March
2: Dt. 20:1-23:14
Verse 21:15 talks about a man having two wives. I started
wondering when God stated that one wife was all a man should have. When looking
at different resources I found two interpretations of this verse. Some said
that monogamy was always the desired state since Genesis 2:20 - 24, but not
always practiced. The first mention of two wives was in Gen 4:19, when Lamech
(great-great-great grandson of Cain) married two women, and of course we know
about Jacob.
Other commentaries stated that the original text stated
“if a man have had” two wives, insinuating that the first one had died. This
would then be giving inheritance rights to the firstborn son, even if the first
wife wasn’t (or was no longer) loved most.
The only place the Bible uses the term “one wife” is when
referring to deacons and overseers in 1 Tim and Titus.
When I got to the next paragraph I was slightly horrified
– stoning a son because he was stubborn and rebellious? I can’t imagine ANY
teenage boy (or girl for that matter) would make it past age 17 these days! But
obviously this had to be a case of significant rebellion. I can’t imagine
wanting to have my child put to death because of disobedience. The word ‘evil’
occurs in the passage; perhaps it was significantly egregious behavior.
From here there are several seemingly random laws, and
several dealing with pre-marital relations/rape. Lots could be said about all
of them; feel free to comment on any that seem interesting to you.
One final item I saw – v 23:3 states that no Ammonite or
Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. As we’ll see later, Ruth was a
Moabite. But I guess women weren’t allowed in the assembly anyway so that
doesn’t necessarily apply.
TOMORROW’S TEXT: Dt. 23:15 – 27:10
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