Polygamy and Slavery in Old Testament Times

The Old Testament confronts us with an ancient culture.  Although there are a variety of good things about that culture, the modern reader will be repulsed by the violence, including a number of stories of rape and slaughter.  The author of the Torah adds almost no commentary to the history, merely reporting them.  (Be alert for those rare insertions of commentary into the historical accounts.)

Most of us realize that the violence is merely reported, that it is certainly not promoted and is rarely justified.  But there are several disturbing parts of the ancient culture that seem to be clearly accepted by the author of the Torah.  Are they justified?  Since many of us view the Torah as Scripture, there is a tendency to believe that the historical reports somehow validate the ancient culture.  But that is not so -- the ancient culture is merely reported, in historical context.  The author of the Torah neither condemns nor promotes these cultural beliefs, probably because they themselves were embedded within that culture.

There are three Old Testament cultural practices that I find particularly abhorrent: Polygamy, Slavery, and the treatment of women.  The third in the list is pervasive enough that others have written copiously about it -- the ancient Old Testament society is patriarchal, with men often treating women as possessions.  The patriarchy is pervasive enough in the ancient near east that those women who break out of it in various ways -- Tamar, some Israelite midwives, a pharaoh's daughter, Miriam, Deborah, Ruth, Esther... -- are memorable. Since patriarchal attitudes and misogyny appear in every culture, including my own, it may not leap out from the text as sharply as the stories of polygamy and slavery.

Polygamy

Polygamy occurs throughout the Old Testament and is never condemned.  However, as at least one commentator (Dr. James Allman, class on Genesis) has stressed, it is also never promoted.  Polygamy is the source of conflict: there are numerous stories of a favorite wife (often not fertile) and a less favorite wife (who seems to be fertile) and even women who are "concubines", who do not quite have the status of "wife" but are available as potential sex partners and mothers.  The Old Testament Law, as given to Moses, does not abolish polygamy but insists on a structure, forbidding adultery and "coveting" of women other than one's wife.

The ancient near east (ANE) emphasis on polygamy is a natural result of the ancient need for large families, where the children were eventually the work-force. Polygamy was also often used to create alliances with other family groups. This Wikipedia page elaborates further on polygamy, giving the term polygyny for marriages with one man and many wives.

In the New Testament, some 15 or more centuries closer to our time than Abraham, polygamy appears to be much less common.  And church leaders are instructed in several places (eg. here) to have (no more than) one wife.  See this article on Polygamy in the Bible (and What Jesus Said about it).

Slavery

Slavery is also a natural part of the ANE culture.  It appears as a natural part of that ancient culture and thus appears throughout the Old Testament.  The Old Testament Law, as given to Moses, does not abolish slavery but insists on modifying it so that the ebed is more of an indentured servant. Kidnapping was prohibited (Exodus 21:16), as was the sale of human beings, so one could not capture an ebed nor trade one. This means that slaves in Israel were bond-servants: presumably out of desperate poverty, they offered themselves in servitude in exchange for housing and food. (See Deuteronomy 15: 12-15.) The ebed was to be treated with care and had the opportunity (on a Sabbath year) to be free. If one were a slave in the ANE one would wish to be a slave in Israel.  

My American Twenty-first Century culture certainly finds polygamy, slavery, and misogyny repulsive. And so I react to the Old Testament stories with a bit of disgust. (This is especially strong in reading the book of Judges where even the ancient culture seems horrified by the violence, murder and rape!) There is nothing really wrong with my reaction to the Old Testament stories; it is after all history. The Torah and other writings do not promote polygamy or slavery, but simply appear to modify them.  

Slavery was common in New Testament times also and, indeed, one New Testament letter is written to a former slave-owner.  Like the Old Testament law, there is no aggressive opposition to slavery but it is clear that Paul (in his letter to Philemon) would prefer that Philemon give his slave his freedom.

Wikipedia has a web page on The Bible and Slavery.

When we get to Exodus and Deuteronomy, we will emphasize the importance of reading the Old Testament Law in light of the ancient near eastern culture it was modifying.  If one reads through the ancient Code of Hammurabi, translated here, it is obvious that slavery was a significant part of the ancient Near East.

Justice

Even as I recoil to some of the Old Testament stories, I am reminded that my insistence on justice, my beliefs that one must speak and act out against oppression (including slavery and the racist aftermath), my advocacy for refugees and immigrants -- all of these beliefs come from Old Testament teaching. I want to quote Psalm 82:3, "Give justice to the weak...", Isaiah 1:17, "Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression...", Micah 6:8, "He has told you, O man, what is good, ..."  Martin Luther King Jr., among others, will quote from the Old Testament in their sermons on justice.