🚫 The Lamech Lie: Why Polygamy is a Mark of Rebellion, Not a Divine Necessity
The doctrine of marriage, as instituted by God, is frequently challenged by modern revisionism and historical speculation. A common argument deployed by those who seek to justify polygamy is that the command to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 1:28, KJV) somehow necessitated multiple wives for rapid population growth, even suggesting, without a shred of evidence, that Adam may have had multiple consorts.
We must reject this line of reasoning, for it elevates human conjecture over the explicit and unambiguous revelation of Holy Scripture.
I. The Singular Standard Set in Eden
When addressing the nature of marriage, the believer’s final appeal must always be to the beginning—the foundational decree of the Creator. Scripture is absolutely clear about the structure of the first marriage:
“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24, KJV).
Note the meticulous use of the singular noun: “wife.” God did not create one man and many women; He created one man and one woman (Eve, and none other is named) and declared the standard of a singular, exclusive union.
To argue that Adam “might have had a hundred wives” is to engage in pure, unfounded speculation, which is a dangerous tool when handling the Word of God. The instruction to multiply was given to this original one-to-one couple. To claim that global population growth was impossible under this divine, monogamous model is to ascribe limits to the power of God, who authored the very process of reproduction.
II. Polygamy: The Fruit of Rebellion, Not Command
The Bible itself chronicles the true origin of polygamy, and it is revealed not as a divine necessity but as a mark of human degeneracy and rebellion.
The first man recorded in scripture to take multiple wives was Lamech, who belonged to the wicked, ungodly lineage of Cain:
“And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.” (Genesis 4:19, KJV).
This act is deliberately placed in the context of increasing violence and departure from God’s standard. Polygamy, therefore, is not an original command, a required practice, or a virtuous necessity; it is introduced into the biblical narrative as a symptom of the Fall—a product of the flesh and the rejection of the Edenic standard.
III. The Lord Jesus Christ Confirms Monogamy
The final and most authoritative verdict on marriage belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. When challenged on the lawfulness of divorce, Christ immediately pointed the Pharisees back to the immutable standard of Genesis, affirming the monogamous design for all time:
“But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.” (Mark 10:6–8, KJV).
The Lord did not say “cleave to his wives” or “they three or more shall be one flesh.” He confirmed that the two becoming one is the divine standard established “from the beginning.”
Therefore, we stand firmly on the explicit Word of God. The divine blueprint for marriage is, and has always been, the singular, lifelong, monogamous union of one man and one woman.