The Legal Female Concubine Experience-Where Have You Gone?

When we hear the word “concubine” we really get anxious and confused, as there is so little scriptural understanding and teaching on this taboo subject.
What exactly was and is a concubine? Do they still exist? Is it scriptural? Dictionary.com defines a concubine as follows:
Concubine-A woman who cohabits with a man without being his wife; a paramour. 2. A secondary wife of inferior rank; a lawful wife, but not united to the man by the usual ceremonies [in Israel, by ketuvah or covenant] and of inferior condition. Such was Hagar, the concubine of Abraham; and such concubines were allowed by the Roman laws. Their children were not heirs of their father.
So a female concubine is either a wife with less than legal status, or a simple handmaiden, or mistress without any rights, whose children have no rights of survivorship. She can come and go for a season, as she and her husband desire and need not make any long term commitments. She can live in a different home and can come to the husband to render sexual favors in return for certain favors that she needs. As long as money does not change hands, it is kosher according to Torah. If money ever should change hands, it becomes zanuth, or prostitution, a pagan practice strictly forbidden in Torah. The specific term for a pilegesh/concubine must be worked out between the husband his wife and the pilegesh.

What about female concubines-pilegeshim today? Is concubinage still practiced, or is it an option for Bible believers today? Before we answer that, I submit to you that modern forms of prostitution, or other variants of it, are akin to the ancient practice and usage of concubines. Today prostitution and escort services (legal, or quasi legal almost everywhere, yet illegal in Torah) have greatly and sadly replaced this practice. In my view, these modern behaviors are in fact synonymous with the practice of using concubines, except according to Torah money cannot change hands.

The main difference was that concubines stayed at your home for an agreed upon time frame, becoming in theory, part of the domestic scene, with no money being exchanged, whereas prostitution applied to any person who lived out on the streets, or elsewhere and was merely a sex for money business transaction.
So from a biblical perspective, there is in fact a difference. A prostitute is rented for a night outside the home, or in the home; a female concubine, is part of the family unit, in the sense that they are part of the family structure used for sex, or other duties and no money changes hands. She renders sexual favors; he renders her other favors that she desires, in a sort of barter exchange. She can be seen as a second tier wife, with no legal authority and rights. Concubinage was and is an acceptable alternative, as concubines do not carry any of the responsibilities of a full wife, to oversee the proper functions of the Israelite home. In many eastern cultures it is still very much alive and the fact remains that all of Torah is in effect until Yahshua returns.
The Torah is very clear that concubines were sex servants, second tier wives for men only, without the same legal rights normally attributed to full marriage partners. True, some concubines were favored and later became wives (Genesis 30:4 and 9). That can also happen today.

As Nazarene Yisraelites, we simply cannot go around quoting Matthew 5: 17-19 ad-nauseum, ad-infinitum and live contra wise to what we declare. What do I mean? We all know and believe that all of Torah is eternal and that until the olam haba/age to come, or eternity arrives, NOT ONE JOT/YUD AND NOT ONE TITTLE, OR NEKUDAH/VOWEL POINT, shall pass away.
If we are going to be intellectually honest and theologically consistent, we must admit that the institution of female concubinage, is an option even today. But they are an option only for a society of Israelites that allows this option. It’s as the apostle Paul said. ‘All things that are in Torah are lawful for me, but not all things in Torah are profitable for me personally, so that I will not be brought under the power of anything other than Yahshua.‘
So while it may be kosher for you as a married man to employ the use of a female concubine, it may destroy your testimony, or walk in Yahshua in this modern world, that frowns upon such a practice. If one were to choose this option it would in my view be best suited for a closed community, or for a situation that promotes communal living, so as to remove the stigma associated with it in modernity. Or you can simply introduce her as your live in girlfriend, which the world will quickly understand and applaud.
Each believer must make his, or her own choices, with the options carefully considered, along with any fall out and subsequent consequences, knowing that every action has a corresponding reaction.
It is NOT SINFUL according to Torah for married men to practice female concubine taking, but you must be led by the Ruach HaKodesh in all such decisions, along with your wife, if you are married. A woman must consider her options as either a full wife in a monogamous, or patriarchal plural marriage, or being a concubine with diminished marital rights and responsibilities, where she barters sexual favors and can live separately if desired. She can come and go as she and her husband pleases, and in some cases, can even be financially fully self supportive and self sufficient. A pilegesh does not have to be a believer, or a Nazarene Yisraelite, although it is better if she is, as that will provide a longer term and more stable relationship. A pilegesh CANNOT be married to any other man! She has committed to being single and has made herself available to meet the sexual needs of Israelite men, all the while enjoying freedom not found in traditional relationships. She can provide a need, without the traditional commitment in a lifelong marriage covenant. For some insecure first wives, a pilegesh may be far preferable to another equal wife, with whom she is forced to share everything with all the time and who may live in her home on a full time basis. A pilegesh who comes and goes may be less of a threat to a wife who struggles with jealousy issues regarding the trials and struggles of plural marriage. Every family has to decide on their own what is best for them.

If a man is caught sleeping with another man’s pilegesh, it is the same as a man sleeping with another man’s wife and the pilegesh is committing adultery, while the man is also sinning and fornicating against YHWH (we see that in the biblical account of Reuben, who defiled his father’s bed). A husband’s pilegesh cannot be violated by another single, or married man. Also, a pilegesh cannot service more than one man, or husband at a time, as that would be viewed as polyandry at best, or perhaps outright prostitution. A pilegesh is committed to meeting the needs of only one man at a time, just like any wife, albeit without a lifelong marital covenant.
So clearly you can have a female concubine as a blood washed Israelite. But are you willing to possibly lose your children and husband, or wife over it? Are you willing to see your wife walk out never to return, because she doesn’t understand these things, or doesn’t desire to follow all of what Torah allows you as the husband? Only you and your wife can weigh the “risk-reward” factors inherent in such a decision. Proceed in this area of Torah freedom with great and calculated caution.
We must be consistent in applying Scripture. There are those who say that plural marriage is not a commandment like Shabbat, so why should it even be discussed? True; plural marriage and female concubine taking are not commandments. But then again, neither is monogamous marriage, or any kind of marriage a command. It is merely an option. And mandated celibacy is not a command. It is merely an option for those who have received that gifting.
So like all scriptural options, each option open to us as Israelites, must be treated fairly, openly and ONLY in the Light of Scripture, fully divorced from personal sentiment and individual personal likes and dislikes.

By Apostle to Yisrael Moshe Yoseph Koniuchowsky