God allowed polygamy in the Old Testament as a tolerated but imperfect practice. It reflected the fallen nature of man, not the ideal pattern of marriage. While it was not immediately condemned, it was never endorsed as good. God’s original design was always one man and one woman in a covenant relationship.
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
(Genesis 2:24)
This creation principle defined marriage as a singular and exclusive union. Polygamy first appears later in Genesis among the ungodly line of Cain:
“Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah.”
(Genesis 4:19)
Polygamy was later practiced by patriarchs like Abraham, Jacob, David, and Solomon, but never without serious consequences. Abraham took Hagar, resulting in tension between her and Sarah:
“So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.”
(Genesis 16:4)
Jacob’s multiple wives led to rivalry between Leah and Rachel, and their children were born into conflict. David’s household suffered division and rebellion, and Solomon’s many wives turned his heart away from God:
“But King Solomon loved many foreign women… and his wives turned his heart after other gods.”
(1 Kings 11:1–4)
Although God gave regulations about polygamy in the law, such as in Deuteronomy 21:15–17, these were not approvals but limitations to reduce harm. God also warned that kings should not multiply wives:
“Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away.”
(Deuteronomy 17:17)
In the New Testament, Jesus reaffirmed the creation standard:
“Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female… and the two shall become one flesh?”
(Matthew 19:4–5)
Paul instructed that church leaders must be the husband of one wife, pointing again to monogamy as the model for godly living (1 Timothy 3:2).
God allowed polygamy temporarily to deal with human hardness of heart, but it always fell short of His original purpose. Every biblical account of polygamy records strife, jealousy, and brokenness. The pattern of Scripture is consistent, one man and one woman joined in faithful covenant is God’s true design.
