Is There Any Bible Passage That Stops a Man from Having Two Wives?
1) Direct answer
Yes. The New Testament sets one man with one woman as God’s order, and it closes the door on adding another wife while the first is living.
2) Scriptural explanation
- From the beginning: “They two shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24; repeated by Jesus in Matthew 19:4–6; Mark 10:6–9). Notice, it’s two—one man and one woman—becoming one flesh.
- Church order and example: “Husband of one wife” is required for overseers and deacons (1 Timothy 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6). The same standard appears for widows: “wife of one man” (1 Timothy 5:9). God sets the pattern plainly.
- Purity in marriage: “To avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband” (1 Corinthians 7:2). Singular on both sides.
- Bound by the first covenant: Jesus said that marrying another while bound is adultery (Mark 10:11–12; Luke 16:18). If even a legal “putting away” doesn’t free a man to take another without guilt, taking an additional wife beside the first certainly doesn’t make it right.
- Warning against multiplying wives: God forbade kings to multiply wives (Deuteronomy 17:17), showing His displeasure with the practice.
-God allowed polygamy in the old testament because of the fall but restored back the original order in the new testament. However, those who came to Christ already married to many wives or part of a harem of wives were not forbidden from worshipping God, only they were not allowed to hold any leadership office in the church.
3) Simple clarifying logic
- God joined two to be one flesh. The Bible never says “three (or more) shall be one flesh.” You can’t be “one flesh” with several at the same time.
- If God requires leaders—the examples to the flock—to have one wife, that reveals the divine pattern for all believers.
- Jesus restored marriage to God’s original intent. Where men once tolerated arrangements, the Lord pointed back to the beginning and fixed it: one man, one woman, for life.
4) Reinforcing statement
So yes—the Scripture sets a clear stop: a believer is to have one living wife. That’s the Bible way.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The Mighty Conqueror
56-0401M §44
There was no beauty we should desire Him. He was marred above every man. He was probably a little skinny, spindly-looking fellow. Didn't look like a King. Many times that people judge people by the way they dress or by their stature. Man is not judged by how big he is and how strong is his muscles. Man's judged by character, and character alone. I've seen men that weighed two hundred pounds and didn't have an ounce of man about them. Man is judged by character: what he is in his heart. And Christ was not judged by...
Questions and Answers
61-1015M §80
QUESTION: "Brother Branham, I was married to a woman that had been married before. We divorced, and she has been married twice since. The Bible states that if we desire to marry ... if we desire to marry, to turn to ... first wife. Now, could I turn to her who has been married before or could I be free? Well, now, my brother, here's the only way that you could do it. Now, this is a great subject, and someday I want to---if the church ever gets organized and straightened up into the place where it should be, or... I...
Sirs, we would see Jesus
57-0104 §40
...thing right here. Jesus was... Why, He was God. God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. He wasn't just a philosopher. He wasn't just a prophet. He was God. A woman said to me not long ago. I don't know mean to call anybody's religion. You'd know if I... the church: Christian Science. And she said to me, "Mr. Branham, you put too much emphasis on deity of Jesus Christ. You make Him a god." I said, "He wasn't a god; He was the God." She said, "Oh, Mr. Branham, He wasn't divine." I said, "Oh, yes He was."...
The unfailing realities of the living God
60-0626 §56
I just ask any man to produce Scripture for a woman preacher. I can prove to you that in the Old Testament, as Paul said, "Even so saith the law." I was looking in the chronology of the Old Testament yesterday, and I found in there that where they had special police, that a woman couldn't even come into the second or third court, let alone in the pulpit. They had special police in the temple to keep the Gentiles outside there, and the women next, and then come the Levites, and then to the holiest of holies. They co...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 5:E-28
Now let me tell you, I was shocked. How could I not be? Here were two men, one of which was a real believer and the other was a sinful impersonator. YET BOTH WERE MANIFESTING GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. I was troubled by this confusion. I left the meeting to seek God for the answer. I went alone to a secret place and there with my Bible I prayed and waited on God for the answer. Not knowing just what portion of Scripture to read I casually opened the Bible to some place in Matthew. I read for a while and then laid the Bib...