Overview
Polygamy appears in Old Testament narratives, sometimes with divine permission (2 Samuel 12:8), yet God's design from creation was monogamous marriage. Jesus redirected His followers to this original standard, emphasizing that marriage was intended as a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman.
Key Scriptures
"Jesus answered, 'Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh"?'" (Matthew 19:4-5, ESV)
"So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." (Matthew 19:6, ESV)
"Yet you say, 'Why does he not?' Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant." (Malachi 2:14, ESV)
Application
Christians are called to honor God's design through exclusive, covenantal marriage commitment to one spouse.