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The below is the question I'm hoping to ask. If I'm not allowed to ask it, I would be much obliged if one of you reading it could answer it/help me modify it to fit.

Thank you!

I've recently been looking into polygamy, and had a few cultural questions.

Was polygamy accepted at the time of David and Solomon? Were there any laws about it?

Was polygamy accepted during the first century? How common was it in the first century?

Are there any laws on having more than 1 wife in Judaism today? How common is polygamy in Jewish culture today?

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  • Just wondering: What are you concerned about? Why do you think this might not be acceptable?
    – msh210 Mod
    Nov 1, 2011 at 17:56
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    I've been looking into polygamy in the Christian context, and some have argued that it was accepted and common - I just want to know if this was true. The reason being in the Christian subculture I live in, Marriage is considered to be 1-to-1, and some justify this with Genesis. Looking through, there aren't any laws in Leviticus against polygamy, but only against marrying one's sister or father's wife. Which is why I'm wondering what was culturally accepted and what was common, and if there's any religious laws in Judaism regarding polygamy and monogamy.
    – stringo0
    Nov 1, 2011 at 18:52
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    Note: This question has now been asked as judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/11040.
    – msh210 Mod
    Nov 1, 2011 at 21:49

1 Answer 1

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Looks good to me, for the most part. Some issues:

  • "[A]round the time of Jesus" is a very unusual reference point in a Jewish context, especially considering all the other people one whose lifetimes one could use instead.
  • Your last subquestion asks about "laws... in Jewish culture". Do you mean to ask about laws (what's required and forbidden) or culture (what's accepted in society)? Those are two different questions.
  • Because of the ambiguity I mention in the preceding bullet point, I'm not sure you were being precise when you wrote "cultural questions" and (twice) "accepted": did you perhaps mean "legal questions" and "allowed"? (Or perhaps not.)
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  • To those unfamiliar with the degree to which we take halachic obligation seriously, all we have is what's "culturally accepted."
    – Isaac Moses Mod
    Nov 1, 2011 at 3:48
  • Thanks @msh210. I'm rephrasing around the time of Jesus to the first century. I'll rephrase the last subquestion to "Judaism, and Jewish culture". I would like to mean "legality" and "allowed" - I am more concerned about legality, but would like to know what was prevalent/accepted.
    – stringo0
    Nov 1, 2011 at 18:54
  • I've refined my question - how does it look now? My main concern is that it is 3 related sub-questions.
    – stringo0
    Nov 1, 2011 at 18:57
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    @stringo0 The sub-questions are all related enough, IMO. I'd say go ahead. Thanks for your sensitivity to our community standards. If you have any other potential questions, please go ahead and ask them on Mi Yodeya; if there are any issues, people will comment and/or edit. You're unlikely to seriously offend people without trying to.
    – Isaac Moses Mod
    Nov 1, 2011 at 19:06
  • Thank you @IsaacMoses.
    – stringo0
    Nov 1, 2011 at 19:10

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