", "PILEGESH (Hebrew, ; comp. [35] The Annals of Ulster depicts raptio and states that in 821 the Vikings plundered an Irish village and "carried off a great number of women into captivity". All rights reserved. 10 Concubines are King David’s unnamed concubines. The fact that female prisoners of war could be taken as wives by the Israelites does not sanction the practice so much as regulate and transform an existing evil.”. The Bible isn't specific about why God allowed his people to continue in sinful systems like this. [20] However it differed from a contubernium, where at least one of the partners was a slave. [14] The law prescribed that a man could kill another man caught attempting a relationship with his concubine. But one can imagine the relational neglect and emotional turmoil of sharing a husband with 299 other concubines and 700 wives. [37], The two views, Christian condemnation and secular continuity with the Roman legal system, continued to be in conflict throughout the entire Middle Age, until in the 14th and 15th centuries the Church outlawed concubinage in the territories under its control.[37]. A concubine was endowed with rights and protections by Hebrew law but was not equal in status to a wife. A gigolo is not a male concubine. [16] While references to the sexual exploitation of maidservants appear in literature, it was considered disgraceful for a man to keep such women under the same roof as his wife. The father-in-law convinces the Levite to remain several additional days, until the party leaves behind schedule in the late evening. [108] One reason for taking non-white women as concubines was that free white men outnumbered free white women, although marriage between races was not illegal. Legally, any children born to a concubine were considered to be the children of the wife she was under. More concubines are mentioned in the Old Testament: 1 Chronicles 1:32, 1 Chronicles 2:46, 1 Chronicles 2:48, 1 Chronicles 7:14, and 2 Chronicles 11:21. GotQuestions.org, “Who was Keturah in the Bible?”. [115] Today, descendants of the free people of color are generally called Louisiana Creole people. [44] After the death of a concubine, her sons would make an offering to her, but these offerings were not continued by the concubine's grandsons, who only made offerings to their grandfather's wife. [79] Islam furthermore endorsed educating,[80] freeing or marrying female slaves if they embrace Islam abandoning polytheism or infidelity. The NIV Zondervan Study Bible makes a note about this situation: “A perennial problem in war is rape, but this was forbidden in Israel. Some contend that concubinage was a pre-Islamic custom that was allowed to be practiced under Islam, with Jews and non-Muslim people to marry a concubine after teaching her, instructing her well and then giving her freedom. Nene, wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was known to overrule her husband's decisions at times and Yodo-dono, his concubine, became the de facto master of Osaka castle and the Toyotomi clan after Hideyoshi's death. In many cases, taking a concubine was akin to a marriage. The term comes from Latin concubinatus,[2] the institution in ancient Rome that regulated the cohabitation of free citizens who did not want to enter into a marriage, similarly to modern day civil unions. Her story is recorded in Genesis 16:1-16 and Genesis 21:9-21. If the concubine was a commoner, a messenger was sent with betrothal money or a note for exemption of tax to ask for her parents' acceptance. - In Genesis 2:22-24, God clearly designed marriage to be a union of one man and one woman. A free wife was a woman born to a free man. A gigolo is a male prostitute. In ancient times, two sources for concubines were permitted under an Islamic regime. After this woman reconciled with her husband, she left her father’s house with him to travel back to their home in another city. She was acquired as a wife when a man approached her father and offered him the bride price.… [2][19] The institution was often found in unbalanced couples, where one of the members belonged to a higher social class or where one of the two was freed and the other one was freeborn. Concubines who gave birth to male offspring were elevated to imperial consorts, with the empress at the top of the pecking order. Apart from working in the home and providing sexual companionship, a major role for a concubine would be to produce children, to increase the work force in a household. Concubine definition, a woman who cohabits with a man to whom she is not legally married, especially one regarded as socially or sexually subservient; mistress. As a plot element, the children of concubines are depicted with a status much inferior to that in actual history. She is amenable to returning with him, and the father-in-law is very welcoming. [77] Islam introduced legal restrictions and discipline to the concubinage[78] and encouraged manumission. [104], In the various European colonies in the Caribbean, white planters took black and mulatto concubines,[105] owing to the shortage of white women. From the Eastern Han period (AD 25–220) onward, the number of concubines a man could have was limited by law. Foster, Thomas A. Joseon monarchs had a harem which contained concubines of different ranks. In the Levitical rules on sexual relations, the Hebrew word that is commonly translated as "wife" is distinct from the Hebrew word that means "concubine". [62], The term concubine did not necessarily refer to women after the first wife. Concubinage definition is - cohabitation of persons not legally married. [43] Many of the concubines of the emperor of the Qing dynasty were freeborn women from prominent families. [13] Children produced by slaves remained slaves and those by non-slave concubines varied over time; sometimes they had the possibility of citizenship. For example, Leviticus Rabbah severely condemns the custom. David L. Baker, theologian and seminary professor, said this: “In the ancient Near East, it was acceptable for a married man to have a secondary wife or concubine, so long as he had the resources to support a large family. Qiu Zhonglin(Chung-lin Ch'iu)邱仲麟:"Mingdai linxuan Houfei jiqi guizhi" 明代遴選後妃及其規制 (The Imperial Concubine Selection System during the Ming Dynasty). [107] This sort of relationship was condemned by the Catholic Church and the Council of Trent threatened those who engaged in it with excommunication. What are synonyms for concubine? On the way, they stayed the night in Gibeah, and a crowd of “wicked men surrounded the house. 5. Photo Credit . A concubine is wife without title. ", "Sex Slaves – The Dirty Secret Behind The Founding of Iceland", "Kinder, Gentler Vikings? "[88] Most Islamic schools of thought restricted concubinage to a relationship where the female slave was required to be monogamous to her master,[89] (though the master's monogamy to her is not required), but according to Sikainga, in reality this was not always practiced and female slaves were targeted by other men of the master's household. [3], Concubinage has existed in all cultures, though the prevalence of concubinage and the rights and expectations of the persons involved have varied somewhat, as have the rights of the offspring born from such relationships. Definition: concubine. The group sit around the town square, waiting for a local to invite them in for the evening, as was the custom for travelers. In contrast, their younger half-siblings by concubine Zhao, Jia Tanchun and Jia Huan, develop distorted personalities because they are the children of a concubine. For example, the son of an Imperial concubine often had a chance of becoming emperor. ענה in Exodus 21:10 and Deuteronomy 21:14.” Zeitschrift Für Altorientalische Und Biblische Rechtsgeschichte / Journal for Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Law, vol. A relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings is an example of this. Shi Fengyi 史凤仪 (1987): Zhongguo gudai hunyin yu jiating 中国古代婚姻与家庭. A key purpose of the Law of Moses was to show the depth of sin and that no human could completely satisfy the law (Galatians 3:19, Hebrews 10:1-10). - In Deuteronomy 24:5, God made instructions for a husband to prioritize his wife’s happiness. - In Malachi 2:13-16, God expressed anger at a husband’s unfaithfulness to his wife. For example, the Books of Kings say that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines.[67]. According to Smith’s Bible Dictionary, a concubine would usually be either: 1. ", "The rights of woman in Islam, fixed-term marriage and the problem of the harem", "Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: A Brief Account", Helen Bush Caver and Mary T. Williams, "Creoles", Transactions of the American Philological Association, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Concubinage&oldid=1002892255, Articles with disputed statements from September 2020, Articles to be expanded from September 2020, Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text, Articles containing Chinese-language text, Articles containing traditional Chinese-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2018, Self-contradictory articles from May 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 26 January 2021, at 14:30. The standard Chinese term translated as "concubine" was qiè 妾, a term that has been used since ancient times. Why did God allow men to have concubines in the Bible?" The word concubine comes from the … [12], In Ancient Greece the practice of keeping a concubine (Ancient Greek: παλλακίς pallakís) was common among the upper classes, and they were for the most part women who were slaves or foreigners, but occasional free born based on family arrangements (typically from poor families). "[8], In the Middle Assyrian Period, the main wife (assatu) wore a veil in the street, as could a concubine (esirtu) if she were accompanying the main wife, or if she were married. [40] The purchase of concubine was similar to the purchase of a slave, yet concubines had a higher social status. Genesis 25:6 suggests that Keturah was Abraham’s concubine. Concubine. In the Bible, a concubine was a woman acquired by a man as a secondary wife. A band of wicked townsmen attack the house and demand the host send out the Levite man so they can rape him. From 1662 the Colony of Virginia, followed by others, incorporated into law the principle that children took their mother's status, i.e., the principle of partus sequitur ventrem. Kameko, as the child of the formal wife, married a noble man and matrilineally carried on the family name.[55]. [23], Polygyny was common among Vikings, rich and powerful Viking men tended to have many wives and concubines. It was encouraged to manumit slave women who rejected their initial faith and embraced Islam, or to bring them into formal marriage. Maimonides was not the first Jewish thinker to criticise concubinage. [43], The position of the concubine was generally inferior to that of the wife. She quotes the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World to differentiate between marriage (nikah) and Mut'ah, and states that while nikah is for procreation, mut'ah is just for sexual gratification. [66] Later biblical figures, such as Gideon and Solomon, had concubines in addition to many childbearing wives. Forced slavery and human trafficking was against the Hebrew law anyway (Exodus 21:16). [24][25] Concubinage for Vikings was connected to slavery; the Vikings took both free women and slaves as concubines. The English term concubine is also used for what the Chinese refer to as pínfēi (Chinese: 嬪妃), or "consorts of emperors", an official position often carrying a very high rank. For instance, according to Suetonius, Caenis, a slave and secretary of Antonia Minor, was Vespasian's wife "in all but name", until her death in AD 74. in the Bible denotes a female conjugally united to a man, but in a relation inferior to that of a wife. The child of a scholar-official father and a slave-concubine mother was always free, although the child could not occupy government positions. The Hebrew word for concubine, Piylegesh, isn’t even of Hebrew origin. Her heartbreaking story is recorded in Judges 19-21. In places like China and the Muslim world, the concubine of a king could achieve power, especially if her son also became a monarch. [77] Some scholars recommended holding a wedding banquet (walima) to celebrate the concubinage relationship; however, this is not required in teachings of Islam and is rather the self-preferred opinions of certain non-liberal Islamic scholars. No one professed a more austere morality, and few medieval writers indulged in cruder satire on the female sex; yet he passed some years in the society of a concubine , and his living masterpiece of art is the apotheosis of chivalrous passion for a … When there is an inability or social discouragement for the couple to marry, it may be due to multiple factors such as differences in social rank status, an existing marriage, religious or professional prohibitions, or a lack of recognition by appropriate authorities. These women were called concubines, and they often were treated better than the man’s wife. Empress Myeongseong managed to have sons, preventing sons of concubines getting power. Children of concubines had lower rights in account to inheritance, which was regulated by the Dishu system. According to one study, this was the case in about one-third of slave-holding societies, the most prominent being case of the Muslim world. But a man who bought a Hebrew girl as a concubine must commit to provide for her for life, sell her to another man who would provide for her as his concubine, or return the girl to her father without demanding payment for her (Exodus 21:7-11). Ellicott’s commentary explains the political significance of Abner’s act: “The harem of an Eastern monarch was considered as the property of his successor, and therefore the taking of a woman belonging to it as the assertion of a claim to the throne.”. It’s “a non-Semitic loanword borrowed to refer to a phenomenon not indigenous to Israel,” according to Baker’s Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Rather, they are included to show the depth of human depravity – the depth of every human’s need for Jesus Christ. [39] From the earliest times wealthy men purchased concubines and added them to their household in addition to their wife. Therefore, send very beautiful concubines without blemish." . Casino magnate Stanley Ho of Macau took his "second wife" as his official concubine in 1957, while his "third and fourth wives" retain no official status.[50]. concubina, a concubine; from con-, with, and cubare, to lie), the state of a man and woman cohabiting as married persons without the full sanctions of legal marriage. An old term for a kept woman or girlfriend. Harem definition, the part of a Muslim palace or house reserved for the residence of women. In some countries, such as France, concubinage is the official name given by the law to civil unions. This type of concubinage was practiced in patriarchal cultures throughout history. The term is a loanword from Ancient Greek παλλακίς,[69][70][71] meaning "a mistress staying in house". How patient he was to endure his people continually rejecting the goodness of his ways in exchange for the filth of sin. [94] These views are contested by others, who hold that mut'ah is a temporary wedlock option in Islam for avoiding illegal sex relations among those Muslims whose marriage is legitimate but, for certain constraints, they are unable to avail it. Word Origin perhaps of foreign origin Definition concubine NASB Translation concubine (22), concubines (14), paramours (1). One moment... italki is changing the way the world learns foreign languages. Murat Iyigun, "Lessons From the Ottoman Harem on Culture, Religion & Wars", University of Colorado, 2011, "Sexual Relations Between Elite White Women and Enslaved Men in the Antebellum South: A Socio-Historical Analysis", J. M. Allain, Inquiries Journal, 2013, Vol. NIV Starting Place Study Bible, “Why Did David Have So Many Wives and Concubines?” pg. There is evidence that concubines had a higher rank than female slaves. [17] Apollodorus of Acharnae said that hetaera were concubines when they had a permanent relationship with a single man, but nonetheless used the two terms interchangeably. Rule 93. The group pass up a nearby non-Israelite town to arrive very late in the city of Gibeah, which is in the land of the Benjaminites. [92] According to Zeyno Baran, this kind of temporary marriage provides Shi'ite men with a religiously sanctioned equivalent to prostitution. Even among merchant families, concubinage was occasionally used to ensure heirs. Concubines’ situation ranged from well-treated pseudo-wives to poorly treated prostitutes. While reading stories about concubines in the Bible (or other tragic stories in the Old Testament), it’s important to remember that God included these stories to expose sin and point to the need for Christ. [63] In the Levitical code, sexual intercourse between a man and a wife of a different man was forbidden and punishable by death for both persons involved. Among the early Jews, from various causes, the difference between a wife and a concubine was less marked than it would be amongst us. The term “concubine” in the Bible refers to a slave wife. For example, Jang Nok-su was a concubine-born daughter of a mayor, who was initially married to a slave-servant, and later became a high-ranking concubine of Yeonsangun. [24] Researchers have suggested that Vikings may have originally started sailing and raiding due to a need to seek out women from foreign lands. [citation needed] Three generations of the Jia family are supported by one notable concubine of the emperor, Jia Yuanchun, the full elder sister of the male protagonist Jia Baoyu. Attempts have been initiated to popularise pilegesh as a form of premarital, non-marital or extramarital relationship (which, according to the perspective of the enacting person(s), is permitted by Jewish law). 3. For more Old Testament Bible verses on God’s heart for monogamous marriage, see also: Psalm 128, Proverbs 5:15-19; 18:22, and Ecclesiastes 9:9. A daughter of concubine could not marry a wife-born son of the same class. Andreeva, Elena (2007). [64][65] Since it was regarded as the highest blessing to have many children, wives often gave their maids to their husbands if they were barren, as in the cases of Sarah and Hagar, and Rachel and Bilhah. Children of concubines often had lower value in account of marriage. [107] Concubines constituted both female slaves and former slaves. 1. 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