The Meaning of Isaiah 4:1 and Seven Women Taking Hold of One Man

Every now and then, someone will point to Isaiah 4:1 and claim it as a prophetic endorsement of polygamy in the last days. The logic usually goes something like this: “Seven women will take hold of one man. That sounds like God is reintroducing plural marriage.”

But before we start carving doctrine out of a single verse, let’s walk through it.

“And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.” (Isaiah 4:1)

This verse doesn’t sit in isolation. It’s the tail end of a storm that starts in Isaiah 3 which is a storm of judgment, pride stripped bare, and society unraveling from the inside out.

The women here are not lifted up as righteous examples, they’re the aftermath. They’re the symbol of what happens when the covenant breaks down.

The Setup: A Nation in Ruin

Isaiah 3 describes a people who have rejected the Lord, flaunted wealth and vanity, and oppressed the poor. The men, who are the leaders, the defenders, the spiritual heads, fall by the sword.

The result? A staggering imbalance.

In a culture where being unmarried meant shame and economic insecurity, women are left uncovered, both figuratively and literally.

So when Isaiah 4:1 opens with seven women taking hold of one man, it’s not a celebration of marriage, it’s a scene of desperation. They’re not asking for love or provision. In fact, they explicitly say, “We’ll provide our own bread and clothing.” All they want is his name, a way to erase their reproach.

That’s not marriage, that’s damage control.

Not a Command, but a Consequence

Some read this and think, “See, God is restoring polygamy!” Really? God is not commanding anything here. He’s describing what will happen in a society that has collapsed under its own pride.

In fact, this scene shows women initiating the action, not God, not a prophet, and certainly not a righteous priesthood figure. There’s no revelation, no covenant, no command.

And that matters, because those who attempt to tie this to Jacob 2:30 in the Book of Mormon where the Lord says He will raise up seed unto Himself if He commands it miss the clear contrast.

In Jacob’s time, the Nephites were already corrupting the holy order of marriage by taking many wives and concubines. The Lord says their hearts are full of pride and whoredoms, and their actions are causing the daughters of Zion to mourn.

Does Isaiah 4:1 describe a restoration of that pattern? Or the consequences of it?

This isn’t the restoration of anything. It’s the collapse of everything.

Seven Women and the Search for a Name

Let’s talk about the number 7. It’s not just a throwaway figure, it’s symbolic. In scripture, 7 often means completion or wholeness. In Revelation, we find 7 churches, and in the Book of Mormon, 7 churches in Zarahemla.

So what if these “seven women” are not literal individuals, but types of spiritual bodies: churches, congregations, or religious movements in the last days?

They’re not asking for a covenant, they’re not seeking the Lord, they’re grasping for a name, for the appearance of legitimacy without the substance. “Let us be called by thy name…” echoes the tragic condition of modern Christianity; denominations that take Christ’s name, but take it in vain.

They don’t want His covering, they want His brand.

The Fall of Zion’s Daughters

In Isaiah 3, we read of the “daughters of Zion” walking with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes. They are clothed in silk, jewelry, and costly apparel. But what happens? All of it is stripped away. Baldness replaces beauty. Sackcloth replaces silk.

The woman of Isaiah 3 is a symbol. She is Zion in apostasy; externally adorned, internally hollow.

So when we roll into Isaiah 4, the shift from a single woman to seven underscores the spread of that condition. Churches built with polished stone and gold trim, expanding campuses, and trendy branding but where are the children?

Where is the spiritual posterity?

Where are those born of God?

We’ve invested in malls and monuments, but are we seeing true rebirth? Or are we, like the seven women, scrambling to justify ourselves with a name?

I ask these questions not to accuse, but to warn. When Jesus announced to his disciples that one of them would betray him we saw them ask, “Is it I?” and not “Is it him?” The scriptures prophesy the victory of the righteous and the destruction of the wicked, but why do we think we are the righteous? Are we not warned repeatedly of the pride that makes people think they are on the side of right when they are not?

If these are truly the last days, nothing can be taken for granted. We critically need to understand the scriptures, and particularly Isaiah’s message.

We must use the scriptures like a mirror or risk walking straight into the ruin they were meant to help us avoid.

Not a Prescription, But a Warning

If someone tries to use Isaiah 4:1 to advocate for polygamy in the last days, they are missing the entire spirit of Isaiah’s warning. The Lord never commands this act; it is the fallout of rebellion.

“Only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.”

But only Christ can remove our reproach. And He doesn’t do it through numbers or names. He does it through covenant, through love, through the refining fire of repentance.

The true marriage is found in the verses that follow:

“In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious…” (Isaiah 4:2)

After the judgment, after the stripping away of false coverings, then the Branch appears. That Branch is Christ. And those who remain, those who are written among the living in Jerusalem, are not desperate women clawing for names, but a refined remnant who have been washed, purged, and preserved.

Final Thought

Isaiah 4:1 is not a vision of righteous plural marriage; it is a cautionary vignette. It exposes the spiritual famine that follows when people forsake the Lord and lean on the arm of flesh. It’s what happens when institutions lose their substance and scramble for symbolism to hide their shame.

To see polygamy here is to fall into the same error the Nephites did where they took the Lord’s warnings and twisted them into endorsements.

Instead, let’s look at the full arc of Isaiah’s message: God strips away what is hollow, exposes what is vain, and then, in mercy, offers a Branch.

Not seven women clawing at one man, but one God lifting up a remnant.