Concubinage therefore, in a scriptural sense, means the state of cohabiting lawfully with a wifo of second rank, who enjoyed no other conjugal right but that of cohabitation (q. v.), and whom the husband could re- pudiate, and send away with a small present (Gen. xxi, 14). In Uke manner, he could, by means of pres- ents, exclude his children by her from the heritage (Gen. XXV, 6). Such concubines had Nahor (Gen. xxii, 24), Abraham (xxv, 6), Jacob (xxxv, 22), Eli- phaz (xxxvi, 12), Gideon (Judg. viii, 8), Saul (2 Sam. ill, 7), David (1 Sam. v, 18 ; xv, 16; xvi, 21), Solomon (1 Kings xi, 8), Caleb (1 Chron. ii, 46), Manasseh (•&. Til, 14), Rehoboam (2 Chron. xi, 21), Ab^ah (2 Chron. xiii, 21), and Belshazzar (Dan. v, 2). Their issue was reputed legitimate (though the children of the first wife were preferred in the distribution of the inherit- ance), but in all other respects these concubines were inferior to the primary wifs, for they had no autiiority in the family, nor any share in household govern- ment. If they had been servants in the fiunily before they came to be concubines they continued to be so afterwards, and in the same subjection to the mistress as before. If a woman were made captive in war she was allowed a month in which she was at liberty to mourn the loss of her parents and friends; and nei^ ther father nor son was permitted to take her as a con- cubine until the expiration of that time (Deut. xx, 10, 14). To judge from the coi^gal hist(uries of Abra- ham and Jacob (Gen. xvi and xxx), the immediate cause of concubinage in patriarchal times was the bar- renness of the lawful wife, who in that case introduced her maid-servant of her own accord to her husband for the sake of having children. Accordingly, we do not read that Isaac, son of Abraham, bad any concubine, Rebecca, his wife, not being barren. In process of time, however, concubinage appears to have degener- ated into a regular custom among the Jews, and the institutions of Moses wers directed to prevent excess
and abuse fai that respect by wholesoiiia Ibcwb and n^' ulations (Exod. xxi, 7-9 ; Dent, xxi, 10-14>. The e. fruthfulness of a concubine was regmrded as criaiBit (Jndff. xix, 2; 2 Sam. IH, 7, 8), but it was not po- isheda8wasthatofawifo(Lev.xix,20). SaeAnor TBRT. Such a case, however, as that wmtinnri (Judg. xix), where not only is the poaaeaaor of the coo- cubine called her ** husband" (ver. a), but her fr&a is called his fsther-in-law and he bis 80s»-iii4aw (4, 5), shows how nearly the concubine appiroached to tk wifis. Hured women, such as ^nxorea merceniiia conducts ad tempus ex pacto," whom Ammianai Marcellinns attributes to the Saraeans {^xivy 4X wa« unknown among the Hebrews. To cfoard adnlt nsk offiipring ttom debauchery before marriage, their psi- ents, it appears, used to give them one of tiisir fc> male slaves as a concnblne. She was then oommd- ered as one of the children of the bouse, and shs »- tained her rights as a concubine eren after the Ba> riage of the son (Exod. xxi, 9, 19). When a sod had intercourse with the concubine of his CaUier, a »it of family punishment, we are informed, was infliet- ed on him (Gen. xxxv, 22; 1 Chron. ▼, 1). When polygamy was tolerated — as it was amon^ the He* brews — tiie permission of concubinage woold not seca so mudi at war with the interests and preeervation of society as we know it to be. Christianity lestoces tin sacred institution of marriage to its original diazactcr, and concubinage is ranked with fornication and adul- tery (Matt xix, 5 ; 1 Cor. vii, 2). See Polygamt.
In the Talmud (tit. Cetuboth), the Babbins diife« to what constitutes concubinage, some regarding as its distinguishing feature the absence of the betntiiinf ceremonies (jpoasa&i) and of the dowry (iAeibu dotuX or portion of property allotted to a woman by special engagement, and to which she was entitled on the marriage day, after the decease of the husband, or ii case of repudiation ; others, again, the absence of tba latter alone. In the books of Samuel and Kings tla concubines mentioned belong to the king, and tiicir condition and number cease to be a guide to the gen- eral practice. A new king stepped into the xig^ of his predecessor, and by Solomon's time the ceatoe had approximated to that of a Persian harem ^ Sam. xii, 8; xvi, 21; 1 Kings ii, 22). To seize on xpril concubines for his use was thus a nsnrper's first ad Such was probably the intent of Abner's act (2 Sam. iii, 7), and similarly the request on behalf of Adoa^ was construed (1 Kings ii, 21-24). For foUer hlfo^ mation, Selden's treatises De Uxore Mebrad and Dt Jwre Natur, et Genf, v, 7, 8, and especially tlut Ik Suecei$umOmSf cap. iii, may, with some caution (smes he leans somewhat easily to rabbinical traditioa), be consulted ; also the treatises Sotak^ Kidmkim, and Che- iuboth in the Gemara HieroeoL, and that entitied Sm- hedrm in the Gemara Babyl. The essential portioos of all these are collected in Ugolini, vol. xxx, De €»- art HtbrcoL See also Otho, Lex, JRabbm, p. 151 ; Sel- den, 2>0 Sucoeuiombutf iii; Michaelis, Zaaas ofMetOf 1,455-466.