Proverbs 5

I heard a sermon the other day on Proverbs 5. Near the beginning of his point the pastor quoted some of it to prove his point that the forbidden woman is dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. He them moves forward to define the forbidden woman as any woman besides a mans wife. I will admit that within Proverbs 5 there is no way to completely discern what God means by "forbidden woman" in verse 3, though the implication of verse 20 are already beginning to clear up the confusion. Here is the big point: he allowed the cultural definition of forbidden woman to influence his interpretation. We live in a monogamous culture where among the majority of married couples there is mutual exclusivity expected as morally obligatory. Ancient Israel was most definitely a polygamous society, so those reading this might have had a non-monogamous interpretation. To further verify what I'm saying, kindly move forward to Proverbs 6: 24-29 and you will see the forbidden woman begin to become more clear. Again, it seems to be a woman who is married - and therefore would be committing adultery to be with any other man. Go take a look at Proverbs 7, where verses 19-21 make it super clear that the issue is she HAS A HUSBAND. Why would God keep hitting this point home over and over again if ANY woman was a forbidden woman? Perhaps it is a clear and meaningful distinction to make to help the reader understand what God means. If you read through the rest of proverbs, and frankly the rest of everything - the entire bible - you will never find a place where a man is forbidden from marrying a second available woman. Much of the old testament scripture encouraging distance from forbidden or foreign women are referring to a married woman. Remember the greatest commandments? Love God and Love others. Its not very loving to sleep with your neighbors wife. However, its not necessarily unloving to sleep with a second available woman, or to take a second wife. I think there are many reasons teachers and clergy get hung up: Deeply ingrained multi-generational cultural norms. Adam and Eve logical fallacy Lost Context - they don't conceive the larger context It IS a monogamous culture An ingrained egalitarian ethic that is on the rise in culture. Here is the thing though, the problem is they are claiming to teach objective truth. Its a conundrum to them truly, because they need to acknowledge the full legitimacy and equality of polygyny to be teaching the full truth, and when a sermon like that happens with a small twist, it can have huge consequences for the hearers. God made man and woman and he knows what he is doing, he knows how to bring goodness to things They do so much good as a church, and I Iove that they focus so much on the atoning grace of Jesus in all their messages. I feel the heart is there, but how long will this technical error be allowed to reap havoc on the christian constituent? At what point will the truth break free and be acknowledged by those that teach the truth and have the heart? The biblical poly men don't stand a chance without the support of the modern church, but right now she seems to be one of their main enemies. How will this story end?