Polygamy in Bible and Quran

Mankind has practiced polygamy for thousands of years. Many of the ancient Israelites were polygamous, some having hundreds of wives.

King Solomon who was regarded as wise and pious is said to have had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. David had ninety-nine women and concubines. In other words, for each women Mohammad had, Solomon had 71 women and David had seven women.



As a matter of fact, King Solomon s' wives represent united nation, He married women from different nations e.g., Egyptian, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites in addition to the Israelites.

In 1 Kings 11: 1-13

1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.

2 They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.

3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.

The verses 1-13 let somebody see that:

King Solomon had 1000 women, i.e., 71 times as did Mohammad.

Not only that, but God had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods; however, Solomon did not keep the Lord's command.

His wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God

He followed his women s' gods

Solomon built a high place for his women s' gods

So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely

The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD

Quite the opposite, Mohammad s' heart was fully devoted and submitted to His LORD, Allah.

King David s' wives:

The Bible does not give the exact number of King David s' wives. Some said they were 37, others said they were 99.

In Hebron, he had 6 wives:

According to 2 Samuel 3, he was in Hebron and had 6 wives.

Then he left Hebron and went to Jerusalem and also took more concubines and wives according to 2 Samuel 5

Interestingly enough, the price for one of his bride was supposedly to be killing of 100 Philistines but He was more generous!

In 1 Samuel 18:

25 Saul replied "Say to David, 'The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.' "Saul's plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines.

26 When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king's son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed,

27 David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented the full number to the king so that he might become the king's son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.



2 Samuel 3

14 Then David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, demanding, "Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for the price of a hundred Philistine foreskins."

Also, King David saw a another woman showering

According to 2 Samuel 11, King David admired a beautiful married woman, Bathsheba, and got her pregnant (adultery). Then, He commanded his army general Joab to put her husband, "Uriah the Hittite," in the "border line where the fighting is ferocious and to drag the men back to let him be killed. After Uriah's death, King David married Bathsheba (he already had many wives and concubines before her).

In 2 Samuel 12, Nathan Rebukes David

7 Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.

9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

What is more, the blanket of King David was a young virgin to keep him warm:

In 1 Kings 1:

1 When King David was old and well advanced in years, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. 2 So his servants said to him, "Let us look for a young virgin to attend the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm."

3 Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4 The girl was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no intimate relations with her.

The Bible consequently illustrates that king David:

- Was a mass execution (killed 200 Palestine's as a price of his bride).

- Was a big polygamist

- Committed adultery (with the wife of Uriah)

- Took that wife after killing her husband.

- Misused a young virgin as a blanket to keep him warm.

Obviously, if Mohammad had done half of these deeds of King David, the western media would have said a lot.



Nonetheless, the study of the Bible indicates that:

First of all, those who say the bible does not overlook polygamy is just straight up wrong. It is contained in the Old Testament, which Jesus himself said he would honor.

Also, no where does the Bible say "Do not marry more than one woman"

The Bible treats polygamy as if it were an assumed and accepted practice.

Polygamy is a very ancient practice found in many human societies. The Bible does not condemn polygamy.

To the contrary, the Old Testament frequently attests to the legality of polygamy.

As for polygamy, it has been practiced by Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon and many other early prophets as found in the Old Testament.

No one can tell that the law of Old Testament is outdated. Jesus said that he has come to fulfill the law of the Prophets and not to destroy the law.

Also, Jesus was not known to have spoken against polygamy.

As recently as the seventeenth century, polygamy was practiced and accepted by the Christian Church. The Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) has allowed and practiced polygamy in the United States.

The Bible has many verses which allow polygamy and sets rules for it. For example:

Genesis Abraham married three women and Jacob married four women

Exodus 21:10 If he (a man) takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marriage rights.

In this verse, a man can marry an infinite amount of women without any limits to how many he can marry.

In Deuteronomy 21:15 "If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons...."

The Old Testament does have some commands on how to distribute the property of a man among his sons from different wives (Deut. 22:7).

The only restriction on polygamy is a ban on taking a wife's sister as a rival wife (Leviticus 18:18).

Judges 8:30 Gideon, a good but flawed leader had 70 wives.

I Samuel 1:2 Samuels father had two wives

In 2 Samuel 5:13; 1 Chronicles 3:1-9, 14:3, King David had six wives and numerous concubines.

I Samuel 25:43 David had multiple wives.

II Samuel 12:8 Saul did too.

II Samuel 12 Noteworthy in Nathan's rebuke of David, God speaks through Nathan to David of his multiple wives but never censures him for them (in contrast to his rebuke for killing Uriah for Bathsheba.)

II Samuel 19:5 David also had concubines.

In 1 Kings 11:3, King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines.



II Kings 24:15 Jehoiachin had multiple wives

II Chronicles 11 Rehaboam has 18 wives and 60 concubines.

In 2 Chronicles 11:21, King Solomon's son Rehoboam had 18 wives and 60 concubines.

II Chronicles 11:23, Rehaboam give many wives to the district leaders for political stability.

II Chronicles 13:21 King Abijah has 14 wives.

II Chronicles 21:17 Jehoram has many wives.

Polygamy in Islam:

Islam does not encourage Polygamy; it only gives grant in certain special situation for Muslims to practice Polygamy. In times of war, when the male population is severely reduced leaving behind many widows, polygamy is a better option. But of course there are some Muslims who abuse polygamy. They need to fear Allah and understand that they have to answer him when we meet our Creator in the afterlife. In fact, the Noble Quran urges Muslims to better marry only one wife.



As a final point, the Truth is the Truth:

All Muslims adore and esteem King David and Solomon very much. They do not believe in the biblical stories talking about them doing what we have seen herein. They consider such biblical stories as insulting and false overstatements for these two great prophets. In Muslims' faith, King David and Solomon are vivid examples for the pious, wisdom and devotion to their Lord, Allah.