Why is the King an exception when it comes to multiplying wives for himself? What is this for? I have some ideas, but I am interested to know what you all think.
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Why is the King an exception?
- Thread starter Shadowjak's Dancer
- Start date
As the head of state he has a unique ability to abuse his position to amass an unusually large number of wives. But it wasn't really about numbers but about what great numbers signified. Kings tend to marry for political purposes, and the influence of foreign wives was dangerous for the king; as is setting his heart upon the pursuit of women. Not only did we see this play out in the history of that nation, but the passage on this says so explicitly..."He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away" [emph added]. This wasn't so much an exception, as a protection for one of unique position.
But that is also part of a greater passage (Deut 17:14-20)...
These are protections to keep the King on the right path, that he may not lead his people astray but rather do justice and trust in the LORD instead of his own might, or in the might of his army, or in the power of wealth or in the might of foreigners nor elevate himself above God.
If you think about it, these are good reminders for us all. You can see in the story of Adam and Eve these temptations are common to men, things husbands need to be watchful of.
But that is also part of a greater passage (Deut 17:14-20)...
These are protections to keep the King on the right path, that he may not lead his people astray but rather do justice and trust in the LORD instead of his own might, or in the might of his army, or in the power of wealth or in the might of foreigners nor elevate himself above God.
If you think about it, these are good reminders for us all. You can see in the story of Adam and Eve these temptations are common to men, things husbands need to be watchful of.
I think for most other men they were naturally limited by how much they could earn. The King by his power of taxation was not limited and so could amass an amount of wealth that he could afford to support more women than he could legitimately have a relationship with.
I think the basic principle would still be in affect in our modern times, if say you were a tech billionaire and could afford 100s of wives. You should not do that. You should not multiply your wives. Addition is good enough for any man even a king or a billionaire.
I think the basic principle would still be in affect in our modern times, if say you were a tech billionaire and could afford 100s of wives. You should not do that. You should not multiply your wives. Addition is good enough for any man even a king or a billionaire.
Interestingly enough, for all the worry on the part of anti-polygamists about rich men taking all the wives we see in super rich men like Trump and Buffet that they now have all the women they want. And it doesn't even number 10's much less 100's or 1000's.
Thinking Bezos has two as well...Two for Mr Buffet....
I am not sure I agree with the given reason about his heart turning away. Reading in the Hebrew, it looks like a separate notion to me. He shall not multiply horses and silver and gold he shall not multiply greatly to himself and he shall not multiply wives to himself and he shall not turn his heart away. It seems like one of the rules in the list rather than a cause and effect type of a thing. The above is paraphrased, of course.
I could see all those things as being to prevent him from hording things. But all those things: gold, women, horses, Egypt, were things which turned the peoples/king's heart from God. Repeatedly God was getting after them to trust in Him rather than foreign alliances or military might (horses).
Besides, "or else his heart will turn away" isn't a complete thought. How would you render it to make sense on it's own? Hebrew isn't my thing, but most translations have some form of "He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away;"
I think "and he shall not turn his heart away" can very easily be a complete thought, just like any reiteration about turning aside neither to the left hand nor to the right, which is also said later in the passage. What I was pointing out is that it doesn't say "else" or "lest" or any of that as I read the Hebrew. It says "and".
Furthermore, it doesn't strike me that quantity of women was generally the matter which led Israel astray, but rather quality of women.
Solomon followed his foreign wives into idolatry, not his Israelite wives. The incident at Beth Pe'or was with idolatrous foreign women, not women of Israel. Samson got laid waste (pun totally intended) by a foreign woman. Go down the list.
Solomon followed his foreign wives into idolatry, not his Israelite wives. The incident at Beth Pe'or was with idolatrous foreign women, not women of Israel. Samson got laid waste (pun totally intended) by a foreign woman. Go down the list.
This is dead on. Solomon married women that worshipped other gods. In some cases with kings (as in the case with Ahab) the king would make a vow or contract to build an alter so the wife could continue worshipping her false god. So the multiplying wives, in contract as a political ploy for peace, caused the issues.
The money, was a way of God saying, “Don’t over tax the people.” It was not good for the king to take and take from the people. (I wonder how God feels about the IRS?)
The many horses had to deal with the military. It would be ludicrous to think a king would have only one horse. The king was to be ready for war, but not always in a state of war.
IMO its intent is to warn the King against trusting in how wealthy he was, or how mighty his military was or who he had political alliances with to secure the kingdom. Only faith and loyalty to God would secure the kingdom. Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain.
Notice they were always getting entangled with foreign wives? What, were Hebrew women not good enough? Or was it the general practice of kings to marry foreign women, many of them, for political purposes and God was cautioning against this. Any man who becomes king is liable to have more than enough wives in short order, long before he gets to the foreign alliances phase.
Honestly, I'm not sure which way to go on this. And it could be a both and situation.
Honestly, I'm not sure which way to go on this. And it could be a both and situation.