Comment: Polygamy was tolerated, but in general the Old Testament appears to show it in a negative light. I can’t think offhand of any examples where polygamy did not result in major dysfunction.
(1) The first mention of polygamy is Lamech, last recorded member of the wicked line of Cain.
(2) Abraham’s relationship with Hagar created a race that has long been enemies of the Jewish people, and sending her out from his household does not imply “yeah, this worked out well.”
(3) Jacob marrying Leah and Rachel – yeah, Jacob’s brothers were real fond of him. Jacob’s favoritism toward Rachel caused no problems at all.
(4) Gideon had multiple wives. He had seventy sones, one of which killed the other sixty-nine.
(5) David had multiple wives. One of his sons raped his half-daughter, and his weak response resulted in his being overthrown temporarily.
(6) Solomon had hundreds of wives. He wound up setting the stage for Israel to be split in two, and began to bring idolatry back into Israel in order to please his wives.
(In the case of 5 and 6, kings wee expressly forbidden from “multiplying wives” (Deut. 17:17).)
And in any case, polygamy has not been accepted widely in Judaism for centuries, but I am fairly certain that the full-throated acceptance of homosexual behavior, premarital sex, etc. is a fairly recent innovation.
