Polygamy in the Bible and Christian Tradition: Refuting the Claim It Was Never Permitted
The missionary claim that God never permitted polygamy “from cover to cover” of the Bible is contradicted by the Bible’s own text, by Christian encyclopedias, by Church Fathers, by Protestant Reformers, and by Jewish rabbinical authorities. Every source cited below is Christian or Jewish — not Islamic.
The Scholarly and Ecclesiastical Consensus: God Permitted Polygamy
God permitted polygamy in the Torah, according to the consensus of theologians. Saint Augustine, commenting on the marriages of the Prophet Jacob, says:
The image below documents the broader scholarly and ecclesiastical position on polygamy in Christianity among Church Fathers and throughout Western history.
Pope Shenouda III states in his book “The Law of Monogamy”:
Helmy al-Qums Yaqoub says in his book “Schools of Criticism, Skepticism, and Responses to Them”:
The Church Encyclopedia states:
According to the Biblical Encyclopedia:
In the Ecclesiastical Encyclopedia, under the First Book of Samuel:
The commentary on Genesis also states:
After the Council of Laodicea prohibited polygamy, the Ethiopian Church continued to permit it. The Dictionary of Church Fathers and Saints states:
Reverend William Marsh, in his commentary on Leviticus, says:
The Jews continued to permit polygamy, and the Law itself mandated polygamy in the case of a brother who died childless. In short, the Torah permitted polygamy with no limits on the number of wives and concubines a man could have. Later, the rabbis restricted the number of wives to four for commoners and eighteen for the king.
God’s Approval of Polygamous Prophets and Kings in Scripture
The Lord in the Torah praised the righteous who took more than one wife, stating that they did what was right in His eyes. In the Second Book of Chronicles, the Lord praises Joash, King of Judah — even though he had two wives:
Although David had many wives, the Lord Himself stated that David’s wives and concubines were a divine gift. Can a gift from the Lord be considered a sin?
The Lord then shows that David, who had many wives, did what was right in the Lord’s eyes and did not deviate from what He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. If David had been wrong to take wives and concubines, the Scriptures would be lying, since they exonerated David from everything except that one case.
The Lord showed His complete approval of polygamy when He punished Miriam the prophetess, Moses’ sister, when she mocked his second marriage to the Cushite woman (Numbers 12:1–2). The Lord punished her with leprosy (Numbers 12:10). The Lord did not tell Moses he had sinned by taking multiple wives, nor did He affirm Miriam’s criticism. Couldn’t the Lord have told Moses that he had sinned by taking multiple wives, or that Miriam was right to condemn him for polygamy, even if she was wrong to criticize women in general?
Church Fathers and Protestant Reformers on Polygamy
Saint Augustine acknowledged that it was permissible in the Torah for a man to have more than one wife, and that polygamy was legal among the early Church Fathers before the time of Christ.
The leader of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther, said:
Among the Protestant leaders who defended polygamy were Boser and Melanchthon, who participated in a council of six leading Protestant reformers. They explicitly stated that the Bible does not condemn polygamy anywhere and that it was practiced consistently by the highest figures in the Church.
The law of polygamy will remain until the Day of Judgment and will not be abrogated, according to the words of the prophet Isaiah:
Saint Augustine considered himself unable to condemn polygamy because the Bible did not forbid it.
Bishop Burnet, in his book “Is the Plurality of Wives in Any Case Lawful Under the Gospel?”, states:
Responses to the Missionary’s Objections
Objection 1: Polygamy Was Against God’s Will — “One Woman for One Man from the Beginning”
Furthermore, the great Jewish rabbis followed the tradition of their forefathers in polygamy. Rabbi Tarfon, for example, married 300 women, as documented in the Talmud.
As for Genesis 2:24 — “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” — this is a description of the marital bond, not a numerical restriction. What prevents a man, within the bounds of permissible polygamy, from having a first, second, third, and fourth wife while each union still fulfills the principle of Genesis 2:24? This principle was in any case one which humans broke after the Fall: “They saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, so they took wives for themselves from all whom they chose” (Genesis 6:2). Citing these two texts together is a distortion of meaning.
Objection 2: The Fallen Angels’ Sin Was Taking More Than One Wife
Objection 3: Polygamy in Israel Is a Crime Punishable by Five Years in Prison
Rabbi Dov Stein confirms this, stating: “According to the Torah, the prophet Jacob — the father of the Jewish people — married four women, his grandfather Abraham married two, and his grandson David married eighteen. The real reason behind the prohibition of polygamy is the threat posed by the European Church to the Jews a thousand years ago to prevent the spread of this practice in Europe.” When asked about the importance of polygamy in his opinion, Rabbi Stein said: “The Jewish people are a small nation and need to increase their birth rate. The Torah considers this a duty — indeed the foremost duty. Therefore, we support polygamy, which will accomplish the task of increasing the Jewish birth rate.” Rabbi Stein also believes that the solution to many social problems — spinsterhood, adultery, and sexually transmitted diseases — lies in polygamy, which will contribute to increasing the number of Jews in the world, a pillar of the religion according to him.
A thousand years ago, Rabbi Gershom enacted a ban on polygamy — but this was a rabbinic restriction, not a Torahic prohibition. Today, polygamy continues to be practiced within the framework of Torah law. A family photo below shows Rabbi Philip Sharp with his six wives.
The rabbi stated he could take another wife or two. The following image shows the Times of Israel source documenting this case.
There are now open calls within Israel demanding the legalization of polygamy. The image below documents this campaign.
Synagogues across Israel have been flooded with tens of thousands of leaflets calling on Sephardic men to marry several women, claiming this ancient custom is now permissible under Jewish Law. Religious Jewish women have expressed happiness and a fervent desire to marry a married man. One woman, aged 39, stated: “I am a single religious woman who am afraid of losing the ability to become a mother,” adding that there were 27 other women like her who would be happy to marry a married man. A recorded conversation with Rabbi Yechezkel Sofer on this matter is documented below.
The full dialogue with Rabbi Yechezkel Sofer reads: “Hello rabbi, married life is not what it used to be. May I take another wife?” — “Of course. You can see in Rabbi Ovadia’s writings that it’s fully permitted.” — “What about the law?” — “State law forbids it, but from a rabbinical perspective — if the woman agrees and you are able to provide for another home — it’s permissible.” — “Aren’t you afraid of promoting a legal offense?” — “If you follow the State’s law, fine, but you should know that the Torah law allows it.” — “Can it be done secretly?” — “Of course.” — “Is this also permissible for Ashkenazi Jews?” — “I believe it’s not forbidden for them.” — “Are there such cases in Israel?” — “Yes.” — “What about you?” — “I’m planning to marry a second wife with the first wife’s consent.” — “Aren’t you afraid that what was right in the past isn’t right these days?” — “Why? Is the Torah wrong, God forbid?”
Objection 4: Polygamous Figures in the Old Testament Were Evil Men
On Lamech: The biblical dictionary states that his address to his wives can be interpreted in two main ways — first, that he acted in self-defense, and second, that he intended minimal harm, a concept linked to his son Tubal-cain’s invention of the sword.
On Gideon: The same reference states that Gideon had many wives and 70 sons, ruled Israel for about 50 years, died at a ripe old age, and his name appears in the Epistle to the Hebrews in the New Testament in the list of heroes of the faith. Is a hero of the faith an evil figure?
On Rehoboam: He refrained from marching against the rebels by divine command (1 Kings 12:21–24).
We also ask: Was Moses the Prophet evil for having a second wife?
The Lord’s response was to punish Miriam with leprosy — not Moses. This is the clearest possible divine verdict.
Objection 5: Abraham Was Punished for Polygamy Through the “Wild Man” Prophecy About Ishmael
Furthermore, the phrase “wild man” does not carry any shameful connotation. As documented in The Sacred Scriptures in Hebrew and English — A New Translation, the phrase means a man who lives in the wilderness.
This prophecy was fulfilled with complete respect for Ishmael and his descendants — a beautiful, eloquent, truthful, and faithful description of the way of life of the Bedouin and Arab descendants of Ishmael throughout the ages. The following image provides a further scholarly overview of polygamy in Christian history relevant to this discussion.
Objection 6: David Divorced His Wives Because of Polygamy
The commentary of Father Antonios Fikry on 2 Samuel 20:3 states: “David confined the concubines because they had likely surrendered to Absalom so easily, thinking that David was gone forever. Generally, it was considered inappropriate for them to return to him after Absalom had been intimate with them.” The issue was the concubines’ conduct during Absalom’s rebellion — not a verdict against polygamy.
Objection 7: Solomon’s Many Wives Led Him Astray, Proving Polygamy Is Sinful
The commentary of Father Antonios Fikry on Deuteronomy 17:17 states that God warned kings against increasing their wives and wealth, and that Solomon fell into three sins simultaneously: power, women, and money. The commentary specifies “many of whom were pagans” — not all. What prevents the second, third, or fourth wife from being virtuous if a man makes a good choice and marries, within the framework of polygamy, women of good character and religion?
Objection 8: Proverbs 31 Describes Monogamy
The description in Proverbs 31 applies to virtuous character in general — not to one wife as opposed to many. Furthermore, what prevents the second, third, or fourth wife from being a virtuous woman of this description?
Objection 9: Deuteronomy 17:17 Forbids Polygamy for Kings and Therefore Condemns It
The Hebrew word in question is יַרְבֶּה (pronounced yarbeh), and the root meaning according to Strong’s H7235 is multiplication and doubling — not a prohibition of polygamy as such. This same word appears in Isaiah 55:7: “Let the wicked forsake their ways… and to our God, for He will freely pardon.” By the missionary’s twisted logic, “generous forgiveness” in that verse would constitute polytheism. Furthermore, the restriction in Deuteronomy 17 applies only to kings — not to the general population, who retain their full legal right to polygamy. And even for kings, Reverend William Marsh states in his commentary that the law did not prohibit them from having two wives.
Objection 10: No Country Permits Polygamy, So It Is Universally Condemned
South African law legally recognizes polygamous marriages, and polygamous marriages are common there. The Kingdom of Bhutan — a Buddhist nation — has a former king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who married four women. Mormons, who form a Christian sect, have practiced polygamy since ancient times.
In the Christian West, there are at least 15,000 documented cases of polygamy — not including the Mormon sect — including the case of citizen Brady Williams, who is married to five women.
Additional Biblical Evidence for Legislated Polygamy
The following texts establish that polygamy was practiced by figures the Bible treats as righteous and that the Torah directly legislated for polygamous situations.
Since this verse places no restriction on whether the brother is single or married, it applies in both cases — making levirate marriage an instance of legislated polygamy within the Torah itself. Additionally, the law of Moses permitted a divorced woman to marry any other man, whether single or married.
An Israelite, whether single or already married, was also permitted to marry a captive woman.
The Admission of a Christian Apologetics Source
A Christian apologetics source responding to the question of polygamy in the Bible acknowledges the following:
The source also addresses how God views polygamy today, noting that even with polygamy permitted, the Bible presents the monogamous model as the one that aligns with God’s original plan for marriage, citing Genesis 2:24, Deuteronomy 17:14–20, 1 Timothy 3:2, 12, Titus 1:6, and Ephesians 5:22–33. The source further cites the book “Woman, Church and State” (pages 402–403): the number of eminent Protestants both lay and clerical who endorsed polygamy was not small. In the sixteenth century, a former Capuchin monk who converted to Protestantism published “Dialogues in Favor of Polygamy.” In the latter part of the seventeenth century, John Lyser, another minister of the Reformed Church, strongly defended polygamy in “Polygamia Triumphatrix” — “The Triumphant Defense of Polygamy.” The Reverend Dr. Madden argued in his treatise “Thalypthora” that Paul’s injunction that bishops should be the husbands of one wife signified that laymen were permitted to marry more than one. The scholar William Ellery Channing found no prohibition against polygamy in the New Testament, stating: “We believe it to be an indisputable fact that although Christianity was first preached in Asia — which from the earliest days was the center of polygamy — the apostles never condemned it as a crime, nor did they ever require believers to put away all their other wives and keep only one. There is no clear prohibition of polygamy in the New Testament.” (1 Timothy 3:2: “the bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife”; 1 Timothy 3:12: “the deacons must each be the husband of one wife.”)