‘He Shall Not Multiply Wives’ — Does This Mean Polygyny is Sin?

Many argue from Deuteronomy 17:17 that a king — and therefore any man — may have only one wife. But the same passage says a king must not multiply horses or silver and gold, which no one reads as a limit of one. This teaching examines the actual Hebrew and Greek words for “multiply,” brings in the witness of David, and shows that the verse warns against excess and a heart turned away from God, not against a specific number of wives.

What this video covers

• How verse 16’s “he shall not multiply horses” exposes the flawed logic of reading verse 17 as “only one wife”
• The Hebrew word rāḇâ — to increase, grow, become numerous — and its use in “be fruitful and multiply”
• The Septuagint’s Greek plēthýnō and why it carries the same sense of increase, not a cap of one
• God giving David his master’s wives and offering more, since God does not give sin as a gift
• The contrast of Adam falling with one wife, Solomon falling with many, and David staying wholly devoted with many
• Why the danger named in the text is a heart led astray into idolatry, present in any marriage regardless of number
• Establishing doctrine by two or three witnesses rather than one verse pulled from context

Scriptures examined

• Deuteronomy 17:16–17 — not multiplying horses, wives, or silver and gold
• Genesis 1:28 — “be fruitful and multiply” (rāḇâ)
• Deuteronomy 19:15 — a matter established by two or three witnesses
• 2 Samuel 12:8 — God giving David his master’s wives and offering more
• James 1:13, 17 — God tempts no one and gives only good gifts
• 1 Kings 11:4 — Solomon’s heart turned away, unlike his father David

Why it matters

Treating Deuteronomy 17:17 as a numerical ban on wives forces the same reading onto horses, silver, and gold. The consistent, contextual reading is a warning against excess and divided devotion to God. For the full written treatment of this passage, see our verse-by-verse study of “he shall not multiply wives”.