If Kentucky issues only biblical marriage licenses, to which of the following couples should a county clerk grant a license?
1. A man with a consenting woman, but without her father’s permission.
No. Numbers 30:1-16 teaches that a single woman’s father has final authority over legal contracts she may enter.
2. A man, a nonconsenting woman, and her father.
Yes. According to the Law of Moses a female is male property, as are slaves, livestock and children. (See Exodus 20:17, Exodus 21:7.) Her father can give her in marriage or sell her to a slave master. Female consent in the Bible is not a prerequisite for marriage or sex.
3. A married man and three other women.
Yes. The Old Testament endorses polygamy, and the New Testament does not reverse this—except for church elders (1 Timothy 3:2). (See Biblicalpolygamy.com)
4. A childless widow and her husband’s reluctant brother.
Yes. Genesis 38:8-10 makes it clear that a man has a responsibility to seed children for his deceased brother. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus doesn’t alter the tradition but does say it will no longer apply in heaven. (Matthew 22:24-28)
5. Two men.
No. Leviticus is clear. Two men having sex is an abomination, just like eating shellfish, getting tattoos, shaving your beard, or wearing blend fabrics. (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13, 11:9-12, 19:28, 19:27)
6. Two women.
No, not even with their fathers’ permission. Paul’s epistle to the Romans (1:26) makes it clear that this is degrading and unnatural.
7. A Christian and a Hindu.
No. The Apostle Paul calls this being unequally yoked (2 Corinthians 6:14). If the applicants balk at your refusal, you might respond gently with Paul’s own words: “What fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion has light with darkness?”
8. A soldier and a virgin prisoner of war.
Yes, but you should provide written instructions on the purification ritual required before bedding her. The soldier must shave her head and trim her nails and give her a month to mourn her parents before the first sex act. Also, remind him that if she fails to “delight,” he must set her free rather than selling her. (Deuteronomy 21:10-14)