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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Leviral marriage - prepositions & grammar

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  • From: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • To: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Leviral marriage - prepositions & grammar
  • Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 15:18:35 +0200

Shalom Vadim,
I wrote:
The "Hebrews were monogamous"? Who said? Not just the patriarchs. Elkanah,
Moses (well, maybe him). The Torah makes several provisions for co-wives and their children. I admit, polygamy was probably rare, since the population is divided pretty evenly, but it certainly was not unheared of.

You:
Proverbs 5:18 exemplifies the attitude, and the position of rabbis is similar.
Elkanah, David, Solomon... You know the historical value of these examples. Polygamy was largely reserved for kings, and even Herod seemingly divorced one wife before marrying another.

I agree that most common people must have been monogamous. I also don't insist of reading Samuel as a historical acount. But if the author, for whatever reason, chose to depict Elkanah as having two wives, this must have been somethiong that his audience would find reasonable.
David's several wives seem quite plausible within the narrative, and Solomon's 1000 have just the same literary character as teh rest of the Solomon story.
Herod walked a fine line between Oriental despotism and Roman "rule of law". A Roman could only have one wife at a time, so Herod was careful to dispose of one before marrying anothe.

Yigal (maybe more later.)





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