What is the difference between 'concubine' and 'wife'?

Answer 1

These two articles make clear the distinctions. You will not find any better material published! Enjoy!

*** it-1 pp. 495-496 Concubine ***

CONCUBINE

Among the Hebrews a concubine occupied a position in the nature of a secondary wife and was sometimes spoken of as a wife. It appears that concubines were slave girls, one of three kinds: (1) a Hebrew girl sold by her father (Ex 21:7-9), (2) a foreign slave girl purchased, or (3) a foreign girl captured in warfare (De 21:10-14). Some were the slave girls or handmaids of the free wife, as in the cases of Sarah, Leah, and Rachel.—Ge 16:3, 4; 30:3-13; Jg 8:31; 9:18.

Concubinage was in existence before the Law covenant and was recognized and regulated by the Law, which protected the rights of both wives and concubines. (Ex 21:7-11; De 21:14-17) Concubines did not have all the rights in the household that the regular wife had, and a man might have a plurality of wives along with concubines. (1Ki 11:3; 2Ch 11:21) In cases where the wife was barren, she sometimes gave her handmaid to the husband as a concubine, and the child born of the concubine would then be considered as the child of the free wife, her mistress. (Ge 16:2; 30:3) Sons of concubines were legitimate and could inherit.—Ge 49:16-21; compare Ge 30:3-12.

Since by Oriental custom the wives and concubines of a king could only become those of his legal successor, Absalom, who demonstrated the greatest disrespect for David, tried to strengthen his efforts to get the kingship by having relations with the ten concubines of his father David. (2Sa 16:21, 22) After King Solomon was enthroned, Adonijah, an older brother of Solomon, who had already made an attempt for the kingship, approached Solomon’s mother, Bath-sheba, saying: “You yourself well know that the kingship was to have become mine,” and then asked her to request of Solomon, Abishag the Shunammite, who appears to have been viewed as a wife or a concubine of David. Solomon angrily answered: “Request also for him the kingship,” and then he ordered that Adonijah be put to death, indicating that he construed Adonijah’s request as an effort to get the kingdom.—1Ki 1:5-7; 2:13-25.

God did not see fit to restore the original standard of monogamy as he had established it in the garden of Eden until the appearance of Jesus Christ, but he did protect the concubine by legislation. Concubinage logically worked toward a more rapid increase of the population in Israel.—Mt 19:5, 6; 1Co 7:2; 1Ti 3:2; see MARRIAGE (Polygamy).

Figurative Use. The apostle Paul likens Jehovah to the husband of a free wife, the “Jerusalem above,” who is the “mother” of spirit-begotten Christians, as Abraham was husband to Sarah. He compares the relationship of Jehovah to the nation of Israel represented by its capital city Jerusalem to that of a husband and a concubine. Through the Law covenant Jehovah was ‘married’ to Jerusalem as a “servant girl,” a ‘concubine,’ analogous to the relationship of Abraham to the slave girl and concubine Hagar.—Ga 4:22-29; compare Isa 54:1-6.


*** it-2 pp. 1182-1184 Wife ***

WIFE

A married woman. In Hebrew, ´ish·shah´ means “woman” (literally, a female man) or “wife”; the wife was referred to as one “owned by a husband.” (Isa 62:4, ftn) In Greek, gy·ne´ can mean “wife,” or it can mean “woman,” whether married or not. Jehovah God provided the first man Adam with a wife by taking a rib from him and building it into the woman. She thereby became bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh. She was the counterpart of Adam and was created as a helper for him. (Ge 2:18, 20-23) God dealt directly with Adam, and in turn, Adam passed on God’s commandments to his wife. By reason of his prior creation and his being created in God’s image, he had the priority as head and was the spokesman for God to her. His headship was to be exercised in love, and the woman as a helper was to cooperate in the procreative mandate issued to the pair.—Ge 1:28; see WOMAN.

After the sin, first of Eve, who instead of being a helper to her husband proved to be a temptress, and then of her husband Adam, who followed her in transgression, God pronounced judgment on the woman, saying: “I shall greatly increase the pain of your pregnancy; in birth pangs you will bring forth children, and your craving will be for your husband, and he will dominate you.” (Ge 3:16) Since that time, among many peoples of the earth the woman has indeed been dominated, often in a very harsh way, by her husband, and instead of being a companion and helper, she has in many cases been treated more like a servant.

Among the Ancient Hebrews. Among the ancient Hebrews the man was the head of the house and was his wife’s owner (Hebrew, ba´`al), and the woman was the one owned (be`u·lah´). Among servants of God the wife occupied a dignified and honorable place. Godly women of spirit and ability, while subject to their husbandly head, had much latitude and freedom of action and were happy in their place; they were blessed in being used by Jehovah God to perform special services for him. Examples among the many faithful wives of the Bible are Sarah, Rebekah, Deborah, Ruth, Esther, and Mary the mother of Jesus.

Wife protected under the Law. While the husband occupied the superior position in the marriage arrangement, God’s requirements were that he was to provide for and care for the family in a material and spiritual way. Also, any wrongdoings of the family reflected on him; consequently he had a heavy responsibility. And while he had greater privileges than the wife, God’s law protected the wife and gave her certain unique privileges, so that she was able to live a happy, productive life.

A few examples of the Law’s provisions involving the wife were: Either husband or wife could be put to death for adultery. If the husband was suspicious of secret infidelity on the part of his wife, he could bring her to the priest, for Jehovah God to judge the matter, and if the woman was guilty, her reproductive organs would atrophy; on the other hand, if she was not guilty, the husband was required to make her pregnant, thereby publicly acknowledging her innocence. (Nu 5:12-31) A husband could divorce his wife if he found something indecent on her part. This would likely include such things as showing him gross disrespect or bringing reproach upon the household or that of his father. But the wife was protected by the requirement that he must write out for her a certificate of divorce. She was then free to marry another man. (De 24:1, 2) If the wife made a vow that her husband thought unwise or detrimental to the family’s welfare, he could nullify it. (Nu 30:10-15) This, however, was a safeguard for the wife, keeping her from any hasty action that might bring her into difficulty.

Polygamy was allowed under the Mosaic Law but was regulated so that the wife was protected. The husband could not transfer the right of the firstborn from the son of a less-loved wife to the son of his favorite wife. (De 21:15-17) If an Israelite daughter was sold by her father as a servant and the master took her as a concubine, her owner could allow her to be redeemed if she did not please him, but he could not sell her to a foreign people. (Ex 21:7, 8) If either he or his son had taken her as a concubine and then married another wife, she was to be provided with food, clothing, and shelter, as well as the marriage due.—Ex 21:9-11.

If a husband maliciously charged his wife with having falsely claimed to be a virgin at the time of marriage and his charge was proved false, he was punished and had to pay her father twice the marriage rate for virgins and could never divorce her all his days. (De 22:13-19) If a man seduced an unengaged virgin, he was required to pay the marriage price to her father and, if the father permitted, to marry her, after which he could never divorce her all his days.—De 22:28, 29; Ex 22:16, 17.

While the position of the wife in Hebrew society was somewhat different from a wife’s status in Western society today, the faithful Hebrew wife enjoyed her position and her work. She helped her husband, raised the family, managed the household, and found many things of satisfaction and delight, being able to express her womanly nature and talents to the full.

Description of a Good Wife. The happy state and activities of the faithful wife are described at Proverbs 31. She is said to be of more value to her husband than corals. He is able to put trust in her. She is industrious—weaving, making clothing for her family, attending to the buying of household needs, working in the vineyard, managing a household with the servants, aiding others who need help, clothing her family attractively, even bringing in some income by her handiwork, equipping her family against future emergencies, expressing herself in wisdom and loving-kindness, and, through fear of Jehovah and good works, receiving praise from her husband and from her sons, thereby honoring her husband and her family in the land. Truly he who has found a good wife has found a good thing and gets goodwill from Jehovah.—Pr 18:22.

In the Christian Congregation. The standard in the Christian congregation is that a husband should have only one living wife. (1Co 7:2; 1Ti 3:2) Wives are commanded to be in subjection to their husbands, whether these husbands are Christian believers or not. (Eph 5:22-24) Wives are not to withhold the marital due, for as with the husband, so with the wife, she does not “exercise authority over her own body.” (1Co 7:3, 4) Wives are instructed to let their primary adornment be that of the secret person of the heart, producing the fruitage of the spirit, that perhaps through their conduct alone the unbelieving husband may be won over to Christianity.—1Pe 3:1-6.

Figurative Use. In a figurative sense Jehovah spoke of Israel as his wife by reason of his covenant with the nation. (Isa 54:6) The apostle Paul speaks of Jehovah as the Father of spirit-begotten Christians, and he speaks of “the Jerusalem above” as their mother, as though Jehovah were married to her for the purpose of bringing forth spirit-begotten Christians. (Ga 4:6, 7, 26) The Christian congregation is spoken of as the bride, or wife, of Jesus Christ.—Eph 5:23, 25; Re 19:7; 21:2, 9.

Answer 2

Well the Concubine does not give a damn that you have a wife. A wife on the other hand does care that you have a Concubine. The wife takes half the Concubine gives you AID'S or Syphilis and smiles while doing it.
Gotta love them Concubines.

Answer 3

Okay, I will lay it out for you. Historically, a man had a wife and concubines. He is married to his wife and will hopefully have children by her. He will get to have sex with his concubine when ever he pleases and may or may not have children by her. They are not married and usually have no rights, or nothing nearly as close as the wife, to estate, etc. Of course there are always politics, for example, if the wife could not bear children. His heir would be the first born child to whatever concubine.
Anyhow, here are the specific definitions:
concubine:
a woman with whom a man cohabits without being married: as a : one having a recognized social status in a household below that of a wife b : MISTRESS 4a
wife:
a female partner in a marriage

Hope that helps with your question

Answer 4

A wife is a wife, a concubine is not a wife but she is another female the man has sex with and many times the wife knows about it and excepts it so the husband will not ask for too much sex from her! It gives the wife a break!

Answer 5

A Concubine is not married to the BOZO.

A BOZO often has but one wife, but many Concubine.

Answer 6

Concubine - A woman who cohabits with a man without being legally married to him.

Wife - A woman joined to a man in marriage; a female spouse.

That is the difference.

Answer 7

Wife has legal rights. Concubine does not.

Answer 8

The marriage ceremony mostly. That and the fact the concubine is mostly about having sex, the wife is the leader of the household and servants and children.

Answer 9

A wife will balance the checkbook, clean the bathroom, make dinner and take half of your possessions when you get divorced. A concubine will only give you sex.

Answer 10

Concubine is a friend and a wife is your companion the person who is your other half, your life partner, and your significant other.

Answer 11

i don't know of any since the bible generally made reference that the concubines ended up being taken as a wife.
Before Hagar and Abraham had sex, Hagar was given to Abraham to be his wife, Genesis 16:3 And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

Same with the others, beyond this, i don't know