ge 49:16-21; compare Ge 30:3-12.)
Since, according to Eastern custom, a king’s wives and concubines could only come to belong to his legal successor, Absalom, who showed total disrespect to David, tried to bolster his attempts at the crown by having intercourse. with his father’s ten concubines. (2Sa 16:21, 22) After Solomon was enthroned, Adonijah, his elder brother, who had already tried to seize the throne, addressed Solomon’s mother, Bath-sheba, with these words: “You yourself well know that the royal rulership was to become mine† , and then requested him to ask the king to give him Abishag the Shunammite as his wife, who was apparently a wife or concubine of David. Solomon replied angrily: “He also requests for himself the kingship, † and ordered Adonijah to be put to death, which proved that he had interpreted his request as an attempt to gain the throne. (1Ki 1:5-7; 2:13-25.)
God did not see fit to restore the original rule of monogamy that He had established in the Garden of Eden until the coming of Jesus Christ, but He gave legal protection to the concubine. Not surprisingly, concubinage contributed to a more rapid increase in Israel’s population. (Mt 19:5, 6; 1Co 7:2; 1Ti 3:2; see MARRIAGE.)
figurative use. The apostle Paul compares Jehovah to the husband of a free woman, the “Jerusalem above,” who is the “mother” of spirit-begotten Christians, as Abraham was the husband of Sarah. He likens Jehovah’s relationship with the nation of Israel, represented by its capital city Jerusalem, to that of a husband and a concubine. Through the Law covenant, Jehovah “married” the “maidservant” (or “concubine”) Jerusalem, a relationship analogous to that of Abraham with the servant and concubine Hagar. (Ga 4:22-29; compare Isa 54:1-6.)
Source: Dictionary of the Bible
The practice of concubinage was widespread in the biblical world. In Mesopotamia, the husband had the right to have sexual relations with her slaves. In Assyria, the husband could have several freeborn concubines at the same time as his “veiled” wife, although the “concubine” was subject to the wife’s authority. Their children had the right to share the inheritance. Concubines who had children and displayed arrogance could be treated as slaves but not sold (cf. Laws of Hammurabi 146–147; 170–171). In Cappadocia (19th century BC) and Alalak, in cases where the wife did not have a child within a certain period (3 or 7 years, respectively), the husband had the right to take a second wife. In Ugarit, a man who had a concubine was called b˓l ššlmt, “possessor of a woman who completes (the family)”; Sarah gave Abraham a slave as a concubine (Gen. 16.2–3), and the maidens Leah and Rachel received as a wedding present became Jacob’s concubines (Gen. 29.24, Zilpah; Gen. 29.29, Bilhah). Concubines were protected by the Mosaic law (Ex. 21.7-11; Dt. 2 1.10-14), although they were distinguished from wives (Judg. 8.31; 2 S. 5.13; 1 R. 11.3; 2 Chr. 11.21) , and it was easier to divorce them (Gen. 21.10–14). Some kings, like Solomon for example, reached excesses in the number of wives and concubines they had. Sleeping with a monarch’s concubine was equivalent to usurping the throne (2 Sam. 3.7; 16.21–22; 1 Kings 2.21–24). Two terms are used in the OT, pı̂legešof non-Semitic origin, and the arm. leḥēnâ (Dn. 5.2–3, 23), “servant of the temple”. The first was used mainly in the time of the patriarchs, in the time of the conquest, and in the early days of the kingdom; its most frequent use occurs at the time of the judges. This practice created tension with wives in all periods, and the later prophets encouraged monogamy (Mal. 2.14ff.). The ideal woman of Pr. 31 belonged to a monogamous society.
In the NT monogamy was prescribed by Jesus (Mt. 5.32; 19.3–12, etc.), and by the New Testament writers (1 Tim. 3.2, 12). Concubinage was still practiced in the contemporary Greek and Roman world. Among the Greeks, pallakai, ‘concubines’, were kept regularly for sexual pleasure, and children born to such unions, though free, were considered bastards. They were the wivesgynaikes) those with legitimate children. In the Roman world the state of concubinage, or ‘lying together’, referred to informal but more or less permanent unions, with no wedding ceremony. The children born to those unions took the…