[Teachldsseminary] OT -- Paul Allen Story

[TERRY L HAYNIE]

Thanks for that great explaination! My students are confusing polygamy of today with polygyny as Bro. Ludlow explains. I've tried to tell them that women were considered property in many cases, and handmaidens were lower on the totem pole, but I guess that somewhere, somehow, someone has done a great job of teaching that we are all individuals. My kids get the notion of birthright-I have  several students who are the oldest child in the family, that concept is not hard to grasp for them. It has been righteous men having more than one wife and still staying righteous that is confusing to them. I guess I will just keep telling them that customs of OT times were different and that does not make them wrong for their times or right for our time--the Lord makes that decision.

Sharon Haynie
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: LDMcEwen at aol.com<mailto:LDMcEwen at aol.com> 
  To: teachldsseminary at latter-dayvillage.com<mailto:teachldsseminary at latter-dayvillage.com> 
  Sent: Monday, October 15, 2007 8:26 AM
  Subject: Re: [Teachldsseminary] OT -- Paul Allen Story


  Maybe this will help:
   
  Birthright Customs:
  Because the Hebrews followed the custom  of primogeniture and practiced 
  polygyny (the practice of a
  man marrying more  than one woman at a time) at the same time, some students 
  of the Bible  have
  become confused as to which of the "firstborn" sons of the various wives  and 
  concubines was really the
  "birthright" son. If the father had only one  wife at any one time during his 
  life, then it would be
  immediately evident  which son would be the "firstborn" son. However, if the 
  father had been  a
  polygynist with two or more wives at the same time, the problem of  
  successorship could be more
  difficult since each of the wives could have a  firstborn son. The Hebrews 
  were not confused on this
  matter, however, as they  had developed the custom that the order of the 
  marriage of the wives would  be
  given first consideration in determining the order of the son to succeed  the 
  father as head of the family.
  Thus, the firstborn son of the first wife  became the birthright son, if 
  worthy. If the firstborn son of the
  first wife  proved unworthy and if the father had sons from more than one 
  wife, then the  firstborn son of
  the second wife became the new birthright son, and so on.  These practices 
  and customs help explain
  why Ishmael was first considered to  be the birthright son of Abraham: he was 
  the eldest son of Abraham
  and was  the firstborn son of the second wife (Hagar). However, when Isaac 
  was born, he  became the
  new birthright son by the order of primogeniture because he was  the 
  firstborn son of the first wife
  (Sarah). The law or practice of  primogeniture also helps explain how Joseph 
  eventually became the head
  of the  house or family of Israel, even though Joseph was the eleventh of the 
  twelve  sons of Jacob.
  Reuben was the initial birthright son of Jacob and was first  in line to 
  succeed his father, since he was the
  firstborn son of the first  wife (Leah). However, Reuben lost the right to 
  the birthright when  he
  committed adultery with one of his father's wives (Bilhah). Through  
  application of the law of
  primogeniture, Joseph then became the new  birthright son because he was the 
  firstborn son of the
  second wife (Rachel).  In polygynous marriages, all of the firstborn sons of 
  the various wives would  be
  considered as the new leader before any of the second born or other sons.  
  Only in monogamous
  marriages would the second born son be immediately  considered as the 
  potential new leader if the
  firstborn son proved unworthy.  The Bible is not exactly clear as to why 
  Jacob (the second born  son)
  succeeded Esau (the firstborn son) as the head of Isaac's family,  although 
  it does mention that Isaac and
  Rebekah were sorely displeased and of  "a grief of mind" because Esau had 
  married wives of the Hittites
  (Gen.  26:34-35). Isaac also specifically forbade Jacob to "take a wife of 
  the  daughters of Canaan" (Gen.
  28:1), and Rebekah lamented "if Jacob take a wife  of the daughters of Heth, 
  such as these which are of
  the daughters of the  land, what good shall my life do me?" (Gen. 27:46.) 
  Evidently the poor  marriage
  choices of Esau disqualified him as the new leader of the house of  Isaac, as 
  well as the selling of his
  birthright for a mess of pottage. (Gen.  25:29-34.) The Bible is even less 
  clear as to why Ephraim (the
  second born)  replaces Manasseh (the firstborn) as the birthright son of 
  Joseph. Evidently  Jacob received
  a vision or revelation from the Lord concerning the fact that  Ephraim was to 
  have the birthright. (Gen.
  48:8-20.) This is not only  substantiated by the Joseph Smith Translation 
  account of this episode, but  the
  Lord himself declared later in the biblical account, "For I am Father to  
  Israel, and Ephraim is my
  firstborn." (Jer. 31:9.) Companion to Your Study of  the Old Testament, 
  Daniel H. Ludlow.




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