SJS, not necessarily. But if there are an equal number of men & women, then this man’s four marriages means that 3 other men will not be able to marry at all, and won’t have the stabilizing influence of wives/ children in their lives. Really I’ve done no “research” on this at all, I’m just remembering facts I’ve read about it. But it’s a question I’ve had for a long time about how polygamous societies are sustained in the long-term (I can easily understand how polygamy would temporarily stabilize a society that loses a significant percentage of men, say to a war). I’ve particularly wondered about how Jewish polygamous societies work, since marriage/ having children is such an important mitzvah for Jewish men (and Jewish life is so family-centered), & it would seem that polygamy means at least some men will never get to do this at all.
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