How many wives did Abraham have?

Answer

Abraham had a primary wife, Sarah. “And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.”, (Genesis 11:29), and two additional wives, Hagar and Keturah (Genesis 16:3;Genesis 25:1).

Abraham’s first wife was Sarah. She alone would have legal rights and social standing as Abraham’s wife, and only her child Isaac would be the rightful heir to the family inheritance.

Sarah, who was unable to bear children, gave her Egyptian servant, Hagar, to Abraham as a concubine, although the Bible also refers to Hagar as Abraham’s wife (Genesis 16:1-4). A concubine was a woman, often a servant or slave, who lived with a man as if she were his wife, having sexual relations with him and bearing his children. When one’s wife was unable to produce an heir, taking a concubine was a common solution in ancient times. However, a concubine held a “secondary wife” status, lower than that of the primary wife. The concubine’s position, while subordinate to her master and mistress, was permanent. Concubines were provided for and protected as part of the family.

Hagar bore Abraham a son, named Ishmael, but he was not to be the son of God’s covenant (Genesis 17:1-14). It was through Abraham and Sarah’s child Isaac that God had promised to establish His everlasting covenant (Genesis 17:15-19).

Keturah was Abraham’s second wife after the death of Sarah: “Abraham had taken anotherAbraham had a wife named Keturah who bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah” (Genesis 25:1-2). Similar to Hagar, Keturah was referred to as both a “wife” and a “concubine” in Scripture «Now the sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bore Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. And the sons of Jokshan; Sheba, and Dedan. », (1 Chronicles 1:32). As a “wife,” Keturah was legally married to Abraham, sharing a sexual union with him. However, as a “concubine,” she held a lower status compared to Sarah. Keturah might have initially been Abraham’s concubine while Sarah was alive but later became his wife after Sarah’s passing.

Before Abraham’s death, he bequeathed all his possessions and the covenant blessings to Isaac, the child promised by God to him and Sarah. To Hagar and Keturah’s sons, Abraham only gave gifts from his household and then sent them away to dwell in the land east of Israel (Genesis 25:5-11).

Does Abraham having three wives imply that God approves of polygamy?

No. God’s ideal model for marriage has always been a monogamous relationship between one man and one woman (Genesis 1:27;Genesis 2:24). Since the time of Lamech «And Lamech took two wives for himself: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. », (Genesis 4:19), people practiced polygamy, but it was never part of God’s plan. Although polygamy is not explicitly prohibited in Scripture, its outcomes were frequently detrimental and troublesome (Deuteronomy 17:17;1 Kings 11:1-3;Judges 8:30—9:57;1 Samuel 1:1-7).

The Bible does not explicitly explain why God tolerated polygamy among His people. One reason may have been to provide a secure home for unmarried women who had no other safe way to provide for themselves in the male-dominated, patriarchal society of the ancient world. At that time in history, women were not educated or trained for employment and thus depended on male members of their families to protect and support them. With prostitution, slavery, or starvation as the only other choices, many unmarried women turned to concubinage.

Polygamy also contributed to the growth of humanity at a much faster rate, fulfilling God’s command to “be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it” «And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein. », (Genesis 9:7). Perhaps God tolerated polygamy in ancient times to address some of these issues, but the New Testament clearly specifies God’s ideal intent for marriage to be the union of one man and one woman for life (Ephesians 5:22-33;1 Timothy 3:2,12;Titus 1:6).