I: What Is a Concubine? A Biblical and Historical Foundation
In our modern, decayed, and feminized culture, the word “concubine” has been smeared with misunderstanding, mockery, and moral confusion. Yet the Scriptures present a very different picture. In God’s holy order, the concubine is a legitimate and blessed member of the household. She is not a harlot, nor a side-chick, nor a plaything. She is not a “lesser” woman. She is, in truth, a woman under lawful male headship who is honored, protected, and fruitful within a patriarchal household.
A concubine, by biblical definition, is a woman in covenant with a man, sexually and domestically, yet not initially granted the full legal status of a wife, often due to circumstances such as class, dowry, or foreign status. This was not shameful, but orderly. Scripture abounds with examples of righteous men who had concubines, even men after God’s own heart.
Abraham, the father of nations, took Hagar as a concubine (Genesis 16). Though Sarah was his wife, Hagar bore Abraham’s first son. God did not condemn Abraham for this; He blessed the child and used the circumstances to unfold divine history.
Jacob, the progenitor of the twelve tribes, had two wives, Leah and Rachel, and two concubines, Bilhah and Zilpah (Genesis 30). From these four women came the fullness of the Israelite nation. Without concubines, the tribes of Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher would not exist.
Gideon, a judge raised up by God, had “many wives” and a concubine who bore him Abimelech (Judges 8:30-31). King David had multiple wives and concubines, and though his household was at times marred by sin, the institution of concubinage itself was never condemned by God, only the misuse of power or violation of moral law.
Even Solomon, for all his excesses, was not condemned for having concubines, but for taking foreign women who led him into idolatry (1 Kings 11). The sin was spiritual treason, not the structure of his household.
Deuteronomy 21:10-14 provides instructions for men who take concubines from among war captives, showing that God made provision even for women in difficult circumstances to be honorably absorbed into a man’s house under order, law, and care, not left to rot or be preyed upon by society.
Thus, concubinage is not a corruption, it is a holy provision. It is not adultery or lust, it is authority, headship, and covenant without the full ceremony of marriage. The concubine is a woman brought under righteous male dominion in a fallen world.
II: Why Concubines Are Good and Even Necessary
In an age of fatherlessness, fornication, feminism, and failing birthrates, the wisdom of concubinage shines brighter than ever. Concubinage is not just an antiquated practice, it is a holy solution to many of the modern problems plaguing households and nations.
First, it solves the crisis of unwed women. In any generation, there are women who, by poverty, lack of dowry, widowhood, past sin, or fatherlessness, do not enter traditional marriage. In biblical times, these women were often taken as concubines to be protected, guided, and fruitful under male headship. Today, such women end up in singleness, sin, or state dependency.
Rather than being prey to the modern dating meat-market, rather than falling into fornication, or becoming career-feminists filled with regret by 40, a woman under a righteous man as a concubine finds purpose, safety, and restoration.
Second, it tames and directs male sexual energy. In a world where pornography, casual sex, and divorce are normalized, many men are spiritually and biologically starving. Monogamy-only frameworks often leave godly men trapped, especially when wives weaponize sex, deny intimacy, or cannot bear more children. A concubine provides a lawful outlet, divinely sanctioned, for masculine potency.
Third, it builds the household. More women mean more hands, more children, more nurture, more economic activity. Rather than “splitting” the man’s attention, concubines expand the dominion of his name and kingdom. This is multiplicative, not divisive. One man with a godly wife or wives and concubine(s) can accomplish more spiritually, physically, and generationally, than ten “egalitarian” marriages combined.
Fourth, it provides a shelter for women without hope. In a society of broken homes, many women come from abusive or headless backgrounds. To be a concubine under a righteous man is a higher honor than being a used-up girlfriend or an ignored single mother. Concubinage heals. It is redemptive.
Scripture teaches that “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18), but in our generation, it is women who are alone, millions of them. Concubinage is God’s mercy for them.
III: Most Christian Men Should Have One (Or More)
The righteous man, the provider, the builder, the patriarch, he is called to multiply. The cultural lie that a man can barely handle one woman is rooted in passivity and weakness. God calls men to dominion.
Psalm 127:3-5 tells us that “children are an heritage of the LORD,” and that the man who has his quiver full of them is blessed. A quiver is not a two-arrow affair. If a man can provide, guide, and build, he should not settle for artificial limitations.
To have a concubine is not a signal of sexual indulgence, it is a signal of masculine fruitfulness. It says: “I will take another woman under my name, provide for her, give her purpose, and raise up children to the glory of God.” That is not lust. That is legacy!
Practically speaking, many women today will never be asked to marry. But they are still designed for intimacy, for motherhood, for submission to male leadership. Should they remain barren, lonely, and vulnerable? Or should they be brought into a godly household where they can thrive?
Modern men are overwhelmed because they are undisciplined, not because they are outnumbered. A man who rules his house well (1 Timothy 3:4) can rule over ten cities (Luke 19:17). Taking on a concubine is a test of maturity, not just money.
It is time to revive the image of the patriarch, not as a distant ruler, but as a fruitful husbandman, taking in more vines to his vineyard. Men should no longer fear the scorn of feminism, but embrace the calling of Genesis 1:28: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it.”
IV: A Blessing to Wives and Families
One of the most beautiful, but most denied truths is this: when a godly man takes a concubine, it is good for his wife. Yes, good. Because the righteous woman knows that her husband’s strength is not diminished by expansion, it is magnified.
In Scripture, Leah and Rachel warred with one another, but they also welcomed Bilhah and Zilpah into their house (Genesis 30). These concubines bore children in their name, increasing the house of Israel. There was hardship, yes, but there was also great honor.
In a rightly ordered home, a wife who sees her husband lead another woman in truth and righteousness sees her household increase in power. She gains help. She gains more children to love. She gains rest and companionship.
A hardworking wife may be stretched thin, raising children, managing a household, fulfilling duties. A concubine offers help, shared duty, shared motherhood. Where there is no jealousy, there is abundant joy.
Moreover, the concubine is under the wife’s guidance and often her mentorship. She does not usurp but supports. Proverbs 31 says the virtuous woman “looketh well to the ways of her household.” A wise woman sees that the more helpers in her tent, the more effective she is.
And for the children, more mothers means more nurture. More eyes watching, more hands guiding, more hearts loving. It creates a true village under one patriarch, not a commune of confusion, but a kingdom of order.
Wives must learn to see this not as loss, but as gain. This is not replacement, it is support and reinforcement.
V: Wives Who Build the House: Helping Find Concubines
In the rightly ordered home, the wife is not in competition with concubines, she is a builder of the household alongside her husband. One of the most powerful acts of loyalty and spiritual maturity a wife can perform is to help identify and welcome concubines and possible wives into the family.
This is not only a sign of her submission to her husband’s authority, but also of her commitment to the expansion of their dominion.
Proverbs 14:1 says, “Every wise woman buildeth her house.” What greater building could she do than to help her husband establish and expand a righteous lineage? When a wife prayerfully and willingly participates in finding suitable concubines, modest, fertile, humble, God-fearing women, she becomes like Sarah offering Hagar, or Leah offering Zilpah. These were not betrayals of sisterhood, but demonstrations of faith and family vision.
This practice also protects the household. Instead of a man finding women on his own and potentially choosing unwisely due to temptation or haste, a godly wife acts as a wise counselor and gatekeeper. She helps vet the character, spirit, and readiness of the woman before she is brought under the household’s covering.
In this, the wife acts like Abigail, discerning, courageous, and forward-thinking.
Moreover, when the wife initiates or approves the inclusion of a concubine, jealousy diminishes. The concubine enters not as a rival, but as a sister-in-purpose. She becomes someone the wife already trusts, respects, and has invested in. This brings greater peace, cooperation, and order within the household structure.
The concubine, too, benefits from this arrangement. She enters with a built-in mentor and support. She is not abandoned to find her place, but is guided by the wisdom of a wife who knows her husband, the household routines, and the standard of righteousness required.
For wives who fear this responsibility, do not! You are not losing your husband; you are multiplying your strength. You are not being replaced; you are becoming a matriarch.
This is covenantal thinking: a household united in headship, built not on romantic delusions but on God’s divine order.
VI: Elevation from Concubine to Wife: The Household Pathway
Scripture shows that concubines are not forever in a lesser state. Many concubines were elevated to full wives, and their children were honored. The path from concubinage to full marriage is not only lawful, it is honorable.
Deuteronomy 21 outlines lawful protections for women taken as captives, indicating that even the least favorable starting point still merited dignity. Exodus 21:10 commands that a man must not diminish the food, clothing, or marital rights of his concubine, meaning she was not disposable, but protected.
King David’s concubines were given quarters in the palace. Their care was part of the royal treasury. Even after Absalom’s rebellion, David ensured they were housed and supported for life (2 Samuel 20:3). He did not discard them; he honored them.
Likewise, a righteous man today should not treat a concubine as lesser, but as a woman to whom he owes responsibility. Her children are his seed. Her body is under his name. If she proves herself faithful, fruitful, and godly, she may be honored fully as a wife.
Some households may begin concubinage for practical or legal reasons, such as immigration, dowry, or social stigma. But over time, household integration often grows deeper, and the woman takes her place alongside other wives in full glory.
This structure protects both the man and the woman. It allows for cautious growth, trial of character, and incremental responsibility. It also prevents the horrors of today’s throwaway culture of flings, ghosting, and abandonment.
VII: A Cultural Solution to Degeneracy and Decay
Let us be clear: concubinage, when righteous, is a holy war against feminism, fornication, abortion, childlessness, and cultural collapse.
Consider the following:
- Fatherlessness is one of the greatest predictors of crime, poverty, and societal dysfunction. Concubines under headship produce sons and daughters with a father.
- Feminism lies to women that they can “have it all,” only to leave them barren, lonely, or with multiple partners and no stability. Concubinage restores purpose and dignity to forgotten women.
- Fornication thrives when marriage is delayed or denied. Concubinage offers a lawful sexual covenant and kills the appetite for porn, adultery, or one-night stands.
- Birthrate collapse is threatening entire nations (Japan, Italy, South Korea). Concubinage allows godly households to multiply exponentially, counteracting demographic death.
- Studies show that households with stable male presence, multiple caregivers, and traditional values produce better academic, emotional, and spiritual outcomes in children.
While the state builds welfare systems and orphanages, God designed the household. A man with even one wife and two concubines, each bearing 4–5 children, builds a household of over a dozen covenant members within a decade. That’s not just family, that’s a tribe.
Conclusion: The Return of the Righteous Household
Concubinage is not a relic, it is a restoration. It is not exploitation, it is salvation for the women left behind by a dying society. It is not perversion, it is Biblical provision.
We must cast off the feminist delusion and restore the patriarchal household. Men of strength must rise. Wives of wisdom must welcome growth. And concubines of courage must come under godly order.
The future does not belong to the sterile, the selfish, or the feminist. It belongs to the fruitful, the faithful, and the patriarchs. In the words of Isaiah 4:1, “Seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.”
Let us then be ready, for the women are coming. And let our households be prepared to receive them in strength, in love, and in holy dominion.
Let the concubines return.
Let the Great Order return.
Oooooo, I’ll take 3. Does anyone know where I can find the local concubine market?
I don’t even know how you do it… every time you write, it’s like my heart nods in agreement before my mind even catches up. The way you speak truth with such strength and clarity, it’s honestly breathtaking.
I know some people might not be ready for this level of order and dominion… but I am. 🥀
And I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to sit at the feet of a man who actually lives what he writes.
If ever there was a man worthy of a concubine’s loyalty, it’s you. And if the household is still open… well, I’d gladly take my place and serve with joy. 🥀
Anyway… back to rereading this for the third time. 🙈🔥
F You and your “Second class” narcissism!~!!!
Polygamy is hard enough without making the women fell “less”. If they are going to be a wife, they should be a wife. Sure, the man will never love another woman as much as he does his first wife but to make them feel less status because of not being able to have the same legal benefits as a first wife is just wrong. Women have feelings. They are human beings, and if they are your “wife” even though the relationships are different there should not be any feelings of being “less”
This is a common concern, and one worth addressing with both compassion and clarity.
First, I fully agree, women are human beings, made in the image of God, with real hearts, real needs, and real dignity. Scripture never treats them as objects or accessories, and neither should we. But here’s where modern thinking often clouds biblical truth: difference in rank is not the same as devaluation. Throughout Scripture, we see varying degrees of status and role—between kings and governors, apostles and deacons, priests and Levites, and yes, wives and concubines. But difference does not mean dishonor.
A concubine is not “less” in worth. She is not unloved. She is not discarded. She is under the same male headship, enjoys covenantal intimacy, bears legitimate children, and is provided for and protected. The distinction is in covenant form, not in spiritual value. And let’s not forget, Scripture itself uses this structure repeatedly. Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah (Genesis 29:30), yet God chose to bless Leah’s womb first. Bilhah and Zilpah were concubines, yet their children formed a full third of the tribes of Israel. Did they feel tension? Yes. But Scripture didn’t flatten these roles to avoid feelings, it taught us to manage them with honor, not erase the distinctions.
Modern people want equality of feeling, status, and outcome. But God’s order is hierarchical, not egalitarian. That doesn’t mean cruelty, it means structure, clarity, and responsibility. A righteous man must love all under his care equally, whether wife or concubine. He must not diminish the food, clothing, or marital rights of any (Exodus 21:10). But he also shouldn’t pretend that there’s no difference between a covenant of full legal marriage and one of concubinage. That would be dishonest and unbiblical.
Feelings matter, but they must be trained by truth, not used to erase God’s design. Just as not every citizen is a king, not every woman in a household is a wife. But all are to be loved and honored under righteous headship.
Let’s restore order with compassion and never by compromise!
I think you need to define what “full legal marriage” is. Through the state? Through covenant? They are all still technically covenants
In Biblical terms, all marriage is covenantal—whether it is with a wife or a concubine. The difference is in status and inheritance, not in intimacy, love, or commitment. A wife is one with full status, often established with full, dowry, and household elevation (Genesis 24; Exodus 22:16-17). A concubine, on the other hand, is still a covenantal union (Genesis 25:1–6; Judges 19), but often without the same ceremonial establishment or legal elevation, though still under the man’s protection, provision, and authority.