There has been no shortage of press on the release of documents by the LDS Church indicating the previously established fact (ref. Doctrine and Covenants 132) that Joseph Smith had multiple wives. In one instance, a blog article asked the question of whether or not the Bible supports the idea of polygamy, or plural marriage. I believe the answer is yes. Now, this is not a scholarly report or paper designed for presentation to a peer review, but it is my opinion based on the facts as laid out in the Old Testament in response to the question â??does the Bible support polygamy.â? This is not a treatise on whether polygamy or plural marriage is right or wrong.
The first recorded instance of plural marriage, or the marriage of one man to more than one wife is the case of Abram, Sarai, and Hagar. If you recall, Sarai was barren and had no children of her own, and she said to Abram â??pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by herâ? (Genesis 16:2). In verse 3 we learn that Abram took Hagar to wife. Following along in the story we learn that once Hagarâ??s child was born, Sarai became angry and Hagar took flight to avoid Saraiâ??s wrath. Not long thereafter, â??the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. At this encounter he said to Hagar, Saraiâ??s maid, â??whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitudeâ? (Genesis 16:7-10).
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