Commenting on Joash, who is described as having done right before God, receiving two wives from Jehoiada (2 Chron 24:2-3), Ralph W. Klein commented as follows:
3 Jehoiada procured for him
two wives, and he fathered sons and daughters: Jehoiada, who had served as
foster father to Joash while he was hidden in the temple for six years, and who
had engineered the plot that put Joash on the throne and executed Queen
Athaliah, continued to be a father figure to Joash by arranging for two of his
marriages. One of these wives was possibly Jehoaddan, the mother of Joash’s
successor Amaziah (2 Chr 25:1), although it is not impossible that Joash had
more than two wives. Two wives are clearly less than the many wives
prohibited in Deut 17:17, or the fourteen wives that Abijah had (2 Chr
13:21). Joash’s sons and daughters are a sign of his being under blessing. This
verse is an addition by the Chronicler. Dillard (188) attributes it to the
source the Chronicler cites in v. 27, but the generic character of this
information makes that an unnecessary option, in my opinion. (Ralph
W. Klein, 2 Chronicles: A Commentary [Hermeneia—A Critical and
Historical Commentary on the Bible; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012], 338,
emphasis in bold added)
Since it was common in the
Ancient Near East for kings to practise polygamy, Deuteronomy 17:17 limits
the king to a few wives, not many: ‘He must not acquire many wives for
himself so that his heart won’t go astray’ (csb). Solomon was an example of a
king who broke this law and whose heart did turn away from God (1 Kgs 11:1–8).
(Andrew E. Steinmann, Genesis: An
Introduction and Commentary [The Tyndale Commentary Series 1; London:
Inter-Varsity Press, 2019], 178-79, emphasis in bold added)
Note the following from Taylor Halverson’s article, “Deuteronomy
17:14–20 as Criteria for Book of Mormon Kingship,” Interpreter: A
Journal of Mormon Scripture 24 (2017): 2-3 n. 4, where he quotes a certain troublemaker:
Robert Boylan noted for
Deuteronomy 17:16–17 that “the Hebrew verb *RBH has the nuance of growing
exponentially, not just lineally, with respect to something (cf. the same form
of the verb used in Deuteronomy 17:16–17 in Exodus 1:10, 12; Deuteronomy 8:13[x2];
Psalms 49:17; Proverbs 29:16; Isaiah 40:29; 55:7; Dan 11:39; Hosea 12:2). As
one lexicon puts it, the hi. רָבָה most often means make
numerous or multiply. These forms especially portray the
abundance of God’s giving and the fullness of his mercy: in the promise to
multiply the patriarchs into a great nation (Genesis 17:2, 20; 22:17; 26:4;
48:4; Exodus 32:13; Leviticus 26:9; Deuteronomy 1:10; 7:13), in the
multiplication of signs and wonders to his glory and the destruction of Egypt
(Exodus 7:3), and in his gracious redemption (Psalms 78:38; Isaiah 55:7).
Conversely, Israel and all humanity stand before God continually multiplying
sin, wickedness, and rebellion (Genesis 3:16; Ezra 10:13; Ezekiel 16:25, 26,
29). The remedy for the human malady is not found in multiplying possessions
(as the Hebrew kings attempted, cf. Deuteronomy 17:16–17). Rather, God must
wash and cleanse the sinner thoroughly (ָרָבה, niv wash away all; Psalms 51:2
[4]). Then the sinner may understand, along with the poet David, how God stoops
down to make the righteous great (ָרָבה, 2 Samuel 22:36 || Psalms 18:35 [36]).
The hi. ָרָבה can also mean many or increase, like
the many gardens of Israel divinely destroyed by blight and mildew (Amos 4:9;
NIV reads the proposed emendation הֶחֱרַבְתִּי, “many times I struck”), or the
increase that comes from saving money little by little (Proverbs 13:11). Here ָרָבה
is to be understood as a gradual or steady increase, or larger sums compared to
multitudes. See further הַרְבֵּה. The hi. ־ְל + ָרָבה + inf can mean do
something frequently, copiously, continually. For example, Hannah prayed
continually to the Lord for a son (1 Samuel 1:12; NIV kept on), the woman of
Tekoa begged David to prevent continued killing of her family
(2 Samuel 14:11; NIV adding to the destruction), King Manasseh
provoked God’s wrath with the continual practice of evil (2 Kgs 21:6 || 2
Chronicles 33:6), as did Amon his son (2 Chronicles 33:23) and all
the people of Judah (36:14). Even as the Leviathan (#4293) does not “keep
begging” for mercy (Job 41:3 [40:27]), so the Lord has stopped listening to the
continual prayers of his people (Isaiah 1:15). Yet if the wicked repent, stop
doing wrong, and learn to do right, God will copiously pardon (Isaiah 55:7; NIV
freely pardon) — just as he has done continually throughout Israelite history
(Psalms 78:38; NIV time after time he restrained his anger).’ VanGemeren, W.
(Ed.). (1997). New international dictionary of Old Testament theology
& exegesis (Vol. 3, pp. 1038–1039). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Publishing House.”
It should be obvious that Deut 17:17 is not against plural
marriage per se, but an exponential increase (“many”) wives (as well as
chariots and gold).
On Deut 17:17 and Jacob 2, see:
Polygamy, Deuteronomy 17:17, and Jacob 2:24 cf. (Rashi on Deuteronomy 17:17 and the King Having Plural Wives)
