And David took more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, ... And there were still more sons and daughters born to David. 2Sa 5:13
When God
sent Nathan the prophet to King David he was told that he had “despised
the Word of Jehovah”.
2Sa 12:7 And Nathan said
to David, You are the man! So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, I
anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of
Saul.
2Sa 12:8
And I gave you your master's house and your
master's wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of
Judah. And if that was too little, I would have given to you such and
such things besides.
2Sa 12:9 Why have you despised the Word of Jehovah, to do evil in His sight? You
have stricken Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife
to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of
Ammon.
At no time had God declared it a sin to take
another wife which David had already done before this incident with
Bathsheba (1Sam.25:42-43). If Polygyny was a despising of the Word of the Lord then Nathan
would have arrived on David's door long before this.
The three things David despised which
the Law condemned very clearly were as follows, “you shall not covet” (Ex.20:17),
"you shall not commit adultery" (Ex.10:14), and “you shall not kill” (Ex.20:13.
Please note, adultery is not taking another wife of your own, but
someone else's wife.
David despised the Word of Jehovah by coveting and taking another man's wife and
killing him into the bargain (2Sam.12:9). David
was obliged to read the Law all the days of
his life so he knew where he stood before God. (Deut.17:14-20).
Two
statements by God are totally ignored by tradition. First God says to
David that He gave David his master’s wives unto his bosom (2Sam.12:8). This
is way beyond God permitting David to have more wives. Secondly, God says if
David wanted for anything, including more wives, all he had to do was
ask, further evidence that polygyny was approved by God.
God forgave but punished David, and Bathsheba became another wife after
which David did not commit adultery with her because they became "one
flesh" in marriage.
The King not to multiply wives