Genesis 2:24 sets the standard for marriage
This verse describes an event, it describes what "a marriage" is, what it doesn't do is tell us how many marriages a man can have. We need to look further into scripture to see if there are any limitations on how many marriages a man, or woman, can have.
The objection
This verse states:
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. - Genesis 2:24
This verse does not say that three or four become one flesh, but two. Anything outside of this is a violation of the design for marriage by God.
The answer
This verse describes an event, it describes what "a marriage" is, what it doesn't do is tell us how many marriages a man can have. We need to look further into scripture to see if there are any limitations on how many marriages a man, or woman, can have.
If we apply this logic consistently, we must also say that every man must marry, and every woman must marry, or they are violating God's design. But we know that further scripture illustrates that some men are called to celibacy, so Gen 2:24 cannot be prescriptive for all men across all time.
Logical Fallacies: Hasty Generalization
Descriptive vs. Prescriptive: The verse describes what "a marriage" is, a one flesh union between one man and one woman. It does not go on to say that a man is limited to one marriage or one flesh unionat a time.
A man must always start by leaving his father and mother and having one wife join to his body (as we join to the body of Christ in one spirit unions.) before he can have other wives join to him. A man does not need to have more than one wife, but there is no limitation on one-flesh unions that the man can have.
Cultural Context: The Bible later describes numerous instances of polygyny (one man with multiple wives) without explicit condemnation, including:
- Abraham (Genesis 16:3)
- Jacob (Genesis 29-30)
- David (2 Samuel 5:13, 12:8)
- Solomon (1 Kings 11:3)
- Gideon (Judges 8:30)
- Joash (2 Chronicles 24:2-3)
- Moses (Numbers 12:1, the man who penned Gen 2:24 as given by God, face to face, and clearly did not see it as a prohibition on polygyny.)
Women are explicitly forbidden from having more than one husband, women are called adulteresses and the sentence was death. While there is no such prohibition for men:
If there is a man who commits adultery with another man's wife, one who commits adultery with his friend's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. - Leviticus 20:10
For a woman, having more than one husband is adultery, but for a man, it's just a marriage as long as the woman is marriageable.
