Topic
Common objections to biblical marriage and the patriarchal house, answered from Scripture.
A reaction to Pearl Davis’s “Street Talk” episode asking Christian women whether they should obey their husbands. The popular “mutual submission” answer is tested against Scripture — Ephesians 5, 1 Peter 3, and the order of Elohim, Messiah, man, and woman.
What actually constitutes a marriage in Yah’s eyes? No license, officiant, vows, or ceremony appears in the text. Responding to a Christian podcast, this video shows Scripture’s pattern — a man takes a lawfully available woman and she becomes his — versus inherited church tradition.
Peter’s vision in Acts 10 is the go-to proof that the dietary laws are abolished. But Peter interpreted it himself, twice, and it was about people, not pork. We read Acts 10–11 and apply the Deuteronomy 13 false-prophet test to the traditional reading.
A Forge Media panel tests Rich Tidwell’s new claims against Torah: a 20-year age requirement for marriage, a sexual rule for plural homes, and a permanent ban on remarriage after divorce. Where YAH is silent, can a teacher legislate sin?
Part 2 of the Berean response to HonestYouthPastor on biblical polygyny: Leah crediting God for opening her womb, the Matthew 19 eunuch “calling,” whether Paul could overrule Torah, the 1 Corinthians 7 “his own wife” Greek argument, and Isaiah 4:1’s seven women.
Part 1 of a Berean response to HonestYouthPastor’s case against biblical polygyny: testing his 1 Timothy 4 “doctrine of demons” claim, the Rachel and Leah “dysfunction” charge, his 2 Samuel 12 “property transfer” reading, and Matthew 19’s one flesh.
Mike Winger argues that 1 Timothy 3:2 disqualifies polygynists and that polygyny is sin. We test his case against Scripture: he reads “only” into “husband of one wife,” never cites a law forbidding it, and his David and Solomon examples backfire.
When Pastor Rich Tidwell disclosed a second wife, the Christian world erupted. A roundtable with Abrie Kilian, Pete Rambo, Ryan Ridgely and Biblical Marriages tests the monogamy-only doctrine against Scripture.
After Pastor Rich Tidwell publicly took a second wife and broke the internet, four men test the monogamy-only doctrine against Scripture and ask where the ban on biblical polygyny actually came from.
A point-by-point reply to TimcastIRL and Andrew Wilson mocking Pastor Rich Tidwell for taking a second wife. The objection that biblical polygyny is immoral is tested against Torah, the patriarchs, and YAH Himself.
Scriptural Focus argues God merely “allowed” polygamy as a flaw outside His design. This response tests that claim against the text — sin is transgression of the law, Yah gave David wives, regulated plural marriage, and never once condemned a man for it.
A chronological walk through Genesis answering the popular claim that Abraham and Sarah “lacked faith” by taking Hagar. When Hagar was taken, God had never promised a son through Sarah, and disparaging Abraham risks the curse of Genesis 12:3.
A Berean response to Mark Driscoll’s list of forbidden sexual acts. The top three — fornication, adultery, polygamy — collapse once you trade Webster’s definitions for the Torah’s. Get the definition of adultery right and the rest of Scripture falls into place.
“The two become one flesh, not three or four” is the go-to proof that Jesus banned polygyny. But in Matthew 19 the question was divorce, and “one flesh” means union, not a head count. We trace the phrase through Genesis, Paul, and the prophets.
Deuteronomy 17:17 says a king must not multiply wives — so does that forbid more than one? The same chapter says he must not multiply horses or gold. We test the Hebrew rāḇâ, the Greek plēthýnō, and why David kept many wives yet stayed wholly devoted: the warning is excess, not a number.
Have you been told that merely glancing at a beautiful woman is adultery? This study takes Matthew 5:28 back to its context — the Greek epithymeō, the word gunē (“wife”), and the Torah’s definition of adultery — to show Yeshua was forbidding coveting another man’s wife.
A Berean reply to Once Lost Ministries' case against polygamy. Their myths about Abraham, David, and Genesis 2:24 are tested against Scripture, exposing eisegesis and the failure to show one verse forbidding plural marriage.
This is an objection we will have to get into the Greek to address, but first I will lay out a few important things to understand upfront.
Some argue that Paul's requirement for church leaders to be a "one woman man" (μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα) in 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:6 is a clear prohibition against polygamy or remarriage for church leaders, and by extension, all Christians.
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.
As a general rule, we must not draw conclusions from any one witness regarding a matter. The LORD says that on account of two or three witnesses a matter shall be established:
Paul is quoting Gen 2:24 and we have addressed that already here.
As with everything, context matters. What is the context of this passage? Let's back up one verse to find out, the majority of people who use this verse as a monogamy-only proof text fail to include the verse prior to it which sets the context.
Jesus was responding to a question from the Pharisees about divorce, not addressing the issue of polygyny directly. The Pharisees asked:
While it's true that the Bible records conflicts in polygynous families, this argument falls into the logical fallacy of hasty generalization, it is also objectively false if you read through all the examples of polygyny in the scriptures. If you really go and look at all of the issues that people…
While it's true that legal polygamy (having multiple state-recognized marriages) is prohibited in many countries, this objection misunderstands both the nature of biblical marriage and the distinction between civil and divine law.
Does polygamy “do violence to the gospel”? Part 3 answers the Christ-and-the-church argument, “Christ has one bride,” the progressive-revelation/“kid gloves” claim, and shows the one-body-many-members picture fits a man and his wives — with Isaiah 4 and Matthew 25.
Does “husband of one wife” forbid polygamy? Part 2 answers the invented “sub-creational sin” category, the 1 Timothy 3:2 elder argument, Calvin and Chrysostom, and shows from Abimelech in Genesis 20 that adultery is taking another man’s wife — not taking a wife.
Does Genesis 2 prove monogamy-only? Part 1 of a Berean response to Reformation Red Pill, testing the “creation norm,” the prescriptive-vs-descriptive claim, the “polygyny always ends in disaster” trope, and Matthew 19 against Scripture.
Wretched tells a young man polygamy is always a disaster and clearly forbidden. This response tests each claim — Deuteronomy 17, Genesis 2:24, Ephesians 5, the Judges 19 “unmentioned sin” argument — and shows enforced monogamy rests on tradition, not the text.
Taco Talks claims polygamy is never condoned in Scripture and that men like Solomon, David, and Jacob were committing rampant adultery. This response tests each claim against the text — and shows that getting the definition of adultery wrong is what breaks the whole reading.
The popular Christian website GotQuestions.org presents an article titled "Does the Bible truly teach monogamy / monogamous relationships?" which argues that God's original design for marriage was exclusively monogamous. This rebuttal examines their claims in light of the full biblical witness.
Mike Winger recently released a series of videos on biblical marriages, or polygamy as he terms them. In response, Rob B Kowalksi, BibleMarriages, Peter Rambo Sr, and Glenn Braunstein have collaborated to provide a comprehensive reply. Our goal is to clarify misconceptions, address objections, and…
If you start reading your Bible from the front of the book it won't take very long for you to come across scripture that records a man taking more than one woman, or wife, to himself. Today we call this polygamy, or specifically, polygyny. It happens within the first four chapters of Genesis.
Newsletter
Scripture-grounded teaching on marriage and the biblical family, straight to your inbox. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Funded by the faithful and ad-free — freely received, freely given.
Support the work