Torah is very clear in it’s Mitz’vot concerning marriage, divorce and sexual relations.
First of all, let’s clear up a few words that have been used in this thread. Polygyny is multiple woman; Polygamy is multiple wives; and Polyandry is multiple husbands. Both polygamy and polygyny are allowed according to Torah, however polyandry is definitely forbidden.
Yes Solomon had 700 wives and 300 Piyl’gashot, which is usually translated concubines, but literally means non-contract wife, but the only Mitz’vah that he violated was “No king shall multiply for himself too many wives or too many horses.” David had around 40 wives, and that was perfectly fine. Most of the Patriarch’s had more than one wife.
According to Torah Mitz’vah, only the High Priest is limited to having only one wife, and she must be of native Israeli descent, and not a gentile convert.
There are two types of wives in the Hebrew Scriptures: the contract wife, and the Piylegesh, or sex wife. The only real difference between the two is the method in which they are dispatched. A piylegesh can be sold, traded or simply sent away. A contract wife can only by dispatched by means of a certificate of divorce.
Nearly anything can be grounds for divorce: she can’t cook; she snores; she has foul breath or body odor; they are not sexually compatible; numerous things; but adultery is not one of them. Adultery is a capital crime, punishable by death.
If a man divorces his contract wife he is required to support her until she becomes the wife or piylegesh of another man. If she does not marry another man, her husband is allowed to remarry her. If she does marry another man her first husband is no longer allowed to remarry her.
The definition of adultery is very specific, and it has to be because it is a death penalty offense. If a legally married woman has sexual relations with any man other than her husband, she is guilty of adultery and by proxy makes her partner guilty of adultery as well. Both guilty parties are to be put to death. The only way that any man, either married or single, can be guilty of adultery is by having sexual relations with another man’s legal wife. Having sexual relations with another man’s piylegesh counted as theft or trespassing. If a married man has sexual relations with a single woman that is not adultery; and it is in fact the only way to acquire a piylegesh, or an additional contract wife for that matter.
There is no Mitz’vah against premarital sex for either males or females. There is no Mitz’vah against extramarital sex for men, as long it is not with the legal wife of another man The entire list of prohibited sexual acts is found at Leviticus 18:5-30; and the penalties for committing any of them are found in Leviticus 20:10-22.
Just for the record, David could not have committed adultery with Bat-Sheva because she was a daughter of Israel, and therefore could not have been married to Uriyyah because he was a Hittite, and Torah forbids the marriage of any child of Israel to Hittites, among others. Without a legal contract of marriage, a woman cannot commit adultery. One of the problems probably lies in translation, but newsflash, the word – אֵשֶׁת – ʾéshet is the construct form of – אִשָּׁה – ʾishah, and means “woman of,” “wife of,” “ mother of,” maidservant of,” etc; it does not exclusively mean “wife of,” no matter what chr-stian translators want you to think.
David did not commit murder either. Uriyyah the Hittite was a general in the army of Israel; King David was the Commander-in-Chief of the army of Israel. He deliberately disobeyed a direct order from his commander and King, and was punished for doing so. David’s sin with Bat-Sheva was theft, as is clearly evident in the Prophet Nathan’s parable about the little ewe lamb to King David in 2 Samuel chapter 12.
Both adultery and murder are punishable by death, and no one is exempt from that including a King.
But to summarize: According to Torah, as it is written, a man can have as many wives and sex servants as he wants; but a woman is only allowed one husband at a time.
A wife is not allowed to serve her husband with a certificate of divorce, but she may petition the local council of Shof’tiym, which would be called a Rabbinical Council today, into investigating her reasons for wanting a divorce. If they discover the reason is verified, they first try to solve the problem and save the marriage. If the problem can’t be fixed, they will ask the husband to serve her a certificate of divorce. Basically it works the same way when the husband makes the petition for divorce, they always try to solve the problem first.
Chr-stians treat divorce as if it were a curse, when in fact it was a gift from God. The “certificate of divorce” is a Mitz’vah given by God to the Nation of Israel. God wants His people to be happy, and you can’t possibly be happy in a bad marriage. A large part of chr-stianity would rather see a couple who can’t even stand each other be miserable for 50, 60, 70 years, than to have them part ways early and find someone they can be happy with.
I would also like to stress that several places in the chr-stian text have the hero of the chr-stian story adding to, subtracting from and changing Torah; which is a death penalty offense. The fact that he is altering Torah in any way, and teaching others to follow him, he is the official definition of a false prophet. All of this is described in Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; 13:1-5. God’s Torah is eternal – It does not change because He does not change. God dictated all of Torah to Mosheh and ordered him to write it word for word and letter for letter. And Mosheh did as God commanded. And God’s very own words in numerous places throughout Torah verify His Mitz’vot are eternal, and if anyone tries to change them they are to die.
So just to clarify: Matthew chapter 5 and 19 have the hero of chr-stianity changing the rules and definitions of both divorce and adultery. You figure it out.
