Q. What is the maximum number of wives in a polygamous family?

A. The Torah (Law) stipulates that a man must not multiply wives to himself to the point where he cannot meet their needs or properly look after them. The statute is specifically aimed at kings who would have had the wealth and power to have large families but is applicable in principle to anyone.

It is impossible to say how many wives any individual is capable of taking care of. It will depend on Yahweh's will, his level of spiritual maturity, and the maturity of his wives.

In looking for a clue from the Bible as to the 'average' ceiling of wives, I personally look to Isaiah 4:1 which posits 7. I'm not sure that your average man could be reasonably expected to cope with many more. Solomon, as we know, went to ludicrous excess with 1,000 wives and was in clear violation of Torah, as witnessed not only numerically but by the fact he made allegiances with foreign wives not of the Covenant who in the end led his heart astray.

In our Order we have the following ruling:

(1) Maximum number of wives for Deacons (Shamashim): 4
(2) Maximum number of wives for Elders (Zaqenim): 7
(3) Maximum number of wives for Apostles: 12

This is not a hard-and-fast rule but serves as a guideline. Somehow I doubt we will get anywhere near this ceiling in the first generation. In the first couple of decades of Christian/Messianic polygyny in the West few men seem to have more than two wives. I know a handfull who have 4-5.

The important thing, however, is of course not numbers but spiritual quality. I think it's right to keep the numbers low until the next generation has been raised which has grown up around polygamy. Isaiah 4:1 tells us that the average family in Israel at the beginning of the Millennium will be 7 wives. That seems to me to be a reasonable all-round ceiling.

Author: SBSK