Adultery in the Bible (page 2)

caliber

thank you for your response trujw ... I believe you , you have sincere questions

I shall post an article I found on your question of concubines.

...basically it addresses what the possible purpose of Biblical recognized concubines may have been

The simple answer is a second wife (or multiple wives). The term concubine is a relatively modern word which has different meanings with many societies. The Webster's dictionary defines this word as:

a woman who cohabits with a man without being married
a secondary wife in certain polygamous societies

The bible definition aligns more closely to a polygamous society in the Ancient Scriptures of Israel (O.T), while the term “concubine” does not appear in the Christian Era Scriptures (N.T.). We will need to go back to the beginning for the proper definition (or intent) of the Hebrew word that was translated into concubine. Genesis 2:24 states: Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. (KJV) This verse seems to dispel the notion that God approved of multiple wives or a polygamous society. But, many miss the most important point about this verse:

Death was not yet introduced! Adam and Eve had not fallen (or sinned) at this point. When God created man (Adam/Eve), His intent was for them to live continually. They were to reproduce and teach their children the ways of God. Their existence would have become a utopia! The idea of “extinction” was not even considered. Unfortunately, man disobeyed God and death was introduced. This also created the possibility of extinction! Extinction put into simple terms is when a species does not reproduce enough to off set the death rate. This is probably one of the reason early humans lived hundreds of years instead of the shorter period humans live today.

Genesis 6 introduces a change in the human life span, no longer will those born live hundreds of years, but their life span would eventually be only around 120 years. God also saw how evil man had become and decided to destroy most of what existed. The bible states that eight human beings survived the Great Flood and with this event the birth rate verses the death rate would change and this is where the term “concubine” is introduced! Through-out the remainder of Genesis we can see the form of a polygamous society. This can be supported by the laws of God! (See: Exodus 21:7-11 and Deuteronomy 21:10-17)

We must also review the law of Deuteronomy 22:28-29. So, when we review these laws it becomes clear: if there was sexual intercourse, the woman was not a “concubine” but a wife and the man was required to follow several laws related to that union. These unions seems to be permitted so that God's chosen (Abraham's seed) would not face extinction, but there is an exception: adultery (review Lev. 20:10-12 and Proverbs 5). A concubine (biblically speaking) would be a maidservant who became a wife (betrothed) because of sexual relations with a man. So, am I suggesting that God permitted plural marriages? Yes, but only in ancient times! This was changed by God and reverted back to the instructions in Genesis 2:24 and introduced by Jesus. (Matthew 19:1-15) No longer was extinction in play, because Jesus said he would intervene before that could happened. (Matthew 24:22-23) Review: Judges 19 and 20, Esther 2

Nov 26, 2011 by anonymous

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I wish you peace

Caliber

Crazyguy

I think the question is an easy answer, woman are not driven by the need to have sex, so is it not possible that a provision was included in the bible for men to have sex with more then one parnter, more then one wife or prostitute? As we know one of the biggests complaints married men of today (esspecailly in the US) have is not enough physical activity with ones mate.

scotoma

Crazy Guy:

It all depends on the woman or man and their physical health and hormonal profile.

In fact the bible says to turn down young widows for relief because their sexual impulses are likely to lead them astray from the path.

1Tim 5:11

It's all religion of nomadic people living in tents.

leaving_quietly

Another one I noticed is that relations between two unmarried persons were not on the list of forbidden things in the Law. It usually had to do with relations with some sort of relative or another man's wife, etc., but not one mention about two unrelated, unmarried persons.

ranmac

I love these topics, theyre like a mating call for the apologists!

BU2B

Good point leaving quietly. So manyJWs in their comments will say how the penalty for fornication under the law was death, or elders on a JC for fornication may say that in bible times you would have been stoned and thats simply not accurate.

Crazyguy

Well i really need to get to the bottom if this subject, my wife doesnt have the desire for sex or any real intamacy and after 18 years of marriage im really getting sick of it. If it wasnt for the kids and my biblical views (which may be inacurate) i would of probably already moved on.

trujw

Be careful crazy guy once it's on here it is here forever. Just looking out for a brother

trujw

You have 4 minutes

leaving_quietly

I could be wrong about the relations between unmarried persons. There was no prohibition specifically against that, but I found Deut 22:13-21, which implies that it's improper, even calling the non-virgin girl a prostitute.

13?“In case a man takes a wife and actually has relations with her and has come to hate her, 14?and he has charged her with notorious deeds and brought forth a bad name upon her and has said, ‘This is the woman I have taken, and I proceeded to go near her, and I did not find evidence of virginity in her’; 15?the father of the girl and her mother must also take and bring forth the evidence of the girl’s virginity to the older men of the city at the gate of it; 16?and the girl’s father must say to the older men, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as a wife, and he went hating her. 17?And here he is charging her with notorious deeds, saying: “I have found your daughter does not have evidence of virginity.” Now this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they must spread out the mantle before the older men of the city. 18?And the older men of that city must take the man and discipline him. 19?And they must fine him a hundred silver shekels and give them to the girl’s father, because he brought forth a bad name upon a virgin of Israel; and she will continue to be his wife. He will not be allowed to divorce her all his days.
20?“If, though, this thing has proved to be the truth, evidence of virginity was not found in the girl, 21?they must also bring the girl out to the entrance of her father’s house, and the men of her city must pelt her with stones, and she must die, because she has committed a disgraceful folly in Israel by committing prostitution in the house of her father. So you must clear away what is bad from your midst.

Adultery in the Bible

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