Genesis — Chapter 16
These annotations are from the original 1609 Douay Old Testament, the first complete English Catholic Bible translation, produced by English scholars in exile at the English College of Douai. The archaic spelling is preserved.
This content was digitized from the original 1609 Douay (Old Testament) and 1582 Rheims (New Testament) print editions by OCR. The OCR process sometimes confused print page numbers with verse numbers, and may have assigned annotations to the wrong chapter. Chapter and verse labels on this page reflect the OCR output from the original print pagination and may not correspond to canonical Scripture chapter/verse numbers. For canonical reference, consult a standard Douay-Rheims edition. The annotation texts themselves are authentic 1609/1582 Douay-Rheims content.
Verse 3
To wife.] The Manichees did calumniate holie Abraham and other Patriarchs for hauing manie wiues, condemning them of incontinencie and adulterie for the same. Luther in the contrarie extreme held it not vnlawful, but indifferent now in the law of grace, for a man to haue more wiues then one at once. But the Catholike doctrine distinguishing times and causes, sheweth how pluralitie of wiues was lawful sometimes, and at other times, especially since Christ, altogether vnlawful and vndispensable. By the first institution of Mariage in the state of innocencie, and law of nature, and by the law of Christ, it is vnlawful for anie man to haue more wiues then one. Notwithstanding God sometimes dispensed in this for the case of scarcitie of people after the flood. Which appeareth sufficiently by that Sarai perswaded her owne husband to marie an other wife, and he a true seruant of God agreed thereto, not as a new thing, but as a lawful practise of those times. Yet this dispensation either ceased before Christs time, the cause ceasing when the world was replenished; or at least our Sauiour tooke it away, restoring Matrimonie to the first institution of two in one flesh.