Lamb - Prostitutes and polygamists : a look at love, Old Testament style

A pastor once said he needed only three Sunday school classes in his church: one on sex, one on the end times, and one on whether there will be sex in the end times. David Lamb here covers all the bases on the subject of sex in the Old Testament, in a sensible, down-to-earth, well-informed way. He writes as a biblical scholar who knows about real life, and he shows he can bring the Bible and our own sexual lives together. His book would be a great textbook for at least one of those classes.

John Goldingay, David Allan Hubbard Professor of Old Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary

Every once in a while a book comes out that compels us to consider subjects the Bible raises but the church tends to neglect. Prostitutes and Polygamists is more than a good read. It is an expose of sexual issues the Bible doesnt avoid that are as real and destructive today as in ancient times. Thank you David Lamb for shedding light on these important issues, for probing these taboo texts, and for calling Christians to engage on behalf of the vulnerable and wounded.

Carolyn Custis James, author, Malestrom: Manhood Swept into the Currents of a Changing World

In our sexually obsessed culture, David Lamb provides a timely and honest discussion about sex in the Bible the good, the bad, and the R-rated. Confronting our ugliest moments, he invites us to encounter the radical beauty of Gods love for all.

Tom Lin, InterVarsity Vice President and Director of Urbana; Lausanne Movement International Deputy Director

Sex is a gift from God, but often it feels like a curse. We are all broken people because of our rebellion, and thus we struggle with sexuality. David Lamb has given us a book that acknowledges just how bad we are. Indeed, we are worse than we think we are. But then he reminds us through this brilliant look at biblical stories of brokenness just how big Gods grace is toward us. Once you start reading this book, you wont be able to put it down.

Tremper Longman III, Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies, Westmont College

I regularly use Dave Lambs God Behaving Badly when teaching the Old Testament to college students. Given the centrality of sexuality to human experience and the challenges for modern readers in engaging the Old Testament about these issues, I am thrilled that Lamb has provided another valuable resource to the church.

Lindsay Olesberg, Scripture Engagement Director, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA

Most steer away from the awkward stories in the Bible. Not David Lamb. He jumps us into the toughest parts of the Bible with honesty, grit, courage, and even humor. He makes me want to read the Old Testament with new eyes.

Doug Schaupp, Associate National Director of Evangelism, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

With unblinking and sharp eye, David Lamb delves into provocative topics like sex, marriage, and polygamy with humor. A helpful resource for serious learners of all types!

Nikki Toyama-Szeto, editor, Partnering with the Global Church

The only books I read these days are those which throw fresh light on Scripture or challenge traditional presuppositions. Top-rated Old Testament scholar David Lamb has done both in this thought-provoking book.

Frank Viola, author, From Eternity to Here and Jesus: A Theography (with Leonard Sweet), frankviola.org

Sometimes it takes humor to take something really seriously. And David Lamb takes sex very seriously indeed, and his humor only underlines that. For this is serious biblical ethics, tackling laws and stories in the Old Testament that many either avoid with embarrassment or exploit with venom as a way of attacking Christian understanding of sex and marriage. Lamb combines careful scholarly reading of the biblical texts with a light and engaging touch, while pointing the way for pastors, churches, and the rest of us to be a lot more biblical, discerning, and Christlike in what (and who) we love, and a lot more robustly honest and informed about what the Bible actually says (and doesnt say) about sex.

Christopher J. H. Wright, Langham Partnership; author, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God

ZONDERVAN

Prostitutes and Polygamists

Copyright 2015 by David T. Lamb

ePub Edition July 2015: ISBN 978-0-310-51848-8

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Library of Congress Cataloging-in- Publication Data

Lamb, David T. (David Trout), 1962

Prostitutes and polygamists : a look at love, Old Testament style / David T. Lamb.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-310-51847-1 (softcover)

1. Sex Biblical teaching. 2. Sex crimes Religious aspects Christianity. 3. Bible. Old Testament Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title.

BS680.S5L355 2015

220.8'3067 dc23

2015000742

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design: CAMPANA DESIGN

Cover photography: iStockPhoto

Interior design: Dan Dingman

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 /DCI/ 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Nathan and Noah

CONTENTS

O ne afternoon thirty years ago, I picked up a hitchhiker in Palo Alto, California, who introduced herself to me as Domino. After a few questions, she let me know that she was working. I thought, How can you be working while youre hitchhiking? I asked, What kind of job do you have? She then informed me she was a lady of the daytime. I gave her no business that day but prayed for her and told her that Jesus is a friend of sinners and prostitutes. At the end of our interaction, she told me her name was Sandy. I wish I had been familiar with the material in this book before I met her so that I could have also told her about Tamar, Rahab, Abraham, and David, all those heroes of the Old Testament who, despite serious sexual issues, were redeemed by the grace of God. To begin this section of the book, I need to acknowledge Sandy, the hitchhiker prostitute, who opened my eyes to a world I had been shielded from.

Most of the other people Ill acknowledge here for shaping this book are not prostitutes, or polygamists for that matter.

Many friends and colleagues at Biblical Theological Seminary have supported me in various ways, encouraging, listening, and editing. Todd Mangum allowed me to arrange my teaching load to give me time to write. It has been my delight to teach much of this material to BTS students, and they in return have taught me and blessed me greatly. Phil Monroe, Carolyn Custis James, and Diane Langberg offered wise counsel, improving my writing and helping me solve a variety of problems.