Wife
The ordinance of marriage was sanctioned in Paradise (Gen 2:24; Matt 19:4–6). Monogamy was the original law under which man lived, but polygamy early commenced (Gen 4:19), and continued to prevail all down through Jewish history. The law of Moses regulated but did not prohibit polygamy. A man might have a plurality of wives, but a wife could have only one husband. A wife’s legal rights (Ex 21:10) and her duties (Prov 31:10–31; 1 Tim 5:14) are specified. She could be divorced in special cases (Deut 22:13–21), but could not divorce her husband. Divorce was restricted by our Lord to the single case of adultery (Matt 19:3–9). The duties of husbands and wives in their relations to each other are distinctly set forth in the New Testament (1 Cor 7:2–5; Eph 5:22–33; Col 3:18, Col 3:19; 1 Pet 3:1–7).
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
