You
shall not commit adultery: According
to the stories of creation, sexuality is a gift from God, and normal relations
between a man and his wife were encouraged and approved. God had said ‘Be
fruitful and multiply’ (Gen 1.28; compare Gen 2.24). Serious misuses of sex
were condemned in the later law codes e.g. sexual relations outside marriage
(Exod. 22.16), prostitution (Lev. 19.29), homosexual relations (Lev. 18.22),
and most especially adultery (Lev. 20.10). These actions are wrong because they
are contrary to the purposes of God, and because they cause great misery and destroy
trust.
Polygamy
was not condemned,
nor was the possession of concubines. Both could result in fairly permanent relationships,
and children born from them would be well cared for. Yet towards the end of
Old Testament times these customs were very rarely practised. No doubt the
Israelites considered them to be less than the best sorts of relationship, but
even the latest of the law-givers did not condemn them. This was probably
because so many of the leading Israelites of earlier times had followed these customs,
and the Jews would not have accepted open condemnation of them. (David F.
Hinson, Theology of the Old Testament [TEF Study Guide 15; Old Testament
Introduction 3; London: SPCK, 1976], 114), emphasis in bold added)