The Final Quest

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"One Flesh" by Bob Yandian.

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*** BOLD "virgin" throughout ***

Throughout scripture reference is made to virginity. In the pages that follow many of the scriptures which make reference to virginity are listed. With such a wide range of references can we doubt that God regards virginity as being really important?

Genesis 24:16

16 Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. (NKJ)

Genesis 24:43

43 `behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, "Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink," (NKJ)

Exodus 22:16

16 "If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife. (NKJ)

Exodus 22:17

17 "If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the bride-price of virgins. (NKJ)

Leviticus 21:3

3 `also his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband, for her he may defile himself. (NKJ)

Leviticus 21:14

14 `A widow or a divorced woman or a defiled woman or a harlot-- these he shall not marry; but he shall take a virgin of his own people as wife. (NKJ)

Deuteronomy 22:14

14 "and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings a bad name on her, and says, `I took this woman, and when I came to her I found she was not a virgin,' (NKJ)

Deuteronomy 22:23

23 "If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, (NKJ)

Deuteronomy 22:28

28 "If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, (NKJ)

Judges 19:24

24 "Look, here is my virgin daughter and the man's concubine; let me bring them out now. Humble them, and do with them as you please; but to this man do not do such a vile thing!" (NKJ)

Judges 21:12

12 So they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins who had not known a man intimately; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. (NKJ)

2 Samuel 13:2

2 Amnon was so distressed over his sister Tamar that he became sick; for she was a virgin. And it was improper for Amnon to do anything to her. (NKJ)

2 Samuel 13:18

18 Now she had on a robe of many colors, for the king's virgin daughters wore such apparel. And his servant put her out and bolted the door behind her. (NKJ)

I Kings 1:2

2 Therefore his servants said to him, "Let a young woman, a virgin, be sought for our lord the king, and let her stand before the king, and let her care for him; and let her lie in your bosom, that our lord the king may be warm." (NKJ)

II Kings 19:21

21 "This is the word which the LORD has spoken concerning him: `The virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised you, laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head behind your back! (NKJ)

Esther 2:2

2 Then the king's servants who attended him said: "Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king; (NKJ)

Esther 2:3

3 "and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to Shushan the citadel, into the women's quarters, under the custody of Hegai the king's eunuch, custodian of the women. And let beauty preparations be given them. (NKJ)

Esther 2:17

17 The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. (NKJ)

Psalm 45:14

14 She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors; the virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You. (NKJ)

Proverbs 30:19

19 The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a virgin. (NKJ)

Song of Solomon 1:3

3 Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, your name is ointment poured forth; therefore the virgins love you. (NKJ)

Lamentations 1:4

4 The roads to Zion mourn because no one comes to the set feasts. All her gates are desolate; her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. (NKJ)

Lamentations 1:15

15 "The Lord has trampled underfoot all my mighty men in my midst; he has called an assembly against me to crush my young men; the Lord trampled as in a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah. (NKJ)

Ezekial 23:3

3 They committed harlotry in Egypt, they committed harlotry in their youth; their breasts were there embraced, their virgin bosom was there pressed. (NKJ)

Ezekial 23:8

8 She has never given up her harlotry brought from Egypt, for in her youth they had lain with her, pressed her virgin bosom, and poured out their immorality upon her. (NKJ)

Ezekial 44:22

22 "They shall not take as wife a widow or a divorced woman, but take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or widows of priests. (NKJ)

Amos 8:13

13 "In that day the fair virgins and strong young men shall faint from thirst. (NKJ)

Matthew 1:23

23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." (NKJ)

Matthew 25:1

1 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. (NKJ)

Matthew 25:7

7 "Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. (NKJ)

Matthew 25:11

11 "Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, `Lord, Lord, open to us!' (NKJ)

Luke 1:27

27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. (NKJ)

Acts 21:9

9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied. (NKJ)

1 Corinthians 7:25

25 Now concerning virgins: I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy. (NKJ)

1 Corinthians 7:28

28 But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you. (NKJ)

1 Corinthians 7:36

36 But if any man thinks he is behaving improperly toward his virgin, if she is past the flower of youth, and thus it must be, let him do what he wishes. He does not sin; let them marry. (NKJ)

1 Corinthians 7:37

37 Nevertheless he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but has power over his own will, and has so determined in his heart that he will keep his virgin, does well. (NKJ)

2 Corinthians 11:2

2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. (NKJ)

LOVE (NOUN AND VERB) from Vines Expository Dictionary, referenced in part in the body of the text in section 9, page 31:

A. Verbs.

1. agapao ^25^ and the corresponding noun agape (B, No. 1 below) present "the characteristic word of Christianity, and since the Spirit of revelation has used it to express ideas previously unknown, inquiry into its use, whether in Greek literature or in the Septuagint, throws but little light upon its distinctive meaning in the NT. Cf, however, <Lev. 19:18; Deut. 6:5>.

"Agape and agapao are used in the NT (a) to describe the attitude of God toward His Son, <John 17:26>; the human race, generally, <John 3:16; Rom. 5:8>, and to such as believe on the Lord Jesus Christ particularly <John 14:21>; (b) to convey His will to His children concerning their attitude one toward another, <John 13:34>, and toward all men, <1 Thes. 3:12; 1 Cor. 16:14; 2 Pet. 1:7>; (c) to express the essential nature of God, <1 John 4:8>.

"Love can be known only from the actions it prompts. God's love is seen in the gift of His Son, <1 John 4:9,10>. But obviously this is not the love of complacency, or affection, that is, it was not drawn out by any excellency in its objects, <Rom. 5:8>. It was an exercise of the divine will in deliberate choice, made without assignable cause save that which lies in the nature of God Himself, Cf. <Deut. 7:7,8>.

"Love had its perfect expression among men in the Lord Jesus Christ, <2 Cor. 5:14; Eph. 2:4; 3:19; 5:2>; Christian love is the fruit of His Spirit in the Christian, <Gal. 5:22>.

"Christian love has God for its primary object, and expresses itself first of all in implicit obedience to His commandments, <John 14:15, 21,23; 15:10; 1 John 2:5; 5:3; 2 John 6>. Selfwill, that is, self-pleasing, is the negation of love to God.

"Christian love, whether exercised toward the brethren, or toward men generally, is not an impulse from the feelings, it does not always run with the natural inclinations, nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered. Love seeks the welfare of all, <Rom. 15:2>, and works no ill to any, <13:8-10>; love seeks opportunity to do good to `all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of the faith,' <Gal. 6:10>. See further <1 Cor. 13> and <Col. 3:12-14>."

From Notes on Thessalonians, by Hogg and Vine, p. 105.

In respect of agapao as used of God, it expresses the deep and constant "love" and interest of a perfect Being towards entirely unworthy objects, producing and fostering a reverential "love" in them towards the Giver, and a practical "love" towards those who are partakers of the same, and a desire to help others to seek the Giver. See BELOVED.

2. phileo ^5368^ is to be distinguished from agapao in this, that phileo more nearly represents "tender affection." The two words are used for the "love" of the Father for the Son, <John 3:35> (No. 1), and <5:20> (No. 2); for the believer, <14:21> (No. 1) and <16:27> (No. 2); both, of Christ's "love" for a certain disciple, <13:23> (No. 1), and <20:2> (No. 2). Yet the distinction between the two verbs remains, and they are never used indiscriminately in the same passage; if each is used with reference to the same objects, as just mentioned, each word retains its distinctive and essential character.

Phileo is never used in a command to men to "love" God; it is, however, used as a warning in <1 Cor. 16:22>; agapao is used instead, e. g., <Matt. 22:37; Luke 10:27; Rom. 8:28; 1 Cor. 8:3; 1 Pet. 1:8; 1 John 4:21>. The distinction between the two verbs finds a conspicuous instance in the narrative of <John 21:15-17>. The context itself indicates that agapao in the first two questions suggests the "love" that values and esteems (cf. <Rev. 12:11>). It is an unselfish "love," ready to serve. The use of phileo in Peter's answers and the Lord's third question, conveys the thought of cherishing the Object above all else, of manifesting an affection characterized by constancy, from the motive of the highest veneration. See also Trench, Syn., Sec. xii.

Again, to "love" (phileo) life, from an undue desire to preserve it, forgetful of the real object of living, meets with the Lord's reproof, <John 12:25>. On the contrary, to "love" life (agapao) as used in <1 Pet. 3:10>, is to consult the true interests of living. Here the word phileo would be quite inappropriate.

Note: In <Mark 12:38>, KJV, thelo, "to wish," is translated "love" (RV, "desire").

B. Nouns.

1. agape ^26^, the significance of which has been pointed out in connection with A, No. 1, is always rendered "love" in the RV where the KJV has "charity," a rendering nowhere used in the RV; in <Rom. 14:15>, where the KJV has "charitably," the RV, adhering to the translation of the noun, has "in love."

Note: In the two statements in <1 John 4:8> and <16>, "God is love," both are used to enjoin the exercise of "love" on the part of believers. While the former introduces a declaration of the mode in which God's love has been manifested <vv. 9,10>, the second introduces a statement of the identification of believers with God in character, and the issue at the Judgment Seat hereafter <v. 17>, an identification represented ideally in the sentence "as He is, so are we in this world."

2. philanthropia ^5363^ denotes, lit., "love for man" (phileo and anthropos, "man"); hence, "kindness," <Acts 28:2>, in <Titus 3:4>, "(His) love toward man."# Cf. the adverb philanthropos,

Below are listed many of the scriptures which refer to the foreskin in association with circumcision in the service of God and to circumcision. Can we doubt that the foreskin as a symbol of circumcision was important to God and that He deliberately created man with this otherwise unnecessary piece of flesh for the very purpose of cutting covenant with man?

At the same time, can we have any doubt that while Jesus was circumcised and observed the law during His life, WHEN THE NEW AND BETTER COVENANT WAS CUT IN HIS FLESH AT CALVARY the old sign of the covenant cut in the flesh of man was not longer required for it had been cut in the flesh of our glorious Saviour with the thorns, the lashes, the nails and finally the cleaving of His flesh with the spear.

Genesis 17:23

23 So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day, as God had said to him. (NKJ)

Genesis 17:24

24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. (NKJ)

Genesis 17:25

25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. (NKJ)

Exodus 4:25

25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses' feet, and said, "Surely you are a husband of blood to me!" (NKJ)

Leviticus 12:3

3 `And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. (NKJ)

Deuteronomy 10:16

16 "Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. (NKJ)

Joshua 5:3

3 So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. (NKJ)

Jeremiah 4:4

4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest My fury come forth like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings." (NKJ)

Luke 1:59

59 So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. (NKJ)

Luke 2:21

21 And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. (NKJ)

John 7:22

22 "Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. (NKJ)

John 7:23

23 "If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? (NKJ)

Acts 7:8

8 "Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs. (NKJ)

Acts 7:8

8 "Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs. (NKJ)

Acts 10:45

45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. (NKJ)

Acts 16:3

3 Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. (NKJ)

Rom 2:25

25 For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. (NKJ)

Rom 2:26

26 Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? (NKJ)

Rom 2:27

27 And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfils the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? (NKJ)

Rom 2:28

28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; (NKJ)

Rom 2:29

29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. (NKJ)

Rom 4:9

9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. (NKJ)

Rom 4:10

10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. (NKJ)

Rom 4:11

11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, (NKJ)

Rom 4:12

12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised. (NKJ)

Rom 15:8

8 Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:18

18 Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised. (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:19

19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters. (NKJ)

Gal 2:3

3 Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. (NKJ)

Gal 2:9

9 and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. (NKJ)

Phil 3:3

3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, (NKJ)

Phil 3:5

5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; (NKJ)

Col 2:11

11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, (NKJ)

In recognition of the enormous difficulty many people have in coming to terms with some of the principles contained in this book, this appendix offers additional scriptural support for the fact that God permits a man to have more than one wife. These scriptures are offered in the sincere hope that, should you not yet have been persuaded by the body of the book, this will provide the additional evidence you need.

Above all, not matter how much you may have difficulty in accepting this principle, I urge you to submit to the Word of God as the final authority, NOT the teachings of man.

1. EXPLICIT COMMANDMENTS REGARDING MORE THAN ONE WIFE

a. DEUTERONOMY 21:15-17 STATES:

15 "If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved, and if the firstborn son is of her who is unloved,

16 "then it shall be, on the day he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, that he must not bestow firstborn status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved, the true firstborn.

17 "But he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his. (NKJ)

This scripture explicitly deals with a situation in which a man has two wives. It was recorded by Moses in a portion of scripture (variously named the Pentateuch by Western Christians, the Torah by Jews and the Tawratt by Moslems) where Christians, Jews and Moslems alike agree that the scripture is inspired by God. As best I understand, there are more people in the world who believe that the five books of Moses are inspired by God than any other passage of scripture. This must carry weight in this situation.

2. SCRIPTURES WHICH EXPRESSLY REFER TO MORE THAN ONE WIFE

This section presents a further selection of scriptures with explicit reference to two or more wives. These scriptures are presented over and above those cited in the body of this discourse and are offered simply to assist you to appreciate the weight of scripture which is behind what is presented here.

a. GENESIS 4:19

19 Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. (NKJ)

This is the first explicit reference to a man having more than one wife and apparently occurs between about 200 and 500 years after the creation of Adam. There is no indication that this was anything special or unusual or that it represented some departure from what occurred prior to that time.

b. GENESIS 17:15-23

15 Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.

16 "And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her."

17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"

18 And Abraham said to God, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!"

19 Then God said: "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.

20 "And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

21 "But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year."

22 Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

23 So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day, as God had said to him. (NKJ)

In this scripture, we see God appearing in manifest form, many believe this was Jesus, and speaking to Abraham face to face. Not only does He not rebuke Abraham for taking Hagar as a concubine, which surely He would have done had the taking of a second wife or concubine have been contrary to God's Word, He does not even caution Abraham that it was not "His best". He even goes on to bless Ishmael and to declare that he will be the father of twelve princes. A statement which probably indicates that Ishmael was likely to take more than one wife!

Surely we must accept from this scripture alone that God is not in the least opposed to a man having more than one wife? Could we not at least gain the impression that God might even favour such an arrangement?

c. GENESIS 22:20-24

20 Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, "Indeed Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:

21 "Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,

22 "Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel."

23 And Bethuel begot Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.

24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah. (NKJ)

Here we see that in Abraham's immediate family it was common for a man to have more than one wife. If you care to read carefully, you will find that Abraham's father had more than one wife as well, that was why Sarai was his half-sister!

d. GENESIS 25:6

6 But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east. (NKJ)

Here we see that ultimately Abraham had several concubines and yet James 2:23-24 states:

23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.

24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. (NKJ)

So we see that it is possible for a man to have more than one wife or a wife and several concubines and yet be called "the friend of God". Dare we speak evil of Abraham, or call him an adulterer, and not fear the wrath of God against us for speaking against His covenant partner and friend?

Dear reader, please understand, these are not matters to be taken lightly, they are not matters in which we can hide behind uncertainty with regard to the interpretation of scripture. These are Words of God that are yea and amen! We dare not speak against him whom God has called His friend without opening ourselves up to the most awful judgement and granting Satan an enormous foothold in our lives!

e. GENESIS 25:12-17

12 Now this is the genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's maidservant, bore to Abraham.

13 And these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,

15 Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

16 These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their settlements, twelve princes according to their nations.

17 These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. (NKJ)

Here we see that God's promise to Abraham with regard to Ishmael having twelve son's is fulfilled, quite possible through several wives.

f. GENESIS 30:1-27

1 Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die!"

2 And Jacob's anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"

3 So she said, "Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her."

4 Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her.

5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.

6 Then Rachel said, "God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son." Therefore she called his name Dan.

7 And Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.

8 Then Rachel said, "With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed." So she called his name Naphtali.

9 When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife.

10 And Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

11 Then Leah said, "A troop comes!" So she called his name Gad.

12 And Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.

13 Then Leah said, "I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed." So she called his name Asher.

14 Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."

15 But she said to her, "Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?" And Rachel said, "Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes."

16 When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes." And he lay with her that night.

17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.

18 Leah said, "God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband." So she called his name Issachar.

19 Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.

20 And Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons." So she called his name Zebulun.

21 Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.

23 And she conceived and bore a son, and said, "God has taken away my reproach."

24 So she called his name Joseph, and said, "The LORD shall add to me another son."

25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country.

26 "Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you."

27 And Laban said to him, "Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the LORD has blessed me for your sake." (NKJ)

In this passage, not only do we see the chronology of Jacob taking his two concubines, and also see some of his marital challenges, we see that both of his first two wives voluntarily offered him their maids as concubines. In addition, we see that throughout the passage reference is made to God. In verse 27 we clearly see that "the Lord has blessed". Again, how can we dare to presume that God had frowned on Jacob's marriage to Laban's two daughters AND their two hand maids?

g. GENESIS 32:32

22 And he [Jacob] arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok.

23 He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had.

24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.

25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.

26 And He said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks." But he said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me!"

27 So He said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob."

28 And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed."

29 Then Jacob asked, saying, "Tell me Your name, I pray." And He said, "Why is it that you ask about My name?" And He blessed him there.

30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: "For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."

31 Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.

32 Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He touched the socket of Jacob's hip in the muscle that shrank. (NKJ)

Here we seek Jacob wrestling with God face to face, receiving the name Israel (central to the entire balance of scripture) and being blessed by God. How can we presume to suggest that God in any way frowned on Jacob / Israel for having more than one wife? Is that not presumption bordering on blasphemy?

h. 1 SAMUEL 1:1-2

1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

2 And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. (NKJ)

Here we see that Samuel, one of the great prophets of scripture, was the son of a man who had two wives. Later in this passage we read that God answered Hannah's prayers and granted her a child (Samuel) whom she dedicated to God and whom God spoke to clearly when he was still a child AND throughout his life. Dare we suggest that Samuel was "illegitimate" or a "bastard" - the terms that would be applied to him today?

i. 1 SAMUEL 13:13-14

13 And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.

14 "But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you." (NKJ)

In this passage, God, speaking through Samuel, informs Saul that God has rejected him and informs him that God has chosen "a man after His own heart", who we learn later is David. Subsequently, long after David's death, God, speaking through Paul, reported in Acts 13:21-23 says:

21 "And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

22 "And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.'

23 "From this man's seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior-- Jesus-- (NKJ)

Here we see that despite all his eleven (?) wives and ten (?) concubines and despite a number of errors of which David was quick to repent, God referred to David as "a man after His own heart" about one thousand years after David's death! Surely it is utter foolishness to suggest that David was an adulterer, as some have done?

I Kings 15:4-5 also records after David's death:

4 Nevertheless for David's sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem;

5 because David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. (NKJ)

How dare we suggest that David was an adulterer or had adultery in his heart from his youth because he had several wives. Few other men in history have received an accolade like this from the Living God!! Has the reverent fear of God and His judgment departed from the church that people think that they can speak against David?

j. 1 SAMUEL 27:3

3 So David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's widow. (NKJ)

k. 1 SAMUEL 30:5-8

5 And David's two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive.

6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, "Please bring the ephod here to me." And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

8 So David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?" And He answered him, "Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all." (NKJ)

Here we see that at a relatively early stage of his life David already had two wives. At this time he "inquired of the LORD" and the LORD "answered him". Surely if David were sinning by having two wives God would have taken this opportunity to point this sin out to him? Instead, we read in 1 Samuel 30:18

18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. (NKJ)

So God not only answered him, but He granted David's petition!

l. 2 SAMUEL 5:13

13 And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron. Also more sons and daughters were born to David. (NKJ)

At this time, God did not see fit to warn or rebuke David in any way. However, after the incident with Bathsheba, we read in 2 Samuel 12:5-14, after God sent Nathan the prophet to David:

5 So David's anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!

6 "And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity."

7 Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

8 'I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!

9 'Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.

10 'Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.'

11 "Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.

12 'For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.'"

13 So David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

14 "However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die." (NKJ)

God clearly and unambiguously rebukes David, He also states that HE (GOD) GAVE DAVID SAUL'S WIVES! How can we call David an adulterer after this?

God also makes it quite clear to us that David's adultery had given the enemies of the Lord occasion to blaspheme. How much more has the heresy of monogamy and false adultery, giving rise to wholesale fornication, given even those who would serve the Lord occasion to blaspheme. Indeed what a great burden of judgment awaits those who in this age with access to Bibles in numerous translations insist on perpetuating the heresy of monogamy!

In addition, God is quite specific about David's sin and about the penalties that David would pay. Can we doubt for a moment that David's plurality of wives was NOT adultery but that his intercourse with another man's wife WAS? In 2 Samuel 16:21 we see God's judgement on David fulfilled through his OWN son!

21 And Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Go in to your father's concubines, whom he has left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong."

22 So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. (NKJ)

In 2 Samuel 20:3 we read about David's subsequent actions:

3 Now David came to his house at Jerusalem. And the king took the ten women, his concubines whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in seclusion and supported them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood. (NKJ)

It would appear that David had such respect for the commandment of the Lord after his rebuke through Nathan that he set aside his concubines because of their forced adultery through rape rather than again incur the wrath of God! Would that most Christians had this reverence for the Word of God with regard to their treatment of the consequences of casual adultery and "one night stands"!

m. I KINGS 11:1-4

1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites--

2 from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, "You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love.

3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David. (NKJ)

In this passage it is quite clear that Solomon's error was to marry foreign wives, against the commandment of the Lord. NOT that he had more than one wife. He also multiplied wives (hundreds of them) which is directly contrary to Deuteronomy 17:15-17.

15 "you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.

16 "But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, 'You shall not return that way again.'

17 "Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. (NKJ)

However, in the light of other scriptures in this section it does not seem reasonable to conclude that "multiply wives" refers to two wives, it certainly applies to seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines! Surely it would be stretching a point to apply Deuteronomy 17:17 to David, as an example, seeing as there is NO indication of even the slightest rebuke to David?

In addition, we note that Solomon also "multiplied horses" and "multiplied silver and gold for himself" in direct contradiction of this scripture.

In addition, the word "love" in I Kings 11:1 is the word "'ahab", Strong's number 157:

'ahab (aw-hab');

or 'aheb (aw-habe'); a primitive root; to have affection for (sexually or otherwise):

KJV-- (be-) love (-d, -ly, -r), like, friend.

This is far removed from the "agape" love of God described in 1 Corinthians 13 in section 9, page 23. This must surely be lust not love? Is this not the curse of our age? And is the fact that the root word of this love is "ahab" perhaps more than a coincidence seeing that the indications are that much of the false doctrine of monogamy appears to owe it's source to Jezebel and Ahab?

n. 1 CHRONICLES 4:5

5 And Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah. (NKJ)

Here we see a specific reference to a man with two wives in Chronicles. Careful reading of Chronicles will reveal that the majority of significant personalities in Chronicles had more than one wife. In fact, it is probably correct to say that it was the norm among the majority of Israelite leaders.

o. 2 CHRONICLES 11:21

21 Now Rehoboam loved Maachah the granddaughter of Absalom more than all his wives and his concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and begot twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. (NKJ)

Another example of a leader who had more than one wife.

p. ESTHER 2:8-18

8 So it was, when the king's command and decree were heard, and when many young women were gathered at Shushan the citadel, under the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was taken to the king's palace, into the care of Hegai the custodian of the women.

9 Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor; so he readily gave beauty preparations to her, besides her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants were provided for her from the king's palace, and he moved her and her maidservants to the best place in the house of the women.

10 Esther had not revealed her people or family, for Mordecai had charged her not to reveal it.

11 And every day Mordecai paced in front of the court of the women's quarters, to learn of Esther's welfare and what was happening to her.

12 Each young woman's turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months' preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women.

14 In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's eunuch who kept the concubines. She would not go in to the king again unless the king delighted in her and called for her by name.

15 Now when the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king's eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her.

16 So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

17 The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

18 Then the king made a great feast, the Feast of Esther, for all his officials and servants; and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the generosity of a king. (NKJ)

Here we see that Esther must have been at least the 366 th woman to lie with King Ahaseurus, in all probability many more went before her. According to modern doctrine this would make the king a wholesale adulterer and Esther an adulteress. Yet God used Esther to save His people and, in verses 4:7-17 and 5:1-3 we read:

7 And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasuries to destroy the Jews.

8 He also gave him a copy of the written decree for their destruction, which was given at Shushan, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her, and that he might command her to go in to the king to make supplication to him and plead before him for her people.

9 So Hathach returned and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for Mordecai:

11 "All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days."

12 So they told Mordecai Esther's words.

13 Then Mordecai told them to answer Esther: "Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews.

14 "For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai:

16 "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!"

17 So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.

CHAPTER 5

1 Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace, across from the king's house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the house.

2 So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter.

3 And the king said to her, "What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you-- up to half the kingdom!" (NKJ)

Here we see that it appears that God placed Esther in the court as queen, for "such a time as this" in order to save His people. Surely He would not have placed her there in this fashion were it to have required her to commit a sin as serious as adultery?

We also note that He heard her prayers although we know from John 9:31 that God "does not hear sinners":

John 9:30-33 reporting the conversation between the blind man to whom Jesus granted his sight, and the Pharisees, states:

30 The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvellous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes!

31 "Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does His will, He hears him.

32 "Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.

33 "If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing." (NKJ)

Can we not infer from this scripture that Esther was a worshipper of God AND did His will, otherwise God would not have heard her prayer? If this is the case, surely we must draw the same conclusion regarding Abraham, Jacob, David and others? In other words, THEY WERE IN THE WILL OF GOD WHEN THEY TOOK ADDITIONAL WIVES!!!

q. SONG OF SOLOMON 6:8

8 There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and virgins without number.

9 My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the only one of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The daughters saw her and called her blessed, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. (NKJ)

Song of Solomon is perhaps not a particularly good source of information on this subject given Solomon's apparently flagrant sins of multiplying foreign wives, horses and silver and gold, referred to above. However, it is important to note that Song of Solomon is generally cited in the Christian Church as the authoritative scripture on marriage, love and romance and is quite widely quoted. Surely it is gross hypocrisy to cite the writings of a man who had numerous wives and concubines and THEN preach against a man having more than one wife? Surely scripture is quite explicit about the fate of hypocrites?

r. DANIEL 5:2

2 While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. (NKJ)

From this scripture we gather that Belshazzar had wives AND concubines. In the same passage verse 5:23 we read how Daniel offers Belshazzar the interpretation of the writing of the "finger of God" on the wall in the banquet hall:

23 "And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified. (NKJ)

Surely God would have added in a rebuke for having more than one wife if that were another major sin?

3. INFERENCE OF MANY WIVES BASED ON NUMBER OF OFFSPRING

A careful reading of scripture will also reveal many instances where, although the number of wives of a man are not explicitly defined, the number of children borne to that man are suggestive of there having been more than one wife. Each of the instances below are from the book of Judges. The judges were ordained by God and were anointed by Him to Judge. Accordingly, since they were required to judge according to the Law of Moses it would seem reasonable to conclude that they were more or less in the will of God most of the time and it is therefore perhaps even more notable that they had the number of children which they did:

a. JUDGES 8:30

30 Gideon had seventy sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives. (NKJ)

b. JUDGES 12:8-9

8 After him, Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel.

9 He had thirty sons. And he gave away thirty daughters in marriage, and brought in thirty daughters from elsewhere for his sons. He (NKJ)

c. JUDGES 12:13-14

13 After him, Abdon the son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel.

14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy young donkeys. He judged Israel eight years. (NKJ)

*** highlight the specific word/s and bold and large write a macro ***

*** separate out those which are not one ***

*** indent and margin release on references ***

The following passages all include the greek word mia, not all of them refer to "one".

Matt 5:18 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. (NKJ)

Matt 5:19 "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (NKJ)

Matt 5:36 "Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. (NKJ)

Matt 17:4 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." (NKJ)

Matt 19:5 "and said, `For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? (NKJ)

Matt 19:6 "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." (NKJ)

Matt 20:12 "saying, `These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.' (NKJ)

Matt 21:19 And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again." And immediately the fig tree withered away. (NKJ)

Matt 24:41 "Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. (NKJ)

Matt 26:40 Then He came to the disciples and found them asleep, and said to Peter, "What? Could you not watch with Me one hour? (NKJ)

Matt 26:69 Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, "You also were with Jesus of Galilee." (NKJ)

Matt 28:1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. (NKJ)

Mark 9:5 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"-- (NKJ)

Mark 10:8 `and the two shall become one flesh'; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. (NKJ)

Mark 12:42 Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. (NKJ)

Mark 14:37 Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? (NKJ)

Mark 14:66 Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. (NKJ)

Mark 16:2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. (NKJ)

Luke 5:12 And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. (KJV)

Luke 5:17 And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. (KJV)

Luke 8:22 Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. (KJV)

Luke 9:33 Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"-- not knowing what he said. (NKJ)

Luke 13:10 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. (NKJ)

Luke 14:18 "But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, `I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.' (NKJ)

Luke 15:8 "Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? (NKJ)

Luke 16:17 "And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail. (NKJ)

Luke 17:22 Then He said to the disciples, "The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. (NKJ)

Luke 17:34 "I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. (NKJ)

Luke 17:35 "Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. (NKJ)

Luke 20:1 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him (NKJ)

Luke 22:59 Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, "Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean." (NKJ)

Luke 24:1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. (NKJ)

John 10:16 "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. (NKJ)

John 20:1 On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. (NKJ)

John 20:19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." (NKJ)

Acts 4:32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. (NKJ)

Acts 12:10 When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. (NKJ)

Acts 19:34 But when they found out that he was a Jew, all with one voice cried out for about two hours, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" (NKJ)

Acts 20:7 Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. (NKJ)

Acts 21:7 And when we had finished our voyage from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, greeted the brethren, and stayed with them one day. (NKJ)

Acts 24:21 "unless it is for this one statement which I cried out, standing among them, `Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you this day.'" (NKJ)

Acts 28:13 From there we circled round and reached Rhegium. And after one day the south wind blew; and the next day we came to Puteoli, (NKJ)

1 Cor 6:16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh." (NKJ)

1 Cor 10:8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; (NKJ)

1 Cor 16:2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. (NKJ)

2 Cor 11:24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. (NKJ)

Gal 4:24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar-- (NKJ)

Eph 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; (NKJ)

Eph 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; (NKJ)

Eph 5:31 "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." (NKJ)

Phil 1:27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, (NKJ)

1 Tim 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; (NKJ)

1 Tim 3:12 Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. (NKJ)

Titus 1:6 if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. (NKJ)

Titus 3:10 Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, (NKJ)

Heb 10:12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, (NKJ)

Heb 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. (NKJ)

Heb 12:16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. (NKJ)

2 Pet 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (NKJ)

2 Pet 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (NKJ)

Rev 6:1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, "Come and see." (NKJ)

Rev 9:12 One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things. (NKJ)

Rev 9:13 Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, (NKJ)

Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marvelled and followed the beast. (NKJ)

Rev 17:12 "The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. (NKJ)

Rev 17:13 "These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. (NKJ)

Rev 17:17 "For God has put it into their hearts to fulfil His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. (NKJ)

Rev 18:8 "Therefore her plagues will come in one day-- death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. (NKJ)

Rev 18:10 "standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, `Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.' (NKJ)

Rev 18:17 `For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.' Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance (NKJ)

Rev 18:19 "They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, `Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.' (NKJ)

Vines with regard to the Hebrew links to Woman when searching for Wife. There is no separate reference to wives or women as both are translations of the same root word:

WIFE refers to WOMAN, WIVES and WOMEN

'ishshah ^802^, "woman; wife; betrothed one; bride; each." This word has cognates in Akkadian, Ugaritic, Aramaic, Arabic, and Ethiopic. It appears about 781 times in biblical Hebrew and in all periods of the language.

This noun connotes one who is a female human being regardless of her age or virginity. Therefore, it appears in correlation to "man" (ish): "...she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" <Gen. 2:23>. This is its meaning in its first biblical usage: "And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man ['adam], made he a woman, and brought her unto the man" <Gen. 2:22>. The stress here is on identification of womanhood rather than a family role.

The stress on the family role of a "wife" appears in passages such as <Gen. 8:16>: "Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee."

In one special nuance the word connotes "wife" in the sense of a woman who is under a man's authority and protection; the emphasis is on the family relationship considered as a legal and social entity: "And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered..." <Gen. 12:5>.

In <Lam. 2:20> 'ishshah is a synonym for "mother": "Shall the women eat their [offspring, the little ones who were born healthy]?" In <Gen. 29:21> (cf. <Deut. 22:24>) it appears to connote "bride" or "betrothed one": "And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her." <Eccl. 7:26> uses the word generically of "woman" conceived in general, or womanhood: "And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets..." (cf. <Gen. 31:35>).

This word is used only infrequently of animals: "Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female" <Gen. 7:2>.

This word can also be used figuratively describing foreign warriors and or heroes as "women," in other words as weak, unmanly, and cowardly: "In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts..." <Isa. 19:16>.

In a few passages 'ishshah means "each" or "every": "But every woman shall borrow of her neighbor, and of her that sojourneth in her house..." <Exod. 3:22>; cf. <Amos 4:3>. A special use of this nuance ouurs in passages such as <Jer. 9:20>, where in conjunction with re`ut ("neighbor") it means "one" (female): "Yet hear the word of the Lord, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbor lamentation."

(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)

(Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

With regard to the Greek words WIFE, WIVES, Vines states:

1. gune ^1135^ denotes (1) "a woman, married or unmarried" (see WOMAN); (2) "a wife," e. g., <Matt. 1:20; 1 Cor. 7:3,4>; in <1 Tim. 3:11>, RV, "women," the reference may be to the "wives" of deacons, as the KJV takes it.

2. gunaikeios ^1134^, an adjective denoting "womanly, female," is used as a noun in <1 Pet. 3:7>, KJV, "wife," RV, "woman."#

Note: In <John 19:25> the article stands idiomatically for "the wife (of)"; in <Matt. 1:6>, the article is rendered "her that had been the wife (of)."

(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)

(Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

With regard to the Greek word WOMAN, (there is no separate reference for Women since the same root is translated in both forms) Vines states:

1. gune ^1135^, for which see also WIFE, is used of a "woman" unmarried or married, e. g., <Matt. 11:11; 14:21; Luke 4:26>, of a "widow"; <Rom. 7:2>; in the vocative case, used in addressing a "woman," it is a term not of reproof or severity, but of endearment or respect, <Matt. 15:28; John 2:4>, where the Lord's words to His mother at the wedding in Cana, are neither rebuff nor rebuke. The question is, lit., "What to Me and to thee?" and the word "woman," the term of endearment, follows this. The meaning is "There is no obligation on Me or you, but love will supply the need." She confides in Him, He responds to her faith. There was lovingkindness in both hearts. His next words about "His hour" suit this; they were not unfamiliar to her. Cana is in the path to Calvary; Calvary was not yet, but it made the beginning of signs possible. See also <4:21; 19:26>.

In <Gal. 4:4> the phrase "born of a woman" is in accordance with the subject there, viz., the real humanity of the Lord Jesus; this the words attest. They declare the method of His incarnation and "suggest the means whereby that humanity was made free from the taint of sin consequent upon the Fall, viz., that He was not born through the natural process of ordinary generation, but was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit... To have written `born of a virgin' would have carried the argument in a wrong direction... Since that man is born of woman is a universal fact, the statement would be superfluous if the Lord Jesus were no more than man" (Notes on Galatians, by Hogg and Vine, pp. 184f.).

2. gunaikarion ^1133^, a diminutive of No. 1, a "little woman," is used contemptuously in <2 Tim. 3:6>, "a silly woman."#

3. presbuteros ^4245^, "elder, older," in the feminine plural, denotes "elder women" in <1 Tim. 5:2>. See ELDER, A, No. 1.

4. presbutis ^4247^, the feminine of presbutes, "aged," is used in the plural and translated "aged women" in <Titus 2:3>.#

5. theleia ^2338^, the feminine of the adjective thelus, denotes "female," and is used as a noun, <Rom. 1:26,27>. See FEMALE.

(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

*** bold the reference and margin release ***

*** bold and large specific word ***

Following are many scriptures all of which contain the Greek word "gune". Readers are encouraged to observe the extent to which gune is variously translated and the English usage is determined by the context. There are a number of instances where the singular can be replaced with the plural. Note also the extent to which woman and wife, women and wives can be interchanged.

Matt 1:20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. (NKJ)

Matt 1:24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, (NKJ)

Matt 5:28 "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (NKJ)

Matt 5:31 "Furthermore it has been said, `Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' (NKJ)

Matt 5:32 "But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery. (NKJ)

Matt 9:20 And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. (NKJ)

Matt 9:22 But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that hour. (NKJ)

Matt 11:11 "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (NKJ)

Matt 13:33 Another parable He spoke to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened." (NKJ)

Matt 14:3 For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. (NKJ)

Matt 14:21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children. (NKJ)

Matt 15:22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed." (NKJ)

Matt 15:28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. (NKJ)

Matt 15:38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. (NKJ)

Matt 18:25 "But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. (NKJ)

Matt 19:3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" (NKJ)

Matt 19:5 "and said, `For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? (NKJ)

Matt 19:8 He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. (NKJ)

Matt 19:9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery." (NKJ)

Matt 19:10 His disciples said to Him, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry." (NKJ)

Matt 22:24 saying: "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. (NKJ)

Matt 22:25 "Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. (NKJ)

Matt 22:27 "Last of all the woman died also. (NKJ)

Matt 22:28 "Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her." (NKJ)

Matt 26:7 a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. (NKJ)

Matt 26:10 But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. (NKJ)

Matt 27:19 While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him." (NKJ)

Matt 27:55 And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, (NKJ)

Matt 28:5 But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. (NKJ)

Mark 5:25 Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, (NKJ)

Mark 5:33 But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. (NKJ)

Mark 6:17 For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her. (NKJ)

Mark 6:18 For John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." (NKJ)

Mark 7:25 For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. (NKJ)

Mark 7:26 The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. (NKJ)

Mark 10:2 The Pharisees came and asked Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" testing Him. (NKJ)

Mark 10:7 `For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, (NKJ)

Mark 10:11 So He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. (NKJ)

Mark 12:19 "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. (NKJ)

Mark 12:19 "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. (NKJ)

Mark 12:20 "Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. (NKJ)

Mark 12:22 "So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. (NKJ)

Mark 12:23 "Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife." (NKJ)

Mark 14:3 And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. (NKJ)

Mark 15:40 There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, (NKJ)

Luke 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. (NKJ)

Luke 1:13 But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. (NKJ)

Luke 1:18 And Zacharias said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years." (NKJ)

Luke 1:24 Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, (NKJ)

Luke 1:42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! (NKJ)

Luke 3:19 But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, (NKJ)

Luke 4:26 "but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. (NKJ)

Luke 7:28 "For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." (NKJ)

Luke 7:37 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, (NKJ)

Luke 7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner." (NKJ)

Luke 7:44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. (NKJ)

Luke 7:44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. (NKJ)

Luke 7:50 Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace." (NKJ)

Luke 8:2 and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities-- Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, (NKJ)

Luke 8:3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance. (NKJ)

Luke 8:43 Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, (NKJ)

Luke 8:47 Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. (NKJ)

Luke 10:38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. (NKJ)

Luke 11:27 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!" (NKJ)

Luke 13:11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. (NKJ)

Luke 13:12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, "Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity." (NKJ)

Luke 13:21 "It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened." (NKJ)

Luke 14:20 "Still another said, `I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' (NKJ)

Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. (NKJ)

Luke 15:8 "Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? (NKJ)

Luke 16:18 "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery. (NKJ)

Luke 17:32 "Remember Lot's wife. (NKJ)

Luke 18:29 So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, (NKJ)

Luke 20:28 saying: "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. (NKJ)

Luke 20:28 saying: "Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. (NKJ)

Luke 20:29 "Now there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and died without children. (NKJ)

Luke 20:32 "Last of all the woman died also. (NKJ)

Luke 20:33 "Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become? For all seven had her as wife." (NKJ)

Luke 22:57 But he denied Him, saying, "Woman, I do not know Him." (NKJ)

Luke 23:27 And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. (NKJ)

Luke 23:49 But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. (NKJ)

Luke 23:55 And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. (NKJ)

Luke 24:22 "Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. (NKJ)

Luke 24:24 "And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see." (NKJ)

John 2:4 Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come." (NKJ)

John 4:7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." (NKJ)

John 4:9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. (NKJ)

John 4:9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. (NKJ)

John 4:11 The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? (NKJ)

John 4:15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." (NKJ)

John 4:17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, `I have no husband,' (NKJ)

John 4:19 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. (NKJ)

John 4:21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. (NKJ)

John 4:25 The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things." (NKJ)

John 4:27 And at this point His disciples came, and they marvelled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?" (NKJ)

John 4:28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, (NKJ)

John 4:39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." (NKJ)

John 4:42 Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world." (NKJ)

John 8:3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, (NKJ)

John 8:4 they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. (NKJ)

John 8:9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. (NKJ)

John 8:10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" (NKJ)

John 16:21 "A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. (NKJ)

John 19:26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!" (NKJ)

John 20:13 Then they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." (NKJ)

John 20:15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, "Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away." (NKJ)

Acts 1:14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. (NKJ)

Acts 5:1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. (NKJ)

Acts 5:2 And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. (NKJ)

Acts 5:7 Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. (NKJ)

Acts 5:14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, (NKJ)

Acts 8:3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. (NKJ)

Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. (NKJ)

Acts 9:2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. (NKJ)

Acts 13:50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. (NKJ)

Acts 16:1 Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. (NKJ)

Acts 16:1 Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. (NKJ)

Acts 16:13 And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. (NKJ)

Acts 16:14 Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. (NKJ)

Acts 17:4 And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas. (NKJ)

Acts 17:12 Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. (NKJ)

Acts 17:34 However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. (NKJ)

Acts 18:2 And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them. (NKJ)

Acts 21:5 When we had come to the end of those days, we departed and went on our way; and they all accompanied us, with wives and children, till we were out of the city. And we knelt down on the shore and prayed. (NKJ)

Acts 22:4 "I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, (NKJ)

Acts 24:24 And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. (NKJ)

Acts 24:24 And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. (NKJ)

Rom 7:2 For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. (NKJ)

1 Cor 5:1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles-- that a man has his father's wife! (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:1 Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:2 Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:3 Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:10 Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:11 But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife. (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:12 But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:13 And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:16 For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife? (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none, (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:33 But he who is married cares about the things of the world-- how he may please his wife. (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:34 There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world-- how she may please her husband. (NKJ)

1 Cor 7:39 A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. (NKJ)

1 Cor 9:5 Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? (NKJ)

1 Cor 11:3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. (NKJ)

1 Cor 11:5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. (NKJ)

1 Cor 11:6 For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. (NKJ)

1 Cor 11:7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. (NKJ)

1 Cor 11:8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man. (NKJ)

1 Cor 11:9 Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. (NKJ)

1 Cor 11:10 For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. (NKJ)

1 Cor 11:11 Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. (NKJ)

1 Cor 11:11 Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. (NKJ)

1 Cor 11:12 For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God. (NKJ)

1 Cor 11:13 Judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? (NKJ)

1 Cor 11:15 But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering. (NKJ)

1 Cor 14:34 Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. (NKJ)

1 Cor 14:35 And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church. (NKJ)

Gal 4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, (NKJ)

Eph 5:22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. (NKJ)

Eph 5:23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. (NKJ)

Eph 5:24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. (NKJ)

Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, (NKJ)

Eph 5:28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. (NKJ)

Eph 5:31 "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." (NKJ)

Eph 5:33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. (NKJ)

Eph 5:33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. (NKJ)

Col 3:18 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. (NKJ)

Col 3:19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. (NKJ)

1 Tim 2:9 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, (NKJ)

1 Tim 2:10 but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. (NKJ)

1 Tim 2:11 Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. (NKJ)

1 Tim 2:12 And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. (NKJ)

1 Tim 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. (NKJ)

1 Tim 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; (NKJ)

1 Tim 3:11 Likewise their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. (NKJ)

1 Tim 3:12 Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. (NKJ)

1 Tim 5:9 Do not let a widow under sixty years old be taken into the number, and not unless she has been the wife of one man, (NKJ)

Titus 1:6 if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. (NKJ)

Heb 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. (NKJ)

1 Pet 3:1 Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, (NKJ)

1 Pet 3:5 For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, (NKJ)

Rev 2:20 "Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. (NKJ)

Rev 9:8 They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. (NKJ)

Rev 12:1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. (NKJ)

Rev 12:4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. (NKJ)

Rev 12:6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. (NKJ)

Rev 12:13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. (NKJ)

Rev 12:14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. (NKJ)

Rev 12:15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. (NKJ)

Rev 12:16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. (NKJ)

Rev 12:17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (NKJ)

Rev 14:4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. (NKJ)

Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. (NKJ)

Rev 17:4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. (NKJ)

Rev 17:6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marvelled with great amazement. (NKJ)

Rev 17:7 But the angel said to me, "Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. (NKJ)

Rev 17:9 "Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. (NKJ)

Rev 17:18 "And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth." (NKJ)

Rev 19:7 "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." (NKJ)

Rev 21:9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." (NKJ)

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