What does "Concubine" mean in the Bible?

What does the Bible say about Concubine?

CON'CUBINE, by the Jewish law, a lawful wife of a secondary or inferior rank, and consequently neither regarded nor treated as the matron or mistress of the house. Concubines were either Hebrew girls bought of their fathers, or Gentile captives taken in war. Foreign slaves or Canaanitish women were also illegally concubines. Concubines were not betrothed or wedded with the usual solemnities and ceremonies which attended marriage. They had no share in the family government, and the children of the wife were preferred to the child of the concubine in the distribution of the inheritance. Yet the children of the latter were not counted as illegitimate, but stood upon the same footing as those of the wife in the family, as their names occur in the genealogical lists. Gen 22:24; 1 Chr 1:32. The custom among the Jews originated in the great desire for children, and therefore it was that barren wives gave their maid-servants to their husbands that they might have children by them. Gen 16:3; Gen 30:4. The law of Moses did not stop the practice, but modified it. Ex 21:7-9;Deut 21:10-17. There was no stigma upon the position. The concubine was a recognized member of the family; when she had been a slave previous to becoming such a one, she still remained in slavery. Her distinction from the wife was in her lower social position, and in her far looser hold upon her husband. She might be dismissed without any formal divorce. Her unfaithfulness was criminal, but not looked at as, strictly speaking, adultery, and hence was not so severely punished. Jud 19:2. In the days of the monarchy the kings imitated their heathen neighbors in the establishment of harems, and multiplied the number of wives and concubines. To seize on the royal concubines for his own use was thus a usurper's first act. Such was probably the intent of Abner's act, 2 Sam 3:7, and similarly the request on behalf of Adonijah was construed. 1 Kgs 2:21-24. -Smith: Dictionary of the Bible. Where polygamy was tolerated -as it was among the Jews- the permission of concubinage would not seem so much at war with the interests and preservation of society as we know it to be. The gospel restores the sacred institution of marriage to its original character, Gen 2:24; Matt 19:5; 1 Cor 7:2, and concubinage is ranked with fornication and adultery.

What is the Hebrew word for Concubine?

Where does Concubine appear in the Bible?

Concubine is referenced in 11 verses. Every passage below is about this one, not just every verse the word turns up in.

• Judges 8:31
• Judges 19:1
• Judges 19:9
• Judges 19:10
• Judges 19:24
• Judges 19:25
• Judges 19:27
• Judges 19:29
• Judges 20:4
• Judges 20:5
• Judges 20:6

What else appears in these passages?

These turn up in the same passages as Concubine.