In all of Scripture, the life of David may be the most dramatic recorded. No other account in the Bible so vividly captures the heart-wrenching struggle of a sinful man who earnestly sought after the Lord yet failed to measure up. While reading through this account, we inevitably stumble across the puzzling records of King David’s wives and concubines. They are as follows:
Michal: She is the first of David’s wives. She was given by the hand of her treacherous father Saul the first king of Israel—while he lingered on the throne in his fallen state. Consumed with lust for power, Saul sought to destroy David because God’s favor rested on him, and David was deemed a contender for the throne (1 Samuel 18:12-16). With malintent, Saul initially tried to give his first daughter, Merab, to David in marriage to put David in peril by the hand of the Philistines. David humbly refused and stated he was unworthy to be the king’s son-in-law (1 Samuel 18:17-19). News reached Saul that his daughter, Michal, loved David. Again, with sinister motives, Saul told David he could still become his son-in-law by marrying Michal. He need only give 100 Philistine foreskins as dowry. Saul’s hopes of David falling by the hand of the Philistines is once again thwarted because David killed 200 Philistines and gave double the agreed-upon dowry. Saul had no choice but to give Michal to David as his wife (1 Samuel 18:20-27).
Abigail: David’s second wife, Abigail, is found in 1 Samuel 25 during the saga of David’s life when he fled King Saul. David offered his services to a man named Nabal, Abigail’s husband before David. When it came time to be paid, Nabal instead refused to pay David and his men. As a result, David took up arms with 400 of his men to seek vengeance and completely wipe out Nabal’s family line by killing all males. When notified, Abigail hurried to intercede on behalf of her husband. She begged for forgiveness and gave David a handsome number of supplies, thus staying David’s hand from taking vengeance by his own hand. After this, the Lord struck Nabal and took his life. When he heard this, David took Abigail as his wife.
Ahinoam: Introduced in 1 Samuel 25:43, Ahinoam is mostly mentioned alongside Abigail, since both wives accompanied David together while He fled Saul. Ahinoam was the mother of Amnon, who raped his half-sister Tamar.
Maacah, Haggith, Abital, and Eglah: Scripture does not give much detail about these four wives other than the fact they all bore sons to David while he dwelt in Hebron. They are all mentioned in 2 Samuel 3:2-5 and 1 Chronicles 3:1-3. Most of the sons mentioned from these women caused much strife and grief in David’s family.
Bathsheba: There’s no doubt Bathsheba is the most known among David’s wives. The infamous account of how she became David’s wife is found in 2 Samuel 11. In the springtime, when all kings ride out to war, David neglected his responsibilities as king and sent Joab, the commander of his army, to fight in his stead. While he walked around on the roof of his house, David spied the married woman, Bathsheba, bathing. As he took note of her beauty, David abused his authority as King and forced her to lie with him. As a result, Bathsheba became pregnant with their illegitimate child and told David he was the father. At first, David called Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, away from the battle to give him a report of the army. This is done to give Uriah the opportunity to go home and sleep with his wife so that he can pass as the father of Bathsheba’s child. This plan failed as Uriah faithfully refused to even go home, lest he sleep with his wife. This was done in accordance with the Mosaic law which gave instruction on how soldiers were to keep themselves pure during the time of war. David’s solution to cover up the scandal was to send Uriah to the front lines of battle and have all other troops draw back from Uriah’s position to ensure the enemy killed him. The plan worked. Bathsheba mourned the death of her husband and David took her as his wife after her time of mourning.
There is a dangerous assumption which accompanies many Bible readers and serves as the root of numerous stumbling blocks. It’s the false assumption Scripture condones all behavior recorded in the historical narratives of the Bible, especially if God’s disapproval is not explicitly expressed in the immediate context of the behaviors in question. When presented with the polygamous lifestyle of David (or anyone else for that matter) it is essential for us to keep several overarching truths in mind.
Free Will. This is often seen as the cop-out answer anytime the question of why God allows evil in the world comes up. However, for people seeking the truth in earnest, it would be disingenuous to ignore any of the relevant factors revealed in Scripture pertaining to this question. David, like all other human beings, was not a robot. He had the capacity to make choices which either adhered to God’s Word or blatantly disobeyed it. While reading through David’s life, it is evident he did not always make good decisions. Free will is a tremendous gift given to us by God because it enables our actions to have meaning and purpose; however, we can abuse it to do unspeakable things in pursuit of our selfish ambitions. When it comes to God’s children, Scripture places much emphasis on the importance of making good decisions (Joshua 24:14-15; 1 Corinthians 10:13). David clearly struggled with this many times.
God explicitly prohibited polygamy. Many Christians purposefully neglect studying the Mosaic Law. Admittedly, it’s not always the most exciting part of the Bible to read, however it is incredibly important for understanding the historical accounts recorded. When God gave Moses the Law, He established the moral and societal parameters within which He expected the nation of Israel to live. When a reader has a grasp on the Law, they have the standard by which they are to discern the behavior of the people recorded. God plainly told the Israelites when they selected a king, he was not to have multiple wives (Deuteronomy 17:17). Among other things, the fact David chose to have multiple wives proves he was a sinner. As the Apostle Paul says, the Law served to reveal our sin and shut all people up under sin (Galatians 3:19-22).
God’s providence. This is one of the most glorious and mind-blowing truths Scripture reveals about our Lord. God exercises His power in harmony with our free will (even our sinful decisions) to accomplish His divine purposes. God makes the ultimate mockery of sin by taking our wicked decisions and using them for His good purposes (Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28). That is not to say it is a good thing when we sin. Rather, God works through the effects of our sin to bring about His purposes, though He still abhors our sinful actions. It doesn’t matter how hard we try to thwart God’s plans; He will always accomplish exactly what He intends. Even in light of David’s polygamy, we can trust God worked through all things for His glory. For example, Bathsheba bore Solomon to David, and he was part of Jesus’ genealogy (Matthew 1:6-7). Also, the heinous sin David committed with Bathsheba resulted in David writing Psalm 51, which has long been a staple for all believers when we have given in to sin and need to repent.
The account is given for our instruction and encouragement. You read that correctly, God recorded David’s polygamous lifestyle for our instruction and encouragement. In his epistle to the Romans, Paul mentions the edifying nature of the entire Old Testament stating, “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scripture we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). Regarding David’s wives, we have a grim reminder of what happens when we neglect to live as God commands. David’s family life was by far his biggest failure. The complex family David created was the source of much sorrow and strife. We can learn much from his mistakes. Also, we find hope. If God remained faithful to David in spite of his failings, we can rest assured He will remain faithful to us despite ours.
Apart from the last point given in the previous section, Christians should know the accounts given of these women to strengthen their witness for Christ. It is all too common for skeptics and mockers to cite such things in Scripture to devalue the moral integrity of the Bible and dismiss the possibility of Scripture being God’s Word. If Christians are not ready, they will get blind-sided by such objections and may even suffer doubt of their own faith. None of this is necessary and it can be avoided if Christians take their studies of the Scripture seriously instead of shying away from difficult passages in the Bible. God’s Word is perfect, but if we don’t take the time to understand what it actually means, the world will propagate its false understandings and leave us speechless.
Further Reading
How Many Wives Did King David Have and What Do We Know about Them?
Who Were David's Wives, and Why Should We Know Their Names?
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