The act of living with a woman to whom the man is not legally married. It is also used for a marriage with a woman of inferior condition (performed with less solemnity than the formal marriage, ) and to whom the husband does not convey his rank. As polygamy was sometimes practised by the patriarchs, it was a common thing to see one, two, or many wives in a family, and besides these several concubines, 2 Samuel 3:3 , &c. 1 Kings 11:3 . 2 Chronicles 11:21; but ever since the abrogation of polygamy by Jesus Christ, and the reduction of marriage to its primitive institution, concubinage has been forbidden and condemned among Christians.
Despite a stated reliance on the plain meaning of the Bible and the dictates of common sense, Buck's Theological Dictionary, first published in London in 1802, seeks to provide a textual basis for the evangelical community. By combining brief essays on orthodox belief and practice with historical entries on various denominations, Buck provided an interpretive lens that allowed antebellum Protestants to see Christianity's almost two millennia as their own history.Wikipedia
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