Texts in Conversation
Matthew 19 describes Jesus quoting Genesis and interpreting that marriage is singular and exclusive. This contrasts with 2 Samuel 12, where God gives David multiple wives as part of his royal inheritance, reflecting a tradition in which polygamy was accepted.
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2 Samuel 12:8
Hebrew Bible
7 Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: ‘I chose you to be king over Israel and I rescued you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house, and put your master’s wives into your arms. I also gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all that somehow seems insignificant, I would have given you so much more as well! 9 Why have you shown contempt for the Lord’s decrees by doing evil in my sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and you have taken his wife to be your own wife! You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Matthew 19:5
New Testament
3 Then some Pharisees came to him in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful to divorce a wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Date: 70-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Ahinoam’s hometown, Jezreel, presumably was a village (location unknown) in the Judean wilderness rather than the famous northern valley, as indicated by her consistent appearance in tandem with Abigail as David moves to rule Judah (1 Samuel 25:43; 27:3; 30:5; and especially 2 Samuel 2:2). More importantly, she may have been identical to Saul’s wife of the same name (1 Samuel 14:50), as there is no other Ahinoam in the Bible. This would explain Nathan’s statement in 2 Samuel 12:8 that Yahweh had given Saul’s (“your master’s”) wives to David ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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