God’s Ideal
1 Samuel 1:2 mentions Hannah being one of two wives of Elkanah. The Apologetics Study Bible commentary states, “Having more than one wife is permitted in the Bible, but represents a concession that departs from the divine ideal”. God’s ideal in marriage has always been one man and one woman.
Elkanah’s reason for taking a second wife was that Hannah had not been able to conceive, so in order to continue the family lineage he took a second wife, making the concession spoken of in the commentary.
It made me think about how many times we make decisions that cause us to experience less than God’s ideal. Many times, like Elkanah and others in the Bible, we get tired of waiting and think we know than better than God or need to help him out or hurry him along.
You see Hannah ended up having many children after Samuel. The addition of a second wife into the home introduced much unneeded conflict into their lives.
from my notebook 