Bible and Genesis: what is a concubine in God's religion?

Question

In religion you are allowed a wife or concubines. It is in the 3 Holy Books; Genesis, Bible and Quran. When are you allowed a concubine and what is exactly the modern translation to this word? A girlfriend or a mistress or a single mom? And what are the rules binding this relation?

i am very shocked that everyone believes a man wants slave children from slave wives. There is no pride in this. I am shocked that everyone believs wives accept this to even happen. My understanding a concubine is either the strip dancer or the entertainer.

Answer 1

Ah, yes, God loved him some whores. Someone just said this is only clear in the OT which, suddenly, they no longer subscribe to (as if many Christians don't use the OT to spread hatred and intolerance against homosexuals). A concubine is someone used simply for sex. That she may be a "surrogate mother" is neither here nor there. Surrogate mothers are not used against their wills or else we would call them 'rape victims'. And to victimize any woman and then force her to have the child is beyond sick. Some Christians and Muslims may say that these 'women of the evening' wanted to lay around while men came and went, trying to impregnate them, but any sane women will tell you what a load of b.s. this really is. It's shocking and scary to see that some women here believe that this was 'right' somehow, or some kind of honor bestowed upon the concubines.

I guess a concubine could be given the title of any of the three you named above but only if you were maltreating each one of them. Mistress is closest, it seems. I'm glad you brought this up but I'm afraid the religious groups aforementioned will simply crawl back into their little shells screaming "persecution".

Answer 2

You have to be careful how you interpret these passages. The term concubine is often used in the bible in a negative way, but not always. There are times that God commanded it directly or through a prophet. I believe in these cases it refers to a 2nd or 3rd wife etc. and not some sort of sex slave.

You have to take into account that through most of history and in most places (including the US until the 1900s) Women had nearly no rights or status in society. Marriage was a social necessity. People didn't marry for love, it was more of a business arrangement. An unwed woman was generally unable to own land or hold any significant job. Basically an unwed woman was a social outcast and lived in poverty unless she had relatives to support her.

You Also, need to consider that through most of history Men have had a significantly higher mortality rate than women. This meant there were usually not enough men to go around.

For these reasons plural marriage has sometimes been a necessity. Many women in such circumstances would rather be a 2nd wife than have no husband at all. Many times these relationships were not sexual or involved sex only for procreation. They were a business arrangement so to speak.

It is hard for us to understand or accept this practice when viewing it from the prospective of our current social structure and economic system.

Answer 3

A wife is part of the man's family. The concubine is a shack up. The children of the wife inherit from the father when he dies. The concubines children inherit only what the father should specifically set aside for them. A concubine in the old testament never received Social Security and still doesn't.

Answer 4

It depends on the usage as it can sometimes just mean a woman. However a concubine in the OT of the Bible was like a slave-girl whose duties also included bearing children for the master. It may seem weird now but that was the norm at the time, and remember God wanted Israel to grow quickly as well....
BTW: The bible and Genesis are the same.

Answer 5

a concubine is the woman that is beneath the wife of a prominent man,she is considered lower that his wife yet the children are openly acknowledged she is accepted as a mistress i guess they could have been considered a slave that would have been left up to the man

Answer 6

A concubine is like a personal whore, so to speak. She is like a wife, but is considered a servent or a piece of property whose sole purpose is to provide children for the man. She is not allowed to be with anyone else, or else she dies. She may if the man dies, move on to someone else, usually a brother of the deceased.

Answer 7

I believe the definition changes a bit depending on the religion. But it would not be a girlfriend or mistress. You would have to provide for her full time not just when you want to like a protstitute.

Answer 8

"Concubine" In short: ( a kept woman.) A man could have
as many as he could afford along with a wife. Normally
his wife's children were the only airs to his wealth. That
was never permitted in the Christian faith. -----Sorry.----

Answer 9

MY CREED IS BREED!!

Dave King of the Old School Hebrew Nation now accepting concubine applications...

Answer 10

that is a tradition of man, not God...

God ordained that a man only have one wife...but men are lustful, and disobey God.

a concubine is basically a secondary wife , but usually wife in name only...maybe for sex, but she does not appeal to the man as much as the official wives..so he does not bother with her...many times in cultures, the women are just married off to someone, because no other man wants them, and they need to have a husband to survive..so the father gets a rich man to take them into the household...