Was it wrong for Kings to to have many wives?

[HBCountry]

I have wondered about that many times.
After all - one of the ten commandments is - thou shalt not commit adultery.
And then, this morning I happened upon these verses that I think may answer this question.

Deu 17:14 When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;
Deu 17:15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
Deu 17:16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
Deu 17:17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
Deu 17:18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
Deu 17:19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:



What is YOUR opinion on those verses?

 

[t1mp]

Yea it was wrong.

I have wondered about that many times.
After all - one of the ten commandments is - thou shalt not commit adultery.
And then, this morning I happened upon these verses that I think may answer this question.

Deu 17:14 When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;
Deu 17:15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
Deu 17:16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
Deu 17:17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
Deu 17:18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
Deu 17:19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:



What is YOUR opinion on those verses?

 

[ContentInHim]

Yep - while 2 wives and 2 concubines worked for Jacob who was nation-building, it was a catastrophe for David and for Solomon. That said, I'm not sure that it was against the Mosaic Law to have multiple wifes - just against God's good advice!

 

[HBCountry]

Yep - while 2 wives and 2 concubines worked for Jacob who was nation-building, it was a catastrophe for David and for Solomon. That said, I'm not sure that it was against the Mosaic Law to have multiple wifes - just against God's good advice!

But it was given in the laws.
Taken in context with the first part -

Deu 17:15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.

Seems to be a law to me - not an ordinance as is some of Deut.

 

[ninjadoggie]

im not a yet king, so ill cross that bridge when i get to it.

 

[Steve Petersen]

An intersting story from Jewish literature about multiplying wives:

Exodus Rabbah VI:1. …When God gave the Torah to Israel, He inserted therein positive and negative commands and gave some commandments for a king, as it says: ‘Only he shall not multiply horses to himself... Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away; neither silver and gold (Deut. XVII, 16-17)’. But Solomon arose and studied the reason of God's decree, saying: ‘Why did God command, " He shall not multiply wives to himself? Is it not " That his heart turn not away "? Well, I will multiply and still my heart will not turn away. Our Sages said: At that time, the yod of the word yarbeh [for Solomon had erased the yod from it] went up on high and prostrated itself before God and said: ‘Master of the Universe! Hast thou not said that no letter shall ever be abolished from the Torah? Behold, Solomon has now arisen and abolished one. Who knows? Today he has abolished one letter, to-morrow he will abolish another until the whole Torah will be nullified? ' God replied: ' Solomon and a thousand like him will pass away, but the smallest tittle will not be erased from thee.’ …For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods (I Kings XI, 4). R. Simeon b. Yohai said: It had been better for Solomon to clean sewers than to have this verse written of him; for this reason did Solomon say of himself: ’And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness and folly’ (Eccl. II, 12). Solomon said: ‘Because I tried to be wiser than the Torah and persuaded myself that I knew the intention of the Torah, did this understanding and knowledge turn out to be madness and folly.’


This ties directly in to a passage we are all probably familiar with:

Matthew 5:17-19 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

 

[Clydson]

Gen 2:24-25
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
NKJV


It seems to me that God made no provisions for multiple wives. He may have "winked" at it for a time, but it doesn't seem that He ever approved of it.

Jake

 

[Steve Petersen]

Every situation where multiple wives is found in the Bible ends up in a disaster.

Heck, even many times with only ONE wife ends up in a disaster.