43 Bible Verses about Polygamy

“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and everyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

Let us therefore make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the law.

“It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce.

“If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds something improper about her, he may write her a divorce certificate, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.

An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an able teacher,

one who is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of wildness or rebellion.

He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won’t go astray. He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself.

Didn’t the one God make us with a remnant of His life-breath? And what does the One seek? A godly offspring. So watch yourselves carefully, and do not act treacherously against the wife of your youth.

“Haven’t you read,” He replied, “that He who created them in the beginning made them male and female,”

“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and everyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

Let us therefore make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the law.

“It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce.

“If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds something improper about her, he may write her a divorce certificate, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.

An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an able teacher,

one who is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of wildness or rebellion.

He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won’t go astray. He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself.

Didn’t the one God make us with a remnant of His life-breath? And what does the One seek? A godly offspring. So watch yourselves carefully, and do not act treacherously against the wife of your youth.

“Haven’t you read,” He replied, “that He who created them in the beginning made them male and female,”

You are not to marry a woman as a rival to her sister and have sexual intercourse with her during her sister’s lifetime.

An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an able teacher,

Deacons must be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households competently.

one who is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of wildness or rebellion.

He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won’t go astray. He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself.

After he arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.

Sons were born to David in Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelite; his second was Chileab, by Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite; the third was Absalom, son of Maacah the daughter of King Talmai of Geshur; the fourth was Adonijah, son of Haggith; the fifth was Shephatiah, son of Abital; read more.
the sixth was Ithream, by David's wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron.

When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Praise the Lord who championed my cause against Nabal's insults and restrained His servant from doing evil. The Lord brought Nabal's evil deeds back on his own head." Then David sent messengers to speak to Abigail about marrying him. When David's servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, "David sent us to bring you to him as a wife." She bowed her face to the ground and said, "Here I am, your servant, to wash the feet of my lord's servants." read more.
Then Abigail got up quickly, and with her five female servants accompanying her, rode on the donkey following David's messengers. And so she became his wife. David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and the two of them became his wives. But Saul gave his daughter Michal, David's wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

David took more wives in Jerusalem, and he became the father of more sons and daughters.

He had two wives, the first named Hannah and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.

If he takes an additional wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing, or marital rights of the first wife.

Jehoiada acquired two wives for him, and he was the father of sons and daughters.

Jacob slept with Rachel also, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years. When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. Leah conceived, gave birth to a son, and named him Reuben, for she said, "The Lord has seen my affliction; surely my husband will love me now." read more.
She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, "The Lord heard that I am unloved and has given me this [son] also." So she named him Simeon. She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, "At last, my husband will become attached to me because I have borne him three sons." Therefore he was named Levi.

When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob [any children], she envied her sister. "Give me sons, or I will die!" she said to Jacob. Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, "Am I in God's place, who has withheld children from you?" Then she said, "Here is my slave Bilhah. Go sleep with her, and she'll bear [children] for me so that through her I too can build [a family]." read more.
So Rachel gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Rachel said, "God has vindicated me; yes, He has heard me and given me a son," and she named him Dan. Rachel's slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Rachel said, "In [my] wrestlings with God, I have wrestled with my sister and won," and she named him Naphtali. When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Leah's slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, "What good fortune!" and she named him Gad. When Leah's slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, Leah said, "I am happy that the women call me happy," so she named him Asher. Reuben went out during the wheat harvest and found some mandrakes in the field. When he brought them to his mother Leah, Rachel asked, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes." But Leah replied to her, "Isn't it enough that you have taken my husband? Now you also want to take my son's mandrakes?" "Well," Rachel said, "you can sleep with him tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes." When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes." So Jacob slept with her that night. God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. Leah said, "God has rewarded me for giving my slave to my husband," and she named him Issachar. Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. "God has given me a good gift," Leah said. "This time my husband will honor me because I have borne him six sons," and she named him Zebulun. Later, Leah bore a daughter and named her Dinah. Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son, and said, "God has taken away my shame."

But Leah replied to her, “Isn’t it enough that you have taken my husband? Now you also want to take my son’s mandrakes?”

“Well,” Rachel said, “you can sleep with him tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”

Jacob slept with Rachel also, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

But Sarah saw the son mocking-the one Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham. So she said to Abraham, "Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be a co-heir with my son Isaac!" Now this was a very difficult thing for Abraham because of his son. read more.
But God said to Abraham, "Do not be concerned about the boy and your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your offspring will be traced through Isaac. But I will also make a nation of the slave's son because he is your offspring." Early in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin, [put them] on Hagar's shoulders, and sent her and the boy away. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beer-sheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, "I can't [bear to] watch the boy die!" So as she sat nearby, she wept loudly.

When Esau was 40 years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.

so Esau went to Ishmael and married, in addition to his other wives, Mahalath daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. She was the sister of Nebaioth.

Rehoboam married Mahalath, daughter of David's son Jerimoth and of Abihail daughter of Jesse's son Eliab. She bore him sons: Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. After her, he married Maacah daughter of Absalom. She bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. read more.
Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines. He acquired 18 wives and 60 concubines and was the father of 28 sons and 60 daughters. Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as chief, leader among his brothers, intending to make him king. Rehoboam also showed discernment by dispersing some of his sons to all the regions of Judah and Benjamin and to all the fortified cities. He gave them plenty of provisions and sought many wives for them.

"If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved bear him sons, and if the unloved wife has the firstborn son, when that man gives what he has to his sons as an inheritance, he is not to show favoritism to the son of the loved [wife] as his firstborn over the firstborn of the unloved wife. He must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of everything that belongs to him, for he is the firstfruits of his virility; he has the rights of the firstborn.

"If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved bear him sons, and if the unloved wife has the firstborn son, when that man gives what he has to his sons as an inheritance, he is not to show favoritism to the son of the loved [wife] as his firstborn over the firstborn of the unloved wife. He must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of everything that belongs to him, for he is the firstfruits of his virility; he has the rights of the firstborn.

When Solomon was old, his wives seduced him [to follow] other gods. His heart was not completely with the Lord his God, as his father David's heart had been. Solomon followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was evil in the Lord's sight, and unlike his father David, he did not completely follow the Lord. read more.
At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable idol of Moab, and for Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites on the hill across from Jerusalem. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods.

King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh's daughter: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women from the nations that the Lord had told the Israelites about, "Do not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn you away [from Me] to their gods." Solomon was deeply attached to these women and loved [them]. He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines, and they turned his heart away [from the Lord]. read more.
When Solomon was old, his wives seduced him [to follow] other gods. His heart was not completely with the Lord his God, as his father David's heart had been. Solomon followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was evil in the Lord's sight, and unlike his father David, he did not completely follow the Lord. At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable idol of Moab, and for Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites on the hill across from Jerusalem. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods.

Whenever Elkanah offered a sacrifice, he always gave portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to each of her sons and daughters. But he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved her even though the Lord had kept her from conceiving. Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because the Lord had kept Hannah from conceiving. read more.
Whenever she went up to the Lord's house, her rival taunted her in this way every year. Hannah wept and would not eat.

Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines. He acquired 18 wives and 60 concubines and was the father of 28 sons and 60 daughters.

Those who survive him will be buried by the plague,
yet their widows will not weep for them.

Nebuchadnezzar deported Jehoiachin to Babylon. Also, he took the king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Yahweh is now about to strike your people, your sons, your wives, and all your possessions with a horrible affliction.

However, Abijah grew strong, acquired 14 wives, and fathered 22 sons and 16 daughters.

I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more.

Then the Lord said to me, "Go again; show love to a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, just as the Lord loves the Israelites though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes." So I bought her for 15 shekels of silver and five bushels of barley.

Jacob slept with Rachel also, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

Jehoiada acquired two wives for him, and he was the father of sons and daughters.

But he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved her even though the Lord had kept her from conceiving.

On that day seven women
will seize one man, saying,
“We will eat our own bread
and provide our own clothing.
Just let us be called by your name.
Take away our disgrace.”

He had two wives, the first named Hannah and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.

Gideon had 70 sons, his own offspring, since he had many wives.

Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah.

Ashhur fathered Tekoa and had two wives, Helah and Naarah.

Ethan’s son: Azariah.

Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, wives, and concubines could drink from them.