The Bible has a great deal to say about wives. This study gathers passages from across Scripture and sets them out for reading and reflection.
What Scripture Says
The word “wives” appears across Scripture in settings both ordinary and tragic, and the passages gathered here show how deeply the subject runs through the Bible’s story. The first mention comes early, in Genesis 4:19, where Lamech took unto him two wives, Adah and Zillah—an early sign that the marriage ideal of one man and one woman was already being bent by human will. That pattern of multiple wives recurs: 1 Samuel 1:2 introduces Elkanah with two wives, Hannah and Peninnah, and the tension between them shapes the whole opening of that book. 2 Samuel 2:2 names David’s two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail. 1 Chronicles 4:5 records Ashur with two wives, Helah and Naarah. And 1 Kings 11:3 gives the sobering extreme: Solomon had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, “and his wives turned away his heart.” 2 Chronicles 11:21 adds Rehoboam, who loved Maachah above all his eighteen wives and threescore concubines. Scripture reports these arrangements honestly, but it never presents them as blessing; in Solomon’s case it plainly shows the ruin they brought.
Wives also appear in the life of the nation as those left behind and those at risk. In Numbers 14:3, as Israel fears entering the land, the people wail that their wives and children will become a prey. Deuteronomy 3:19 and Joshua 1:14 both instruct that the wives, little ones, and cattle should remain in the cities while the men of valour pass over armed to help their brethren—wives are named as a treasured charge to be protected. Yet Scripture also warns where wives can lead the heart astray: Judges 3:6 tells how Israel took the daughters of the Canaanites to be their wives and gave their daughters to their sons, “and served their gods.” Ruth 1:4 shows a different kind of union—Ruth and Orpah, wives of the women of Moab, dwelling about ten years in that land.
The grief and consequence surrounding wives is never hidden. In 2 Kings 4:1, a widow among the wives of the sons of the prophets cries to Elisha because a creditor is coming to take her two sons as bondmen. And in Ezra 10:2, Shechaniah confesses, “We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.” Even Exodus 19:15, in preparation for meeting God at Sinai, includes the command to “come not at your wives”—showing that the married relationship itself is drawn into the call to holiness. Taken together, these verses show wives woven through Israel’s worship, warfare, failure, and hope.
Living It Out
If there is one practical lesson in these verses, it is that the way a man treats his wife—and the way a couple orders their home—is never a private matter to God. Solomon’s heart was turned by his wives; Israel was snared by the wives they took from among those who served other gods. Choices about marriage carry spiritual weight that reaches far beyond the couple themselves. At the same time, Scripture’s concern for wives left behind in the cities, for the widow of 2 Kings 4, and for the wives and children Israel feared would become a prey reminds us that God sees the vulnerable and calls His people to protect and provide, not to expose those entrusted to them.
For the ordinary reader, this means taking seriously both the promises and the warnings attached to marriage. A husband is called to cherish and guard his wife, not to let any loyalty compete with or corrupt his devotion to the Lord. A wife, and a couple together, should ask whether their home is being built in fear of God or quietly shaped by other “gods”—whether comfort, ambition, or the approval of others. And where sin has entered in, as with the returned exiles in Ezra, Scripture holds out hope: confession and correction are still possible. The Bible’s honesty about wives is finally an invitation to build marriage on the fear of the Lord rather than on the patterns of the surrounding world.
Reflection
- Solomon’s wives turned away his heart (1 Kings 11:3), and Israel served other gods through the wives they took (Judges 3:6). What loyalties in your closest relationships are quietly competing with your devotion to the Lord?
- Deuteronomy 3:19 and Joshua 1:14 show wives named as a charge to be protected while the men went to war. How are you actively guarding and providing for the wife or family entrusted to your care?
Verses to Consider
- Genesis 4:19 — And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
- Exodus 19:15 — And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives.
- Numbers 14:3 — And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
- Deuteronomy 3:19 — But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (for I know that ye have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I have given you;
- Joshua 1:14 — Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them;
- Judges 3:6 — And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
- Ruth 1:4 — And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.
- 1 Samuel 1:2 — And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
- 2 Samuel 2:2 — So David went up thither, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail Nabal’s wife the Carmelite.
- 1 Kings 11:3 — And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
- 2 Kings 4:1 — Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.
- 1 Chronicles 4:5 — And Ashur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.
- 2 Chronicles 11:21 — And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)
- Ezra 10:2 — And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.
Where These Come From
These verses are drawn from different parts of the Bible on purpose. A subject is rarely settled by a single line; the whole counsel of Scripture gives the shape of it.