Did the Bible allow men to acquire women whose sole purpose was sexual use? The real question is whether Scripture ever permitted men to have sexual access to women without covenant responsibility. Many Christians assume the answer is “Yes” because of concubines.
This assumption is false.
The Bible never presents concubinage as casual sex, prostitution, or disposable sexual access. Concubinage was a recognized marital category with covenant obligations. What modern culture calls “sexual exploitation,” Scripture calls lawless behavior — and God never sanctioned it.
Biblical Terminology: Wives and Concubines
The Hebrew word most commonly translated “wife” is ishah (אִשָּׁה), which simply means “woman” or “wife” depending on context. Scripture uses this term broadly for lawful marital partners.
The Hebrew word translated “concubine” is pilegesh (פִּילֶגֶשׁ). Importantly, pilegesh does not mean prostitute, mistress, or sexual slave. It refers to a secondary wife — a woman in a legitimate marital union with lower household rank and limited inheritance status for her children.
In other words: concubines were wives. They were not casual sexual partners. They were not temporary girlfriends. They were covenant-bound members of the household.
The main legal distinction was not sexual access — it was inheritance rights.
Primary wives (free wives) normally produced heirs who automatically inherited land and household authority. Secondary wives (concubines) produced legitimate sons, but those sons only inherited if the father formally granted it.
Concubines Were Not Always Slaves
A major error repeated by many teachers is the claim that concubines were always slaves. Scripture directly contradicts this.
Judges 19 provides explicit proof that some concubines were daughters of free Israelite families — not slaves purchased as property.
“And there was a certain Levite, sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehemjudah.
And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Bethlehemjudah…” — Judges 19:1–2 (KJV)
This woman had a father’s household in Bethlehem. She was not owned property. She entered a recognized marital union as a concubine — proving that concubinage included freeborn daughters, not merely servants.
Royal concubines likewise often came from noble families (2 Samuel 5:13). These women were integrated into the king’s household as secondary wives — not trafficked slaves.
How Were Concubines Acquired?
Concubines entered marriage through several biblically regulated pathways:
Some were war captives who underwent formal covenant integration into Israelite households (Deuteronomy 21:10–14). Some were daughters of poor families who entered secondary marriage arrangements for provision and protection. Some were female servants elevated into marital status (Exodus 21:7–11). Others were freeborn daughters given in marriage without the full bride-price status of a primary wife.
In every case, once a woman entered concubinage she was no longer merely a servant. She gained sexual rights, covenant protection, and marital standing. Scripture treats this as lawful marriage — not exploitation.
This is why Jacob’s household included Bilhah and Zilpah as secondary wives (Genesis 30). These unions were socially recognized and legally binding, not sinful arrangements.
Concubines and Surrogate Motherhood
Concubines sometimes functioned as surrogate mothers for barren primary wives. When the household formally recognized the children, those sons became legitimate heirs.
This explains why Jacob’s sons born through Bilhah and Zilpah were counted equally among the twelve tribes of Israel. Household covenant recognition — not maternal rank — determined tribal legitimacy.
Did Concubines Have Rights?
Modern culture assumes ancient servitude meant unrestricted abuse. Scripture does not support this myth. God imposed strict limits on masters — especially concerning women in marital relationships.
Physical Abuse Was Forbidden
“If a man smite his servant, or his maid… he shall surely be punished… If he smite out his manservant’s tooth… he shall let him go free.” — Exodus 21:20, 26–27 (KJV)
Provision and Sexual Rights Were Mandatory
“If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.” — Exodus 21:10 (KJV)
Concubines were legally entitled to food, clothing, and sexual access — the same core obligations placed on husbands toward primary wives.
This is why Jewish marriage vows historically included the pledge of “food, clothing, and conjugal rights.” These were covenant duties, not romantic gestures.
Scripture further shows concubines were functionally wives. Keturah is called Abraham’s wife in Genesis 25:1 and his concubine in 1 Chronicles 1:32–33. The terminology reflects status hierarchy, not moral legitimacy.
Abraham sent away the sons of his concubines with gifts to preserve Isaac’s exclusive inheritance — not because those unions were sinful, but because inheritance law prioritized the primary covenant wife’s offspring.
Were Concubinage and Polygamy Sin?
Scripture never condemns concubinage or plural marriage. What God condemns is sexual immorality — adultery, fornication, rape, and covenant betrayal.
Rather than abolishing these institutions, God regulated them with law, protection, and accountability.
Conclusion
The Bible never permitted men to sexually use women without covenant responsibility. Sexual access required marital obligation.
Concubines were wives. They were not prostitutes. They were not casual partners. They were lawful household members with defined rights and protections.
The most accurate summary is this:
All concubines were wives — but not all wives were concubines.
The difference was legal rank and inheritance rights — not sexual legitimacy.
Biblical Sexology 