“Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. But this I say by way of concession, not of command. Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that<\/em>” (I Corinthians 7:1-7).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAll usages of\u00a0heautou\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0idios<\/em> in this passage refer to personal possession, exclusive of anyone else. However, by using heautou<\/em> when saying that “each man is to have his own wife,” Paul subtly emphasizes that a man should view his wife as an extension of himself. “So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:28-30). Throughout this passage in Ephesians 5:28-30, Paul uses heautou<\/em> to emphasize that men are to see their wives as an extension of themselves. But it is also used because “love” or “hate” is being applied to the person.<\/p>\nReturning to I Corinthians 7:4, notice that\u00a0idios<\/em> is used when you would expect\u00a0heautou<\/em> to be used. After all, your body is definitely something that is strongly associated with yourself. But here Paul uses\u00a0idios<\/em> to emphasize that in marriage each partner’s body is under the authority of the other partner. Each person’s body is still his or her own and, as a unit, a married couple belong exclusively to each other.<\/p>\nIf you look at the use if\u00a0idios\u00a0<\/em>in the Bible, you do not find it being used to imply a sharing.<\/p>\n\n- I Corinthians 6:18 – The fornicator sins against his own body<\/li>\n
- Romans 14:5 – A person is to be convinced in his own mind<\/li>\n
- I Corinthians 7:37 – A person has power over his own will<\/li>\n
- Galatians 6:5 – Each person is to bear his own burden<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Going back to I Corinthians 7:2, notice that each man (singular) is to have his own wife (singular). Each woman (singular) is to have her own husband (singular). Even you mistakenly try to say there is a difference in the degree of possession, the syntax of the sentence still states that marriage is a one-to-one relationship.<\/p>\n
You are correct that the illustration in Ezekiel doesn’t apply to Christians today, nor is it an illustration of God’s intention for marriage. Jesus stated that a man marries a woman (both singular) and that was God’s intention from the beginning of creation (Matthew 19:4-6). Without that understanding, God’s laws regarding divorce and remarriage would not make sense.<\/p>\n
In I Timothy 3:2, an elder is to be the husband of one wife. There is no conjunction in the phrase and I don’t know of a translation that put a “but” into this phrase. The literal Greek translation is that an elder is to be a “one woman man.”<\/p>\n
Isaiah 4:1 is talking about how few men would be left after an upcoming war by describing the desperation of women to find a husband. This is not an approval, only a prediction of what would happen.<\/p>\n
Matthew 25 uses an illustration of ten virgins waiting to attend a wedding feast. They are not called brides and the focus is on their attendance at the wedding feast. A wedding feast is held after the marriage takes place for the guests at the wedding. Just because an unmarried woman attends a wedding, it does not imply that she is getting married.<\/p>\n
“If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain<\/em>” (I Timothy 6:3-5).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAll this person has done is prove that he doesn’t follow God’s teachings. He certainly has not proven that polygamy is allowed under the Law of Christ.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hello I stumbled on a website about polygyny being biblical still, which stunned me. \u00a0It’s not the only one out there promoting this.\u00a0 The author claimed his insight came from I Corinthians 7:2 when two different words are used to show possession of respective spouses. The words are: heautou\u00a0 (Strongs #1438) idios\u00a0 (Strongs #2398)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[533,76],"class_list":["post-5090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-polygamy","tag-terminology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5092,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-explain-the-difference-between-heautou-and-idios\/","url_meta":{"origin":5090,"position":0},"title":"Can you explain the difference between heautou and idios?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I would like to ask for your insight. I am trying to understand two Greek words better. As I was doing a Google search I came upon your website and read many of your articles. I also noticed your apparent love for Greek word studies. Here are the two\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49463,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-deacons-have-multiple-wives-and-homes\/","url_meta":{"origin":5090,"position":1},"title":"Can deacons have multiple wives and homes?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was wondering if polygamy is wrong because a Christan polygamy site states this: \"mia\u00a0doesn't mean one, it means first in\u00a0I Timothy 3:2,12; Titus 1:6\" Regarding\u00a0idios\u00a0they are saying \"The word \"idios\" signifies actual or potential corporate possession, or \"ownership\" (although sometimes the two words may be synonymous, the change\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":819,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-the-greek-word-translated-himself-in-james-127-also-be-translated-themselves\/","url_meta":{"origin":5090,"position":2},"title":"Can the Greek word translated “himself” in James 1:27 also be translated “themselves”?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 2, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: While reading a book by Basil Overton, I ran across this argument, \"Some have argued that the church cannot help orphans but the individual Christians must do this. They say James 1:27 is addressed to the 'individual. James 1:27 is not addressed to the individual. \"Himself\" of the text\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31637,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-a-christian-becomes-the-second-wife-of-a-muslim-then-would-that-be-acceptable-to-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":5090,"position":3},"title":"If a Christian becomes the second wife of a Muslim, then would that be acceptable to God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been reviewing your responses to questions about marriage. I know what you've stated about polygamous marriages. If I may explain my situation, I want to know if this applies to me. I have children with a man who converted to Islam. He and I decided to marry,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69942,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-you-realize-that-the-torah-is-the-way-the-truth-and-the-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":5090,"position":4},"title":"Don’t you realize that the Torah is the way, the truth, and the life?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I noticed your article on polygyny using I Corinthians 7:2. Do you understand that the Torah is the way, the truth, and life? Just like Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the Word of God. The Word made flesh. It's written to add\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84955,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-study-of-polygamy\/","url_meta":{"origin":5090,"position":5},"title":"A Study of Polygamy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dudley Ross Spears via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 15, No. 1, March 31, 1989 Polygamy is probably the least important issue Christians face today. Yet, issues associated with it are becoming more and more prominent as they relate to the general issue of marriage. Few, if any, would dare to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5090\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}