Page 30 - The Marriage Covenant

by Abital; the sixth was Ithream, by his wife Eglah. Six were born to him in
Hebron, and there he reigned seven years and six months. And in Jerusalem he
reigned thirty-three years. And these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea,
Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon, four, by Bath-shua (Bathsheba) the daughter of
Ammiel; and Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet, Nogah, Nepheg, and Japhia, Elishama,
Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine. All these were the sons of David, besides the sons of
the concubines; and Tamar was their sister.

Beyond this, David also had Michal, the daughter of King Saul, as his wife, but no
children arose from the union, which is a profound parable in itself. In his old age, David
also took the young maiden Abishag as his wife, though he was never sexually intimate with
her (I Kings 1:1-4).
David did not transgress in taking any of these women as wives, other than Bathsheba.
With Bathsheba David committed adultery, for she was the wife of another man. David did
not put Bathsheba away after God confronted him with his sin, for by this time Bathsheba’s
husband had been murdered. Therefore, she was no longer in an active state of adultery.
She had only David as her husband.
It is very important to note that this is the reason David was able to keep Bathsheba
as his wife. Had her husband Uriah been living, Bathsheba and David would continue in
adultery as long as they were together. Yet through Uriah’s death, Bathsheba was no longer
bound to a man and was able to marry David. Even though David conspired to put Uriah
to death, when David repented and God put away his sin, the righteousness of Yahweh did
not require David to put away Bathsheba as his wife. Indeed, Yahweh later blessed their
union through the birth of Solomon, whom Yahweh named Jedidiah, “Beloved of Yah.”
That David, and consequently all other men who had more than one wife, were not
considered transgressors for the sake of having more than one wife, is revealed in the words
of God through the prophet Nathan when he was sent to confront David with his adultery
and murder.

II Samuel 12:8-9
“I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your bosom, and
gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also
would have given you much more!”

What Yahweh is declaring here is that He had taken the kingdom, and all that goes
with it, from Saul, and had given it to David. With the kingdom came the rule of all Israel
and Judah, the wealth of the nation, and the ability to maintain a large house with many
wives. Yahweh is not saying that He gave King Saul’s actual wives to David, for we have
David’s wives named, and none of them are from among Saul’s wives. What Yahweh has
declared is that He had abundantly blessed David by giving him those things that had
formerly pertained to Saul, including a large house and many wives. If therefore, Yahweh
has given these things to David, and would have given him more, we cannot judge the state
of having more than one wife as a transgression of the will of Yahweh.
This leads us to make a distinction in that which is considered adultery for a woman,
and adultery for a man. A man does NOT commit adultery by having more than one wife.
A man commits adultery by having ANOTHER MAN”S WIFE. This is always the definition
of adultery for a man in Scripture.