A concubine "In scripture signifies a wife of the second rank, who was inferior to the matron, or mistress of the house.
"The chief wives differed from the concubines in that they were taken into covenant with their husband by solemn stipulation, and with consent and rejoicing of friends.
"They brought with them dowries to their husbands. They had the government of their families under and with their husbands. The inheritance belonged to the children brought forth by them.
"Though the children of the concubines did not inherit their father's estate, yet the father in his life time provided for them, and made presents to them:
Thus Sarah was Abraham's wife of whom he had Isaac, the heir of all his wealth. But he had besides two concubines, namely, Hagar and Keturah; of these he had children, whom he distinguished from Isaac, and made presents to them;" (see Concubine, Cru. Concor.)
Although Hagar is considered a concubine in the above quotation, yet, according to Cruden's definition, she was a wife of the second degree. She is nowhere called a concubine in the scripture, but emphatically a wife.
"And Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, * * and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife;" Gen. 16. 3. That this condition of wifehood did not change the former relations of mistress and servant, between Sarai and Hagar, is evident from verse 9. The angel said to Hagar, "Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands."
That Keturah was Abraham's wife is evident from the fact, that she is called his wife in Gen. 25. 1: and that she was also called his concubine, appears from 1 Chron. 1. 32. That concubine and wife were synonymous terms, further appears from the declaration of Nathan, the prophet, to David, "I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun;" 2 Sam. 12. 11. In the account of the fulfilment of this prophecy, these wives are called concubines. "And Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel;" 16. 22.
The Nephites, whose ancestors colonized America 600 years before Christ, did not forget the custom of their Jewish fathers; for when they broke the special commandment of the Lord to them, by taking more than one wife, they also added concubines; Mos. 11. 2-4.
This custom of taking wives and concubines prevailed among the Jaredites, whose ancestors emigrated to North America from the tower of Babel. It appears to have been abused by a wicked king, called Riplakish, who reigned some 1500 years before Christ; Ether 10. 5. From both the Bible and Book of Mormon, it appears that the custom of taking a plurality of wives and concubines prevailed at a very early period after the flood. It was, however, of antediluvian origin: "And Lamech took unto himself two wives, Adah and Zillah;" Gen. 4. 19. he lived before the flood. It is evident from the "Revelation on the Eternity of the Marriage Covenant," that the Lord anciently gave concubines to good men, as wives, and that only the custom of the country discriminated between them and others: "Abraham received concubines, and they bare him children, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness, because they were given unto him;" Doc. & Cov. 132. 37. "David's wives and concubines were given unto him, of me, by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets who had the keys of this power; and in none of these things did he sin against me, save in the case of Uriah and his wife;" verse 39.