Asking a Jewish Rabbi About Polygamy and Leviticus 18:18 | Saint K VS The Poly Pals - 3

The Foreign Saint's Podcast · May 18, 2026 · 55m

Leviticus 18.18, often cited to support polygamy, actually bans it through an idiomatic Hebrew phrase. In this episode, Jewish scholar Rabbi Naftali ben Avraham joins me to unpack the true meaning of this controversial verse—and how ancient Jewish traditions, from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Mishnah, understood it differently.We break down multiple historical sources, illustrating how Jewish thought from the Second Temple period to the Middle Ages viewed polygamy, often condemning it.We also examine how rabbinic opinions and mystical texts like the Zohar shed light on the divine design of…