Editing Polygamy (section)

===Judaism===
{{See also|Pilegesh|Polygyny#Judaism}}

Polygyny is not forbidden in the [[Hebrew Bible]], and over 40 important figures had more than one wife, such as [[Jacob]],<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|31:17|HE}}</ref> [[Solomon]],<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Kings|11:1–3|HE}}</ref> and possibly [[Moses]].{{efn|In {{bibleverse|Exodus|2:21|HE}} Moses married Zipporah, while in {{bibleverse|Numbers|12:1|HE}} he was married to the "Cushite" or "Ethiopian" woman, who may have been a different woman, though some commentators assert that the Cushite woman was Zipporah.<ref>{{cite book | first1=Alice | last1=Ogden Bellis | editor-last1=Meyers | editor-first1=Carol | editor-last2=Craven | editor-first2=Toni | editor-last3=Kraemer | editor-first3=Ross S. | title=Women in Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books and the New Testament | publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | year=2000 | isbn=978-0-547-34558-1 | chapter=Cushite Woman, Wife of Moses | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6txrDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT381 | access-date=23 November 2023 | page=381}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | first1=R. | last1=Laird Harris | editor-last1=Brand | editor-first1=Chad | editor-last2=Mitchell | editor-first2=Eric | editor3=Holman Reference Editorial Staff | title=Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary | publisher=B&H Publishing Group | year=2015 | isbn=978-0-8054-9935-3 | chapter=Aaron | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jgxCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 | access-date=23 November 2023 | page=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Kugel | first=James L. | title=Traditions of the Bible: A Guide to the Bible As It Was at the Start of the Common Era | publisher=Harvard University Press | year=2009 | isbn=978-0-674-03976-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y8AjDrIkBG4C&pg=PA532 | access-date=23 November 2023 | page=532}}</ref>}} However, the [[Torah]] contains a few specific regulations that apply to polygamy,<ref name="Coogan2010">{{cite book |last=Coogan |first=Michael |title=God and Sex: What the Bible Really Says |edition=1st |date=October 2010 |publisher=Twelve. Hachette Book Group |location=New York, Boston |isbn=978-0-446-54525-9 |oclc=505927356 |page=[https://archive.org/details/godsexwhatbi00coog/page/79 79] |url=https://archive.org/details/godsexwhatbi00coog/page/79 }}</ref> such as {{Bibleverse|Exodus|21:10|HE}} ("If he take another wife for himself; her food, her clothing, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish"),<ref name="TJBEX2110">''The Jerusalem Bible: The Holy Scriptures''. Ed. [[Harold Fisch]]. Trans. Fisch. Jerusalem: Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 1980.</ref> {{Bibleverse|Deuteronomy|21:15–17|HE}} (a man must award the inheritance due to a first-born son to the son who was actually born first, even if he hates that son's mother and likes another wife more), and {{Bibleverse|Deuteronomy|17:17|HE}} (the king shall not have too many wives). Polygyny was still practiced well into the biblical period, and it is attested among Jews as late as the [[second century&nbsp;CE]].<ref name=coogan>{{cite book |last=Coogan |first=Michael |title=God and Sex: What the Bible Really Says |edition=1st |date=October 2010 |publisher=Twelve. Hachette Book Group |location=New York, Boston |isbn=978-0-446-54525-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/godsexwhatbi00coog/page/78 78] |url=https://archive.org/details/godsexwhatbi00coog/page/78 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Metzger |editor1-first=Bruce M. |editor2-last=Coogan |editor2-first=Michael D. |title=The Oxford Guide to Ideas & Issues of the Bible |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-514917-3 |page=339 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aml3tEWoOVEC&pg=PA339 |quote=polygamy was accepted and practiced throughout Israel's history, although to what extent we cannot be sure, since the sources for the most part are derived from and describe the elite ruling and upper classes. |access-date=23 March 2023 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404083836/https://books.google.com/books?id=aml3tEWoOVEC&pg=PA339 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Karras2012">{{cite book |last1=Karras |first1=Ruth Mazo |title=Unmarriages: Women, Men, and Sexual Unions in the Middle Ages |date=2012 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-0641-8 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MZQZh9r2yU0C&pg=PA14 |quote=In the Second Temple period in Palestine, plural marriage seems to have become less common than earlier, although it was not formally outlawed and was more common in Babylonia. It still appeared in the Talmud and was practiced occasionally in early medieval Europe. Gershom Me'or ha-Golah (the Light of the Exile), an eleventh- century German rabbi, possibly under Christian influence, eventually forbade it. |access-date=23 March 2023 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405032706/https://books.google.com/books?id=MZQZh9r2yU0C&pg=PA14 |url-status=live }}</ref> The incidence was limited, however, and it was likely largely restricted to the wealthy.<ref>du Plessis, I. (1998). "The social and economic life of the Jewish people in Palestine in the time of the New Testament", In A. du Toit (ed.). Vol. 2: ''The New Testament Milieu'' (A. du Toit, ed.). Guide to the New Testament. Halfway House: Orion Publishers.</ref><ref name="TDONT γυνή">Theological dictionary of the New Testament. 1964– (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley & G. Friedrich, ed.) (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. Entry on ''γυνή''</ref><ref>Gene McAfee [http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t120.e0669 "Sex"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728085805/http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t120.e0669 |date=28 July 2020 }} The Oxford Companion to the Bible. Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan, eds. Oxford University Press 1993. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 19 March 2010.</ref>

The [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] show that several smaller [[Second Temple Judaism#Jewish sects|Jewish sects]] forbade polygamy before and during the first century.<ref name="Vermès1975">{{cite book|last=Vermès|first=Géza |author-link=Géza Vermès|title=Post-Biblical Jewish Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BcYUAAAAIAAJ|year=1975|publisher=Brill|isbn=90-04-04160-5 |page=76}}</ref><ref name="Brooke2005">{{cite book|last=Brooke|first=George J. |title=The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t7TSr36vVkEC|year=2005|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=978-1-4514-0844-7 |pages=4, 100–101}}</ref><ref name="Murphy2002">{{cite book|last=Murphy|first=Catherine M. |title=Wealth in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the Qumran Community |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fUPIG-TEKR8C&pg=PA380|year=2002|publisher=Brill|isbn=90-04-11934-5|page=380}}</ref> The [[Temple Scroll]] (11QT LVII 17–18) seems to prohibit polygamy.<ref name="Brooke2005" /><ref name="Loader2009">{{cite book|last=Loader|first=William |title=The Dead Sea Scrolls on Sexuality: Attitudes Towards Sexuality in Sectarian and Related Literature at Qumran|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9gVjAdUx-cIC&pg=PA45|year=2009|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans |isbn=978-0-8028-6391-1|page=45}}</ref> The rabbinical era, beginning with the [[destruction of the Second Temple]] in 70 CE, saw a continuation of some degree of legal acceptance for polygamy. Statements in the [[Talmud]] include, "[If a man declares,] 'Be thou betrothed to half of me,' she is betrothed; 'Half of thee be betrothed to me,' she is not betrothed"<ref name="BTK7a">[[Babylonian Talmud]], [https://www.sefaria.org/Kiddushin.7a.11 Kiddushin 7a]</ref> and elsewhere, "A man may marry wives in addition to the first wife; provided only that he possesses the means to maintain them",<ref name="BTY65a">Babylonian Talmud, [https://www.sefaria.org/Yevamot.65a.7 Yevamot 65a]; compare to {{Bibleverse|Exodus|21:10|HE}}</ref> though another opinion in the Talmud requires divorcing a first wife before taking a second.<ref name=BTY65a/> In practice, polygamy was extremely rare in Jewish society in the Talmudic period.<ref>[[Avraham Grossman]], ''Hasidot umordot: Nashim yehudiyot be-europa biymey habeinayim'', p. 119</ref>

Later on, the Jewish codices began a process of restricting polygamy in Judaism. Most notable was the [[synod]] of [[Gershom ben Judah|Rabbeinu Gershom]], whose rulings were accepted by [[Ashkenazi Jews]]. About 1000 CE he called a synod which instituted the following new laws: (1) prohibition of polygamy; (2) necessity of obtaining the consent of both parties to a divorce; (3) modification of the rules concerning those who became apostates under compulsion; (4) prohibition against opening correspondence addressed to another.<ref>{{cite book | last=Bell | first=Dean Phillip | title=The Routledge Companion to Jewish History and Historiography | date=2019 | isbn=978-0-429-45892-7 |location=Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon | oclc=1055160815}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lapidoth|first=Ruth|date=July 1975|title=Israel Yearbook on Human Rights. Edited by Yoram Dinstein and Nitza Shapiro-Libai. [Published under the auspices of the Faculty of Law, Tel Aviv University, vol. I (1971), 464 pp. and vol. II (1972), 391 pp.].|journal=Israel Law Review|volume=10|issue=3|pages=408–412|doi=10.1017/s0021223700005355|s2cid=150208678 |issn=0021-2237}}</ref><ref name="Karras2012"/> Gershon left an exception to his ban on polygamy, called [[heter meah rabbanim]], by which a man separated from his wife - but unable to officially divorce her due to certain extreme circumstances - could instead take a second wife.

Rabbeinu Gershom's ban on polygamy was not adopted by [[Sephardic Jews|Sephardic]] communities. Some later Sephardic Jews such as [[Abraham David Taroç]] are known to have multiple wives. Polygamy was common among Jewish communities in the Levant, possibly due to the influence of Muslim society, with 17% of divorce claims by women being due to complaints over husbands taking additional wives.  According to R. [[Joseph Karo]] (16th century author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the [[Shulchan Aruch|''Shulchan Aruch'']]), and many other rabbis from [[Safed]], the ban of Rabbeinu Gershom had expired, and therefore even [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazim]] could marry additional wives. Even in instances where the husband made prenuptial agreements not to marry additional wives, local rabbis found loopholes to allow them to do so anyway.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lamdan |first1=Ruth |title=Levant: Women in the Jewish Communities after the Ottoman Conquest of 1517 |url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/levant-women-in-jewish-communities-after-ottoman-conquest-of-1517 |website=Jewish Women's Archive |access-date=6 September 2021 |archive-date=15 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515120849/https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/levant-women-in-jewish-communities-after-ottoman-conquest-of-1517 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lamdān |first1=Rût |title=A Separate People: Jewish Women in Palestine, Syria, and Egypt in the Sixteenth Century |date=2000 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-11747-1 |pages=139–157 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OKlYce7f8iAC&pg=PA139 |access-date=23 March 2023 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404115524/https://books.google.com/books?id=OKlYce7f8iAC&pg=PA139 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the modern day, polygamy is generally not condoned by Jews.<ref>{{cite web |title=Polygamy is rare around the world and mostly confined to a few regions |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/12/07/polygamy-is-rare-around-the-world-and-mostly-confined-to-a-few-regions/ |website=Pew Research Center |date=7 December 2020 |access-date=6 September 2021 |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407072545/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/12/07/polygamy-is-rare-around-the-world-and-mostly-confined-to-a-few-regions/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>* {{cite news |last1=Sedley |first1=David |title=In defiance of Israeli law, polygamy sanctioned by top rabbis |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-defiance-of-israeli-law-polygamy-sanctioned-by-top-rabbis/ |work=timesofisrael.com |date=2016 |access-date=6 September 2021 |archive-date=6 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906072425/https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-defiance-of-israeli-law-polygamy-sanctioned-by-top-rabbis/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite news |last1=Rosenberg |first1=David |title=Polygamous cult uncovered |url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/221373 |work=Israel National News |date=2016 |access-date=6 September 2021 |archive-date=6 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906072429/https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/221373 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite news |last1=Mandel |first1=Jonah |title=New Jewish group wants to restore polygamy |url=https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-news/new-jewish-group-wants-to-restore-polygamy |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=2011 |access-date=6 September 2021 |archive-date=6 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906072431/https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-news/new-jewish-group-wants-to-restore-polygamy |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Ashkenazi Jews]] have continued to follow Rabbeinu Gershom's ban since the 11th century.<ref>[http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/04-Observance/section-55.html Judaism and Polygamy:] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512023008/http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/04-Observance/section-55.html |date=12 May 2008 }} "Originally, Gershom's ban was limited in time to the year 1260", and a man "could marry more than one wife if he obtained the special permission of 100 rabbis in 3 countries". From faqs.org</ref> Some [[Mizrahi Jews|Mizrahi]] Jewish communities (particularly [[Yemenite Jews]] and [[Persian Jews]]) discontinued polygyny more recently, after they immigrated to countries where it was forbidden or illegal. [[Israel]] prohibits polygamy by law,<ref>''Penal Law Amendment (Bigamy) Law'', 5719-1959.{{verify source|date=August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|jstor=839776|title=The English Law of Bigamy in a Multi-Confessional Society: The Israel Experience|first=P.|last=Shifman|date=29 December 1978|journal=The American Journal of Comparative Law|volume=26|issue=1|pages=79–89|doi=10.2307/839776}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Eglash |first=Ruth |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Israel-2008-State-of-Polygamy |title=Israel 2008: State of Polygamy |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=30 October 2008 |access-date=13 September 2011 |archive-date=27 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727152222/https://www.jpost.com/Israel/Israel-2008-State-of-Polygamy |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Aburabia |first=Sarab |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1027756.html |title=Victims of polygamy |work=Haaretz |access-date=13 September 2011 |archive-date=5 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210705051731/https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1027756.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>and Mizrahi Jews are not permitted to enter into new polygamous marriages in Israel, though existing marriages may be maintained. In practice, however, the law is loosely enforced, primarily to avoid interference with [[Bedouin]] culture, where polygyny is practiced.<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1027756.html "Victims of polygamy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210705051731/https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1027756.html |date=5 July 2021 }} [https://web.archive.org/web/20231128083319/https://www.haaretz.com/2008-10-10/ty-article/victims-of-polygamy/0000017f-dbad-df62-a9ff-dfff08da0000 archived], ''Haaretz''</ref> Polygamy may still occur in non-European Jewish communities that exist in countries where it is not forbidden, such as Jewish communities in Iran or Morocco.

Late Sephardic chief rabbi [[Ovadia Yosef]] supported the legalisation by the Israeli government of polygamy and the practice of [[pilegesh]] (the keeping of concubines).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=13900&sec=40&con=35|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414212442/http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=13900&sec=40&con=35|url-status=dead|title=''Polygamy's Practice Stirs Debate in Israel''|archive-date=14 April 2008|access-date=11 June 2009}}</ref> Tzvi Zohar, a professor from the [[Bar-Ilan University]], recently suggested that based on the opinions of leading [[Halacha|halachic]] authorities, the concept of concubines may serve as a practical halachic justification for premarital or non-marital cohabitation.<ref>{{cite web |last=Navon |first=Emmanuel |url=http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishFeatures/Article.aspx?id=16328 |title=Kosher Sex Without Marriage, a Jerusalem Post article that discusses Jacob Emden's and Tzvi Zohar's views |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=16 March 2006 |access-date=13 September 2011 |archive-date=4 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110804232538/http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishFeatures/Article.aspx?id=16328 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://pilegeshpersonals.com/Pilegesh%20Tzvi%20Zohar.pdf |title=Tzvi Zohar's comprehensive academic research on the subject, Akdamot Journal for Jewish Thought 17, 2003, Beit Morasha Press (in Hebrew) |access-date=13 September 2011 |archive-date=24 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824122329/http://pilegeshpersonals.com/Pilegesh%20Tzvi%20Zohar.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Karaite Judaism]] has no rules against polygyny, though the practice itself in modern times is rare, and is not found at all among Karaites living in countries where polygamy is against the law. The husband, however, is only allowed to take other wives if he has the means and ability to treat them equally to the primary wife, and even then only if there was no anti-polygamy clause in their marriage contract from either party. Polyandry, on the other hand, is expressly forbidden.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Olszowy-Schlanger |first=Judith |title=Karaite Women |url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/karaite-women |quote=While the marriage of a woman to more than one man at a time is forbidden, a Karaite man could in principle have more than one wife provided he could fulfill all his duties towards both women. However, the right of the husband to take a second wife could be restricted through the inclusion of a special anti-polygamy clause in the betrothal or marriage contract. |access-date=7 February 2024}}</ref>