Furthermore, he must not marry many<n id="1" /> wives lest his affections turn aside, and he must not accumulate much silver and gold.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Suppose a man has two wives, one whom he loves more than the other,<n id="1" /> and they both<n id="2" /> bear him sons, with the firstborn being the child of the less loved wife.

But we can&#8217;t allow our daughters to marry them,<n id="1" /> for the Israelites took an oath, saying, &#8216;Whoever gives a woman to a Benjaminite will be destroyed!&#8217;<n id="2" />

So her sons<n id="1" /> married<n id="2" /> Moabite women. (One was named Orpah and the other Ruth.)<n id="3" /> And they continued to live there about ten years.

He had two wives; the name of the first was Hannah and the name of the second was Peninnah. Now Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.p>

Samuel said, &#8220;Just as your sword left women childless, so your mother will be the most bereaved among women!&#8221; Then Samuel hacked Agag to pieces there in Gilgal before the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="poetry">I grieve over you, my brother Jonathan!p> <p class="poetry">You were very dear to me.p> <p class="poetry">Your love was more special to me than the love of women.p>

<p class="bodytext">So the king and all the members of his royal court<n id="1" /> set out on foot, though the king left behind ten concubines<n id="2" /> to attend to the palace.

<t /><p class="bodytext">King Solomon fell in love with many foreign women (besides Pharaoh&#8217;s daughter), including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites.

<p class="bodytext">He had 700 royal wives<n id="1" /> and 300 concubines;<n id="2" /> his wives had a powerful influence over him.<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">According to the genealogical records of their families, they had 36,000 warriors available for battle, for they had numerous wives and sons.<n id="1" />

He wisely placed some of his many sons throughout the regions of Judah and Benjamin in the various fortified cities.<n id="1" /> He supplied them with abundant provisions and acquired many wives for them.<n id="2" />p>

Abijah&#8217;s power grew; he had<n id="1" /> fourteen wives and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.p>

The Israelites seized from their brothers 200,000 wives, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a huge amount of plunder and took it<n id="1" /> back to Samaria.<n id="2" />p>

Therefore let us enact<n id="1" /> a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord,<n id="2" /> and that of those who respect<n id="3" /> the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law.

<p class="bodytext">Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, &#8220;You have behaved in an unfaithful manner by taking foreign wives! This has contributed to the guilt of Israel.

<t /><p class="bodytext">It was determined<n id="1" /> that from the descendants of the priests, the following had taken foreign wives: from the descendants of Jeshua son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.

Even I and my relatives<n id="1" /> and my associates<n id="2" /> are lending them money and grain. But let us abandon this practice of seizing collateral!<n id="3" />

This very day return to them their fields, their vineyards, their olive trees, and their houses, along with the interest<n id="1" /> that you are exacting from them on the money, the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil.&#8221;p>

Should we then in your case hear that you do all this great evil, thereby being unfaithful to our God by marrying<n id="1" /> foreign wives?&#8221;p>