'Wives' in the Bible
Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah.
Lamech said to his wives:Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words.For I killed a man for wounding me,a young man for striking me.
the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives for themselves.
But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives.
So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark because of the waters of the flood.
On that same day Noah along with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah’s wife, and his three sons’ wives entered the ark with him.
“Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you.
So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, came out.
Abram and Nahor took wives: Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah.
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.
Give me my wives and my children that I have worked for, and let me go. You know how hard I have worked for you.”
If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, though no one is with us, understand that God will be a witness between you and me.”
During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female slaves, and his 11 sons, and crossed the ford of Jabbok.
“These men are peaceful toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and move about in it, for indeed, the region is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as our wives and give our daughters to them.
They captured all their possessions, children, and wives and plundered everything in the houses.
Esau took his wives from the Canaanite women: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite,
Esau took his wives, sons, daughters, and all the people of his household, as well as his herds, all his livestock, and all the property he had acquired in Canaan; he went to a land away from his brother Jacob.
These are the family records of Jacob.At 17 years of age, Joseph tended sheep with his brothers. The young man was working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought a bad report about them to their father.
You are also commanded, ‘Do this: Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your young children and your wives and bring your father here.
Jacob left Beer-sheba. The sons of Israel took their father Jacob in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him, along with their children and their wives.
The total number of persons belonging to Jacob—his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons—who came to Egypt: 66.
My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.
Then Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.”
Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and little children will become plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
So they got away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Meanwhile, Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrance of their tents with their wives, children, and infants.
Our little children, wives, livestock, and all our animals will remain here in the cities of Gilead,
But your wives, young children, and livestock—I know that you have a lot of livestock—will remain in the cities I have given you
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.
“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,
your children, your wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water—
Your wives, young children, and livestock may remain in the land Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But your fighting men must cross over in battle formation ahead of your brothers and help them
The Israelites took their daughters as wives for themselves, gave their own daughters to their sons, and worshiped their gods.
Gideon had 70 sons, his own offspring, since he had many wives.
and had 30 sons. He gave his 30 daughters in marriage to men outside the tribe and brought back 30 wives for his sons from outside the tribe. Ibzan judged Israel seven years,
What should we do about wives for the survivors? We’ve sworn to the Lord not to give them any of our daughters as wives.”
The elders of the congregation said, “What should we do about wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin have been destroyed?”
But we can’t give them our daughters as wives.” For the Israelites had sworn, “Anyone who gives a wife to a Benjaminite is cursed.”
When their fathers or brothers come to us and protest, we will tell them, ‘Show favor to them, since we did not get enough wives for each of them in the battle. You didn’t actually give the women to them, so you are not guilty of breaking your oath.’”
Her sons took Moabite women as their wives: one was named Orpah and the second was named Ruth. After they lived in Moab about 10 years,
He had two wives, the first named Hannah and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.
David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and the two of them became his wives.
David and his men stayed with Achish in Gath. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow.
When David and his men arrived at the town, they found it burned down. Their wives, sons, and daughters had been kidnapped.
David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had also been kidnapped.
David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken; he also rescued his two wives.
So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.
After he arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.
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.
“This is what the Lord says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them publicly.
Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, “Today you have shamed all your soldiers—those who rescued your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, your wives, and your concubines.
He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines, and they turned his heart away from the Lord.
When Solomon was old, his wives seduced him to follow other gods. He was not completely devoted to Yahweh his God, as his father David had been.
He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods.
‘Your silver and your gold are mine! And your best wives and children are mine as well!’”
The messengers then returned and said, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘I have sent messengers to you, saying: You are to give me your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children.
Then the king of Israel called for all the elders of the land and said, “Think it over and you will see that this one is only looking for trouble, for he demanded my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, and I didn’t turn him down.”
One of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, has died. You know that your servant feared the Lord. Now the creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves.”
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.
Ashhur fathered Tekoa and had two wives, Helah and Naarah.
Along with them, they had 36,000 troops for battle according to the genealogical records of their ancestral houses, for they had many wives and children.
Machir took wives from Huppim and Shuppim. The name of his sister was Maacah. Another descendant was named Zelophehad, but he had only daughters.
Shaharaim had sons in the country of Moab after he had divorced his wives Hushim and Baara.
David took more wives in Jerusalem, and he became the father of more sons and daughters.
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 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.
However, Abijah grew strong, acquired 14 wives, and fathered 22 sons and 16 daughters.
All Judah was standing before the Lord with their infants, their wives, and their children.
Yahweh is now about to strike your people, your sons, your wives, and all your possessions with a horrible affliction.
So they went to war against Judah and invaded it. They carried off all the possessions found in the king’s palace and also his sons and wives; not a son was left to him except Jehoahaz, his youngest son.
Jehoiada acquired two wives for him, and he was the father of sons and daughters.
Our fathers fell by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity because of this.
to those registered by genealogy—with all their infants, wives, sons, and daughters—of the whole assembly (for they had faithfully consecrated themselves as holy);
Indeed, the Israelite men have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has become mixed with the surrounding peoples. The leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness!”
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.
Therefore, make a confession to Yahweh the God of your fathers and do His will. Separate yourselves from the surrounding peoples and your foreign wives.”
They pledged to send their wives away, and being guilty, they offered a ram from the flock for their guilt;
All of these had married foreign women, and some of the wives had given birth to children.
After I made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awe-inspiring Lord, and fight for your countrymen, your sons and daughters, your wives and homes.”
There was a widespread outcry from the people and their wives against their Jewish countrymen.
The rest of the people—the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with their wives, sons, and daughters, everyone who is able to understand and who has separated themselves from the surrounding peoples to obey the law of God—
We will not give our daughters in marriage to the surrounding peoples and will not take their daughters as wives for our sons.
I rebuked them, cursed them, beat some of their men, and pulled out their hair. I forced them to take an oath before God and said: “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or yourselves!
Their children will be smashed to death before their eyes;their houses will be looted,and their wives raped.
Their houses will be turned over to others,their fields and wives as well,for I will stretch out My handagainst the inhabitants of the land.This is the Lord’s declaration.
Therefore, I will give their wives to other men,their fields to new occupants,for from the least to the greatest,everyone is making profit dishonestly.From prophet to priest,everyone deals falsely.
The people they are prophesying to will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. There will be no one to bury them—they, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will pour out their own evil on them.”
Therefore, hand their children over to famine,and pour the sword’s power on them.Let their wives become childless and widowed,their husbands slain by deadly disease,their young men struck down by the sword in battle.
Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease.
because they have committed an outrage in Israel by committing adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken a lie in My name, which I did not command them. I am He who knows, and I am a witness.” This is the Lord’s declaration.
We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, son of our ancestor Rechab, in all he commanded us. So we haven’t drunk wine our whole life—we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters.
All your wives and sons will be brought out to the Chaldeans. You yourself will not escape from them, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon and this city will burn down.’”
Have you forgotten the evils of your fathers, the evils of Judah’s kings, the evils of their wives, your own evils, and the evils of your wives that were committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
However, all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, all the women standing by—a great assembly—and all the people who were living in the land of Egypt at Pathros answered Jeremiah,
This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘As for you and your wives, you women have spoken with your mouths, and you men fulfilled it by your deeds, saying, “We will keep our vows that we have made to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings for her.” Go ahead, confirm your vows! Pay your vows!’
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.
So they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, wives, and concubines drank from them.
Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you and your nobles, wives, and concubines drank wine from them, you praised the gods made of silver and gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or understand. But you have not glorified the God who holds your life-breath in His hand and who controls the whole course of your life.
The king then gave the command, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the lions’ den—they, their children, and their wives. They had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.