Concubines: Casual Cuddles, Cheeky Consequences Quiz

Answer: Solomon

Solomon, according to Scripture, had three hundred concubines in addition to seven hundred wives/princesses. Scripture states Solomon's "many" foreign wives led him astray, with him worshiping other gods.

1 Kings 11:1-8 explains things this way in the NKJV:
"But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites -- 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. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. 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. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did his father David. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods."

Answer: Hagar

Hagar is the correct answer. She was a concubine of Abraham when she gave birth to Ishmael, as per Genesis 16:1-15. According to Scripture, Abraham's wife Sarah was unable to conceive at the time and she gave him permission to sleep with her handmaiden Hagar to produce a child.

Sarah would later regret giving permission as, after Hagar became a mother, a major rift developed between the two women, Scripture states. In fact, there was so much dissension between Sarah and Hagar that Scripture tells of Abraham ordering Hagar and Ishmael to leave his home and to fend for themselves. (See Genesis 21:8-21)

Answer: Reumah

The correct answer is Reumah. Genesis 22:20-24 in the NKJV states: "Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, 'Indeed Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.' And Bethuel begot Rebekah.

These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother. His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah." The passage contains the only reference to Reumah in the entire Protestant Bible.

Answer: Reuben

According to Genesis 35:22, Reuben slept with Bilhah, one of two concubines of Jacob. Little in the way of details are given about incident with the verse in the NKJV simply stating, "And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine; and Israel heard about it."

No further mention is made about the incident until Jacob speaks his final words to his sons while on his deathbed. Genesis 49:3-4 states the incident with Bilhah was definitely not forgotten. The verses, in the NKJV, quote Jacob as saying:
"'Reuben, you are my firstborn,
My might and the beginning of my strength,
The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
Because you went up to your father's bed;
Then you defiled it --
He went up to my couch."

Reuben's mother was Leah, one of two wives of Jacob.

Answer: Rachel

Bilhah was Rachel's handmaiden. According to Genesis 29:29, Rachel's father Laban gave Bilhah to her when she became the wife of Jacob. Later, Rachel would give permission to Jacob to sleep with Bilhah to produce children. Scripture states Rachel was unable to conceive for a number of years, but would eventually give birth to Joseph and Benjamin.

According to Genesis 35:25, Bilhah bore two sons for Jacob. They were Dan and Naphtali.

Answer: Gad and Asher

According to Genesis 35:26, Jacob and his concubine Zilpah were the parents of two sons, Gad and Asher. The same verse states Zilpah was a handmaiden to Leah, one of two wives of Jacob.

Genesis 30:9 states when Leah stopped bearing babies, she gave permission to Jacob to sleep with Zilpah to produce children.

Answer: Rizpah

Rizpah is the correct answer. 2 Samuel 21:10-14 tells of Rizpah's two sons, as well as five other men, being handed over at the beginning of the barley harvest to the Gibeonites, who "hanged them on the hill before the LORD."

Verse 10 tells of a heartbroken Rizpah standing guard over the bodies of the men: "Now Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until the late rains poured on them from heaven. And she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night."

According to 2 Samuel 21:8, Rizpah was the mother of Armoni and Mephibosheth. (Incidentally, Jonathan, a son of Saul, was the father of a boy also named Mephibosheth.)

Answer: Rehoboam

Considering Rehoboam was the son of Solomon, a man of many wives and concubines, it stands to reason he would be the correct answer to this question. According to 2 Chronicles 11:21, Rehoboam had no less than eighteen wives and sixty concubines. The same verse states he was the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

Despite the large number of women in his harem, Scripture states Rehoboam "loved Maachah the granddaughter of Absalom more than all his wives and his concubines."

Absalom was the son of David, and is perhaps best known for staging an unsuccessful coup that plunged Israel into a bloody civil war. The war ended when Joab killed Absalom. (See 2 Samuel 18)

Answer: Absalom

The correct answer is Absalom, the son of David, who staged a bloody coup against his father. Apparently to serve as a vivid illustration to the people of Jerusalem that he was in charge, Absalom pitched a tent on the roof of the palace and slept with David's concubines. Ahithopel, a key adviser to David who crossed over to join forces with Absalom during the coup, came up with the idea.

2 Samuel 16:20-22 in the NKJV states: "Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, 'Give advice as to what we should do.' 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.' 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."

No further details are given in Scripture about the incident.

Scripture goes on to tell of Absalom being killed by Joab in a bloody civil war, and Ahithophel committing suicide.

Answer: True

True. Using the KJV, NKJV and the NIV, the word 'concubine' appears multiple times in the Old Testament, but not once in the New Testament. For the record, the word 'concubine' appears thirty-eight times in the NKJV, thirty-seven times in the KJV and thirty-six times in the NIV.