"Lamech took to himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah"
The First Polygamist?
This marks the first mention of polygamy since creation - which most commentator have taken to imply that he was the first ever polygamist. And although it's never explicitly mentioned it seems to me a safe enough assumption given that Adah and Zillah are the only wives mentioned throughout this list of descendants (verses 17-22).
(This verse would take on added meaning in my next related post regarding Lamech)
Numbers Syndrome
I have to admit that I completely missed this point upon first reading. Why? Let's just call it "Numbers Syndrome".
When I first started this blog, I figured I'd crawl through question-laden books like Genesis but joked that I would likely blow right through a genealogy book like Numbers without being able to conjure up a single question.
In short, I missed this point because I had arrogantly (albeit subconsciously) decided that I knew better than God and was quite capable of deciding on my own which verses in the Bible required examination and which - in this instance, those on genealogy - could be skimmed over. That I caught myself doing this while reading for my blog whose expressed purpose is to carefully study the Bible line-by-line was an extremely humbling experience. By God's grace, I hope it's a lesson that I'll take to heart, especially when I get around to reading Numbers - which, at the rate I'm going, will also require a heaping amount of God's grace!
(back to Genesis 4)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Funny you mention it, because I was having a discussion with P.Dan the other day about whether polygamy is expressly condemned in the Bible. We know from all our readings of the Pauline Epistles that Paul says it's a no-no - given the whole "husband of one wife" and "wife of one husband" stuff in Titus and the Timothys - but yeah, it's curious that at least a few noble and celebrated men in the Bible are polygamists, with Jacob immediately springing to mind. You could maybe even count Abraham if you consider Hagar as a concubine to be a wife of sorts. Not until the New Testament does it seem to be a taboo practice.
Thinking aloud, though, I'm also reminded of Jesus' talk with the woman at the well, and it's definitely implied there that her having many husbands is not a good thing.
Anyway, an interesting topic.
Hey, Did you know that Genesis is technically fits in the category of geneolgy? Genesis is a geneology with overwhelming notes.
K, even though the OT might not have an explicit negative statement on polygamy, the positive statement of what marriage is is very strong. Genesis 2:24 says, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."
Do you notice that it says, "leave his father and mother"? So a presupposition of the verse is that the parents are only two, not more. Moving on, it also says, "they [the man and the woman] shall become one flesh." If the man marries another woman he would need to become one flesh with her. But he's already one flesh with his first (more appropriately, only) wife.
I think that Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon, etc. were in sin for having multiple wives. Furthermore, Mohler's noted that whenever the Scriptures mention men with multiple wives, they (the Scriptures) point out that it turns out for bad.
I haven't done my own research on it, but I've heard it said (and can't immediately disprove it myself) that wherever there is a story of a polygamous husband in the OT, there is a story of how that man's marriages end badly.
Abraham (jealousy, lack of faith), Jacob (partiality, deceit, discord among children), David (adultery), Solomon (idolatry) easily fit.
In short, while the Bible never condemns polygamy explicitly, on an implicit level, it is shown to be incredibly evil and unwise.
I just realized that my previous comment is the exact same as Peddy's. I should have read his before commenting.
That is amusing.
Post a Comment