At this point we come to the issue of limited marriage or concubinage.

At this point we come to the issue of limited marriage or concubinage. The texts of the Bible can be classified in three groups: those spoken by God Himself and thus giving direct divine commands; those describing the holy example of prophets and other human beings with God-given authority to serve as such holy examples; and finally those texts describing the behavior of ordinary people whose example we might not follow. Obviously the first category is normative, whereas the last is not.

The second category also has a certain degree of normative value. In principle we could be certain that concubinage is meant only for those texts where the word `Pilegesh' occurs. This word is of uncertain origin. It is used once in the Bible in Ezekiel 23:20 to refer to the male partner in such a relationship. The word is thus both masculine and femi­nine without a change in form. The first mention of concubinage in the Bible as that of Nahor in Genesis 22:24.

There is another concubine mentioned by name in Genesis 36:12, Timna who was the concubine of Eliphaz, son of Esau. Both of these men were devout, although not holy examples. But even the use of the word `Pilegesh' does not guaran­tee that true concubinage is meant. Genesis 25:6, from the example of Abraham, gives us the only specific regulation characterizing concubinage, that is, that the children of concubines do not inherit from the father.

Therefore the use of the word `Pilegesh' in Genesis 35:22 is a loose application of the word to a slave wife whose children did inherit and who was taken as a wife specifically for the purpose of bearing children. This text, however, is doubtful in any case, and should not be used. In 1 Chronicles 1:32, the word `Pilegesh' refers to Keturah, the third wife of Abraham.

The Genesis text is ambiguous about this marriage, and it is certain that the marriage was not specifi­cally contracted for producing children. The Genesis text does not state whether Keturah's children inherited with Ishmael or whether they were given gifts with the children of Abraham's other concubines. There are no texts of direct, God-given revelation that refer to concubinage as such, although many texts of legislation must refer to marriage of all types.

We shall have to turn to the two lower categories of texts to find an indication of the Bible attitudes towards marriage of pleasure. Abraham is the first holy example of concubinage in the Bible.