Abraham married his own sister

[towardseight]

16 hours ago, WilliamL said:

Seriously?? It likewise nowhere claims that it isn't!

So it still on you to prove that it was, to make such a claim.

The Law which God gave to Moses existed before Moses. If you claim that it was allowed to sleep with the own sister before Moses then this is something I clearly disagree. Not only do I disagree, I also clearly distance myself from it. If you say that it was allowed before Moses, was it also allowed to sleep with one's mother or to have homosexual sex? I asked you how it can be that Noah knew the distinction between clean and unclean animals. You replied with the Noahide laws. But the Noahide laws, which by the way were defined by Pharisees, do not contain this distinction.

As I have already pointed out, Abraham lived in a time when there were enough women. It was not necessary to marry his own sister.

Do you know the story of Tamar and Judah? Judah wanted to burn Tamar because she had committed fornication. Tell me, how did Judah know before Moses that the punishment for fornication is death (Lev 21:9)? I have so many other examples from the time before Moses that the law already existed.

[other one]

6 hours ago, towardseight said:

The Law which God gave to Moses existed before Moses.

Do you have scripture on that.   A lot of things changed about that time period.  Life expectancy dropped drastically.

[TheBlade]

On 2/13/2025 at 2:36 PM, towardseight said:

Sarah was the sister of Abraham (Gen 20:12). So Abraham married his own sister.

Abraham lived in a time when there must have been enough women. So why his own sister? 

The law of God forbids marriage to one's own sister (Deut 27:22).

What law? Well when was the law given vs when this happened? Hello Lot and his daughters? Kinda hard to break a law when there was none. Then it was his 1/2 sister. 

[WilliamL]

On 2/14/2025 at 9:24 AM, towardseight said:

The Law which God gave to Moses existed before Moses. If you claim that it was allowed to sleep with the own sister before Moses then this is something I clearly disagree. Not only do I disagree, I also clearly distance myself from it. If you say that it was allowed before Moses, was it also allowed to sleep with one's mother or to have homosexual sex? I asked you how it can be that Noah knew the distinction between clean and unclean animals. You replied with the Noahide laws. But the Noahide laws, which by the way were defined by Pharisees, do not contain this distinction.

As I have already pointed out, Abraham lived in a time when there were enough women. It was not necessary to marry his own sister.

Do you know the story of Tamar and Judah? Judah wanted to burn Tamar because she had committed fornication. Tell me, how did Judah know before Moses that the punishment for fornication is death (Lev 21:9)? I have so many other examples from the time before Moses that the law already existed.

Bottom line is, God greatly blessed Abraham and made him many promises, all of which took place AFTER he married his half-sister Sarah. So God most certainly did not find fault with him.

But you now, 4000 year later, deign to stand in judgment of Abraham? Better beware of your own judgment before God.

[AdHoc]

On 2/14/2025 at 5:24 PM, towardseight said:

The Law which God gave to Moses existed before Moses. If you claim that it was allowed to sleep with the own sister before Moses then this is something I clearly disagree. Not only do I disagree, I also clearly distance myself from it. If you say that it was allowed before Moses, was it also allowed to sleep with one's mother or to have homosexual sex? I asked you how it can be that Noah knew the distinction between clean and unclean animals. You replied with the Noahide laws. But the Noahide laws, which by the way were defined by Pharisees, do not contain this distinction.

As I have already pointed out, Abraham lived in a time when there were enough women. It was not necessary to marry his own sister.

Do you know the story of Tamar and Judah? Judah wanted to burn Tamar because she had committed fornication. Tell me, how did Judah know before Moses that the punishment for fornication is death (Lev 21:9)? I have so many other examples from the time before Moses that the law already existed.

Cc @WilliamL

@towardseightyou are well schooled in the word and present some intricate dilemmas. But the young and unschooled are also reading. Maybe you should answer your own questions. Maybe you can apply the same standard to the Law which regulates tithes. Where then is the place that God chose to put His Name so that Abraham could bring his tithe and honor the Levite. Or perhaps how Ruth, a first generation Moabitess, can enter the congregation of Israel, AND be honored by God to appear in the genealogy of Jesus. Or Rahab, the cursed Canaanite prostitute? Or how the Law forbids return to Egypt but all 12 sons AND Jacob and three of FOUR wives go down there and are blessed.

The Law promises the Land if kept, but to Abraham it is conditional on circumcision. Moses sacrificed for a blood-ratification of the Covenant of Law - Abraham does not. Where then is the Law when FOUR generations do not gain the Good Land. Did God make a mistake?

If you insist on the Law being in existence AND valid for Abraham, you should give scripture. But this will compound your problem because Romans 2 says plainly that the Gentiles do not have the Law, and Abraham was a Syrian.

I respect your view and your freedom of choice.  The above is not a demand - merely a suggestion.

[Markie51]

Yes, Abraham did marry his half-sister Sarah.  Terah was the father to both of them, but they had different mothers. 

Keep in mind how different things were back then.  Humans were closer to the perfection that Adam and Eve had once enjoyed.  For such robust people, marriage between close relatives evidently did not present genetic dangers to offspring.  However, at the time that God instituted the Mosaic Law, all sexual unions between close relatives were prohibited.-Leviticus 18:2-18.

[Hinds Feet]

On 2/13/2025 at 5:08 PM, WilliamL said:

To be precise, she was his half-sister. And almost certainly a believer in the One God, which was a rarity in those days. His father Terah was an idolater.

The Mosaic Law was not received until about 500 years after the time of Abraham, so it did not apply to his case. Simeon, son of Jacob, married his sister Dinah, who had been defiled by rape, also generations before the Law of Moses was given.

I'm curious.  Where does it state Simeon married Dinah?

[WilliamL]

On 4/27/2025 at 7:57 AM, Hinds Feet said:

I'm curious.  Where does it state Simeon married Dinah?

That is told in the Book of Jasher, also in other Jewish accounts.

Jasher 45:2 And Eliuram the wife of Reuben conceived and bare him Hanoch, Palu, Chetzron and Carmi, four sons; and Simeon his brother took his sister Dinah for a wife, and she bare unto him Memuel, Yamin, Ohad, Jachin and Zochar, five sons.

3 And he afterward came to Bunah the Canaanitish woman, the same is Bunah whom Simeon took captive from the city of Shechem, and Bunah was before Dinah and attended upon her, and Simeon came to her, and she bare unto him Saul.

JewishEncyclopedia.com

https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com › articles › 13676-simeon

SIMEON - JewishEncyclopedia.com

According to one authority, after the sale of Joseph, Simeon married his sister Dinah...

Since she was the rape victim of a Gentile, it is unlikely that she had any other mariage prospects.

[BibleStudent100]

On 2/13/2025 at 4:29 PM, AdHoc said:

One theory is that the genes of men who lived 900 plus years were strong enough.  But that is, as I say, a theory. Fact is, Adam's sons would have to marry their sisters to fill the earth.

Yes, it was required that brothers and sisters (children of Adam and Eve) would need to produce children together, at which time, the  progeny would eventually be able to marry individuals who are distantly related.  Also, it is likely that the genetic problems of producing children from close relatives was not an issue as people were only a few steps away from perfection.

By the way, marrying your "half-sister" is genetically only ONE step closer than marrying your first cousin, which is LEGAL in 18 states now.

[Anne2]

On 2/14/2025 at 8:24 AM, towardseight said:

The Law which God gave to Moses existed before Moses. If you claim that it was allowed to sleep with the own sister before Moses then this is something I clearly disagree. Not only do I disagree, I also clearly distance myself from it. If you say that it was allowed before Moses, was it also allowed to sleep with one's mother or to have homosexual sex? I asked you how it can be that Noah knew the distinction between clean and unclean animals. You replied with the Noahide laws. But the Noahide laws, which by the way were defined by Pharisees, do not contain this distinction.

As I have already pointed out, Abraham lived in a time when there were enough women. It was not necessary to marry his own sister.

Do you know the story of Tamar and Judah? Judah wanted to burn Tamar because she had committed fornication. Tell me, how did Judah know before Moses that the punishment for fornication is death (Lev 21:9)? I have so many other examples from the time before Moses that the law already existed.

The Law of Moses was not from the beginning. The Sinai / Horeb covenant was not made with their fathers.

Deut 5:22  The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
3  The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
4  The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,
 

The law that existed is as Paul tells us, the law of faith.

Ro 3:27  Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

Which law, could not be abolished by the law three hundred years after

Ga 3:17  And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

The law of faith was from the beginning, as the book of Hebrews begins with the list of the faithful right with Abel. And we know Adam sinned because he did not believe God, and ate what God told him not to.

Heb 11:4  By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

This too was forbidden under law from Moses

Ex 6:20  And Amram took him Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years.

Lev 18:12  Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman.
 

Edited May 6 by Anne2