Short answer
Yes. No verse of the Bible forbids a man to have more than one wife. Abraham, Jacob, David and Solomon all had several. In the Bible, God (﷾) tells David through the prophet Nathan that He gave him King Saul's wives. The Law of Moses does not ban a second wife. It sets rules for the man who takes one. Jesus never forbade it either. The only "one wife" rule in the New Testament is for bishops and deacons, who are church leaders. Martin Luther, the Christian reformer of the 1500s, admitted that Scripture does not forbid it. In 1539 he approved a second wife for a Protestant prince. Among the scriptures, it is the Qur'an that sets a limit. A man may marry up to four, and only one if he fears he cannot be fair.
Full explanation
Prophets and kings with many wives
The men the Bible holds up as fathers of the faith had more than one wife. Sarai herself gave Hagar to Abram as a wife. Jacob had four wives: Leah, Rachel and their two maids. Gideon, David, Rehoboam and Abijah had many wives. Jehoiada the high priest chose two wives for King Joash, in the years when Joash did what was right. When the Bible faults Solomon, the fault it names is that his foreign wives turned his heart after other gods.
“And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.”
“And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.”
“And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.”
“When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.”
“And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.”
“And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.”
“And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)”
“But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.”
“And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters.”
“And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.”
| Man | Wives, as the Bible records |
|---|---|
| Abraham | Sarah, and Hagar, whom Sarai gave him as a wife |
| Jacob | Four: Leah, Rachel and their two maids |
| Gideon | Many wives |
| David | Many wives; Nathan says God (﷾) gave him Saul's wives |
| Solomon | Seven hundred wives |
| Rehoboam | Eighteen wives |
| Abijah | Fourteen wives |
| Joash | Two, chosen for him by Jehoiada the high priest |
The Bible says God (﷾) gave David Saul's wives
In the Bible's account, the prophet Nathan rebukes David over Bathsheba and lists what God (﷾) had given him. The list includes Saul's wives. So the Bible does not count several wives as David's fault.
“And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.”
The Law regulates a second wife
The Law of Moses assumes that a man may have two wives, and it protects the first. If he takes another wife, he must not reduce her food, her clothing or her marriage rights. If he has two wives and loves one more, he may not cheat the other's son of his birthright. The only limit falls on the king: he must not multiply wives, so that his heart does not turn away. Even that names no number, and no verse sets a number for anyone else.
“If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.”
“If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:”
“Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.”
The verses Christians rely on
Most churches teach that marriage is one man and one woman. They point to Jesus' words about creation: God (﷾) made them male and female, and the two become one flesh. They add that a bishop and a deacon, who are church leaders, must each be the husband of one wife. They add that Paul tells every man to have his own wife. Christians read these as setting one wife as God's (﷾) pattern. Each is answered below.
“And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”
“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;”
“Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.”
“If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.”
“Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.”
What Luther and the Reformers said
Three leaders of the Reformation read the same Bible and agreed that it does not forbid a second wife. The Reformation was the split in the 1500s that created the Protestant churches. In 1524 Luther wrote that he could not forbid a man several wives, because Scripture does not forbid it. He did not want the practice brought in among Christians, but he could not forbid it from Scripture. In 1539 he, Melanchthon and Bucer approved a second wife for Philip of Hesse, a German prince whose first wife was still alive. Their reason was that what the law of Moses allowed in marriage was not forbidden under the Christian gospel.
Asked whether a man might take more than one wife, Luther replied that he could not forbid it, since it does not contradict Scripture, though he did not wish to see the practice brought in among Christians.
Luther, Melanchthon and Bucer signed written advice to Landgrave Philip of Hesse, a Protestant prince, allowing him to take a second wife while his first wife lived, and asking that it be kept secret. What the law of Moses permitted in marriage, they wrote, was not forbidden in the Gospel. Philip married Margarethe von der Saale on 4 March 1540.
What Jewish law says
Jewish law, built on the same Hebrew Bible, also allowed more than one wife. The Talmud, the Jewish book of law and teaching, advises a man to marry no more than four. This lets him give each wife her due. The Jews of Germany and northern France banned the practice only around the year 1000, by a ruling of Rabbenu Gershom, a Jewish scholar. Many Jews in Muslim lands never accepted that ban.
Rava rules that a man may marry many wives provided he can support them, and the Sages add the advice that a man should not marry more than four, so that each wife has her due share of him.
Explains that biblical and Talmudic law allowed a man more than one wife; that the ban on polygamy attributed to Rabbenu Gershom of Mainz, about the year 1000, bound the Jews of Germany and northern France; and that Jewish communities in Muslim lands, which did not accept the ban, went on allowing it.
The Qur'an sets a limit and a condition
Before Islam, an Arab man could marry as many women as he liked. The Qur'an, revealed to the Prophet (ﷺ), set four as the upper limit. It attached a condition: if a man fears he cannot be fair, then only one. It also warns that perfect fairness between wives is beyond him, so he must never leave one of them neglected. Each wife is owed her own dower, the gift a husband gives his wife at marriage. A second wife is a permission with duties, never a command.
“If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice.”
“Ye are never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your ardent desire: But turn not away (from a woman) altogether, so as to leave her (as it were) hanging (in the air). If ye come to a friendly understanding, and practise self-restraint, Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.”
“And give the women (on marriage) their dower as a free gift; but if they, of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, Take it and enjoy it with right good cheer.”
| Source | The limit |
|---|---|
| The Law of Moses | No number; only the king must not multiply wives |
| The New Testament | One wife, for bishops and deacons |
| The Talmud | Advice: no more than four |
| Rabbenu Gershom, about 1000 | A ban, for the Jews of Germany and northern France |
| The Qur'an | Up to four, and only one if he fears he cannot be fair |
Verse by verse
Matthew 19:4-6 — Gospel of Matthew, chapter 19, verses 4-6
“And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”
Cited for
Jesus goes back to the beginning: one man and one woman become one flesh. That is God's pattern, and it rules out a second wife.
The response
Jesus was answering a question about divorce. He forbids putting away a wife to marry another. He does not forbid keeping her and marrying a second. The words he quotes come from Genesis 1 and 2. The same Torah goes on to record Abraham and Jacob taking several wives, and never condemns them for it. Its Law also regulates a man with two wives. The Bible even uses "one flesh" for a union with a harlot, so the phrase describes each union, not a limit of one.
Where it lands — The passage is about divorce. It does not forbid a second wife, and the Law that holds it allows one.
1 Timothy 3:2 — First Epistle to Timothy, chapter 3, verse 2
“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;”
Cited for
A bishop must be the husband of one wife. This shows God's standard for every believer.
The response
The rule is written for bishops and deacons only. A rule that only a bishop must have one wife suggests that other Christians might have more. The Church's ban came from later tradition, not from the Bible. Nowhere does the New Testament give it as a command to all believers. A rule for who may lead a church is not a law forbidding a second marriage to everyone else.
Where it lands — It is a rule for church officers, not a command to all Christians.
1 Corinthians 7:2 — First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 7, verse 2
“Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.”
Cited for
Paul says every man should have his own wife, in the singular.
The response
Paul is telling people to marry so as to avoid fornication. Each woman is to have her own husband, and each man his own wife. The verse is about marrying rather than sinning, and it names no limit.
Where it lands — The verse commands marriage over fornication. It does not forbid a second wife.
Deuteronomy 17:17 — Torah, Devarim, chapter 17, verse 17
“Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.”
Cited for
The king must not multiply wives. God disapproves of many wives.
The response
The verse gives its own reason: so that his heart does not turn away. It is the same fault named in Solomon's case, where foreign wives turned his heart to other gods. It sets no number, and it is addressed to the king alone. David had several wives, and the Bible says God (﷾) gave them to him.
Where it lands — The warning is against wives who turn a king to other gods. It is not a ban on a second wife.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
Marriage is one man and one woman for life. The Old Testament records polygamy without approving it, and Jesus restored God's pattern from creation.
Jesus points back to creation, where one man and one woman become one flesh. Christians read this as God's pattern of one wife.
Rebuttal
Jesus did point back to creation, and that is granted. But he was answering a question about divorce. He forbids putting away a wife to marry another, not keeping her and marrying a second. The same Torah records Abraham and Jacob with several wives, and never condemns them.
The New Testament requires church leaders to be the husband of one wife. Christians take this as the standard for all.
Rebuttal
The rule is there, and that is granted. But it is written for bishops and deacons only. A rule about who may lead a church is not a command to every believer. Nowhere does the New Testament give it to all.
The Islamic perspective
The Bible allows more than one wife and sets no limit. The Qur'an, revealed to the Prophet (ﷺ), brought the limit: four at most, and one if a man fears he cannot be fair.
Abraham, Jacob, Gideon, David and other kings of Judah had more than one wife. The Bible does not condemn them for it.
In the Bible, God (﷾) says through Nathan that He gave David Saul's wives.
The Law of Moses sets rules for a man with two wives, and sets no number for any man.
The New Testament's only one-wife rule is for church officers.
Luther held that Scripture does not forbid several wives. In 1539 he approved a second marriage for Philip of Hesse.
Jewish law also allowed several wives. The Talmud advises no more than four. The ban in northern Europe came only around the year 1000.
The Qur'an limits a man to four wives, and to one if he fears he cannot be just.