The Allegory of Two Wives

 

Lamech the Elder and his 2 wives. Lamech was an early Hebrew ruler.

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The Hebrew rulers who controlled territories and water systems had two wives. The separate settlements of the wives marked territorial boundaries of the ruler’s kingdom. This feature of the Hebrew social structure sheds light on the relationship of the faithful among the Hebrew (before Judaism) and the faithful among the people who identify as Christians.

The Apostle Paul draws on the Hebrew social structure to contrast Judaism with the core Christian belief that the gift of salvation is embraced by faith in God's promises. In Galatians 4:21-31, Paul uses the story of Sarah and Hagar to illustrate the difference between salvation by grace through faith in Christ and the Jewish emphasis on salvation through obedience to the law. Sarah's son Isaac is portrayed as the child of promise, while Hagar's son Ishmael is portrayed as a slave to the law.

In Paul's context, the allegory makes sense. He was an apologist for the Messianic Faith that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He insisted that only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came to save sinners can receive the promise of salvation. Paul was arguing with Jews who had rejected Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. 

Paul also states that those who would be saved must be grafted into the faith of Abraham. Abraham and his Hebrew ancestors believed in God Father and God Son. They also believed in bodily resurrection and looked for a righteous ruler who would overcome death and rise on the third day. The earliest known resurrection texts were prayers offered by Nilotic Hebrew priests for their deceased rulers.

Paul contrasts Sarah, Abraham's principal wife and Hagar, a concubine. His allegory involves two women of unequal social status. Yet another allegory should involve Abraham's two wives, Sarah and Keturah. Both were Hebrew women who held to the faith of their Hebrew ancestors. Sarah was the wife of Abraham's youth and Keturah was the wife of Abraham's old age. Abraham had 9 sons and an unknown number of daughters by 2 wives and 2 concubines (Hagar and Mesek).

Sarah was Abraham's half-sister and Keturah was Abraham's patrilineal cousin. These two Hebrew wives pose an allegory of the relationship of the people of faith who lived in anticipation of the Son's appearing and those who lived after the Son's appearing. Sarah came first and Keturah came much later, but both were women of the Hebrew faith. In other words, as 2 wives made a kingdom for Abraham, so the kingdom of God is comprised of 2 wives. One does not outrank the other or supplant the other. We are not speaking of Israel and the Church. Instead, the allegory to 2 wives represents the faithful justified who believed God's promise concerning the Son yet to appear and the faithful justified who love and obey the Son Incarnate. 

The social structure of the biblical Hebrew tells us much about the relationship between the two households of faith. Together they constitute a kingdom. There is no reason to subsume one household of faith to the other. They are equal in God's kingdom.

Related reading: Abraham's Sons; BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Sovereignty and Two Wives; The Hebrew Hierarchy of Sons; Hebrew Rulers with Two Wives; The Wives' Settlements Mark the Boundaries