see MARRIAGE
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
(multiple wives).
It is forbidden in Christianity, Mat 19:4-5, Mar 10:2-8, 1Ti 3:2, 1Ti 3:12. and in the Old Testament, Mal 2:15.
– Jesus said that, at a certain time, Moses allowed it, due to the hardness of his heart: (Mat 19:8), and they practiced it.
– Abraham, Ge.16.
– Esau, Gen 26:34.
– Jacob, Genesis 29:30.
– Gideon, Thurs 8:30.
– David, 2Sa 3:2-5.
– Solomon, 1Ki 11:1-8.
Christian Bible Dictionary
Dr. J. Dominguez
http://bible.com/dictionary/
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
tip, LAW COST TYPE
see, ELDER, DIÍ CONO, BISHOP
vet, Polygamy appeared with Lamech (Gen. 4:19), and thus the purity of marriages was stained, as men allowed themselves to be dominated by carnal impulses in the choice of their partners (Gen. 6:1-2). When Abraham took for himself a second wife to secure the fulfillment of the promise, he acted foolishly (Gen. 16:4). Isaac had only one wife, but Jacob was polygamous, in part due to Laban’s deception (Gen. 29). Moses repressed the abuses, but he did not abolish them all at once. The Israelites were little spiritually grown, and chained to the uses and customs of the time, which did not correspond at all to the will of God. The great legislator rendered a great service to the cause of marriage, forbidding unions between blood relatives and in-laws (Lev. 18); he discouraged polygamy (Lev. 18:18; Deut. 17:17); secured the rights of wives of inferior status (Ex. 21:2-11; Deut. 21:10-17); regulated divorce (Deut. 22:19, 29; 24:1); he demanded respect for the marriage bond (Ex. 20:14, 17; Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22). After Moses, there were still those who took to polygamy: Gideon, Elkanah, Saul, David, Solomon, Rehoboam, and others (Judges 8:30; 1 Sam. 1:2; 2 Sam. 5:13; 12 :8; 21:8; 1 Kings 11:3). However, the Scripture exposes the evils inherent to polygamy, the miserable rivalries that took place between the wives of Abraham, Jacob, and Elkanah (Gen. 16:6; 30; 1 Sam. 1:6); instead, the beauty of happy families is highlighted (Ps. 128:3; Pr. 5:18; 31:10-29; Ecc. 9:9; cf. Ec. 26:1-27). Abraham married a half sister of his; Jacob had two wives who were sisters to each other (Gen. 20:12; 29:26). In Egypt, it was not uncommon to marry a sister of father and mother; the Persians allowed it (Herodotus 3:31). Athenians could marry a half-sister from the same father, while Spartans could marry their half-sisters born from the same mother. The Law of Moses prohibited these unions and even marriages with more distant relatives (Lev. 18:6-18). The marriage statute of the Romans resembled that of the Israelites; he denounced as incest the union of close relatives (for example, between brother and sister) or between in-laws (such as father-in-law and daughter-in-law). All NT texts formally speak against polygamy. Speaking to the Jews about divorce, Christ affirmed that Moses had allowed it out of the hardness of their hearts and that, except in the case of infidelity, a new marriage was adultery (Mt. 19:8-9). It can be concluded that polygamy had been permitted at the time of the OT for the same reason, although with the restrictions indicated; however, it is clear that it has no place in the Gospel. The special case of polygamists converted to the Gospel was treated with the acceptance of the de facto family situation; however, the polygamist was excluded from the possibility of holding any position of responsibility in the church (cf. 1 Tim. 3:2, 12; Tit. 1:6).
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Maintenance of several wives in the marriage regime. It was a common practice in certain cultures, especially Eastern ones. Christianity, according to the message of Jesus himself, totally rejected polygamy as tolerable and “consented by Moses because of the hardness of your hearts, although at first it was not so.” (Mt. 19. 8-9)
However, against the primitive rigorists who prevented second marriages, the Church always considered successive polygamy as natural in man, just as successive polyandry was considered lawful in women.
The reasons for the rejection of polygamy, in addition to the natural ones based on coexistence, fidelity and the education of offspring, which are insufficient, must be found in the language of Christianity in the sacramental sense of marriage. If the sacrament is a sensible sign of the love of Christ for the Church and of the Church for Christ, unity and exclusivity, at the same time as the purity and totality of that love, demand unity in the sign of marriage.
Pedro Chico González, Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy, Editorial Bruño, Lima, Peru 2006
Source: Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy
(v. family, marriage)
(ESQUERDA BIFET, Juan, Dictionary of Evangelization, BAC, Madrid, 1998)
Source: Dictionary of Evangelization
See MARRIAGE.
Source: Dictionary of the Bible
Polygamy denotes the practice of having more than one wife at the same time. This occurs when women occupy a low place in human society. Islam allows a man to have four wives, but in recent times in some Mohammedan countries, especially Turkey, this practice has been abolished by state law. According to divine institution, legal marriage consists of one man and one woman (Gen. 2:18, 24). Christ supported monogamy as the only correct form of marriage (Mt. 19:4–6). While the Bible does not directly condemn the plural marriages that we find in the OT, it openly describes the evil effects of polygamy as occurring in the families of Jacob (Gen. 35:22; 37:18–28), David (2 S. 13:1–29; 15:1ff.), and especially of Solomon (1 Kings 11:1–12). The union of Abraham with the slave of her wife Sarah, at her request, should not be seen as a polygamous relationship (Gen. 16:13), but as the desire to obtain the promised offspring according to the land custom. His error consisted in his lack of confidence in the divine promise. Scripture therefore describes the evils resulting from this union (Gen. 16:4–16), while Paul decries this in the same way that he decries justification by works (Gal. 4:21–31). ).
See also Family, Marriage.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
LC; JewEnc; ISBE.
- Theodore Mueller
LC Lutheran Cyclopædia
JewEnc Jewish Encyclopaedia
ISBE International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia
Harrison, EF, Bromiley, GW, & Henry, CFH (2006). Dictionary of Theology (478). Grand Rapids, MI: Challenge Books.
Source: Dictionary of Theology