2 Samuel 3:2

Unto David were sons born. This increase of his wives is mentioned as a proof of David's prosperity. For though contrary to the Law ( Deuteronomy 17:17 ), it was yet looked upon as part of the state of a king, and as such had been practised by Gideon ( 8:30 ), who approached more nearly to the royal dignity than any other of the judges. But it is the rule of the Books of Samuel that they generally abstain alike from praise and 'blame, and allow facts to speak for themselves. But never did a history more clearly deserve the title of 'A Vindication of the Justice of God.' Alike in Eli, in Saul, and in David, their sufferings were the result of their sins, and to the polygamy and lust of the last are due both the crimes which stained his character and the distress of the last twenty years of his life. (For Amnon , his first born, see 2 Samuel 13:1-39 .)