I received the following question:
How many wives did Saul actually have? In 1 Samuel 14:50 it only says “wife” yet I always had thought before that there were others.
I Samuel 14:50 does, indeed, only list one wife for Saul.
50. The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle.
While we would like to say that in this, at least, Saul excelled David, yet a closer examination will reveal that Saul was not a “one-woman man.” II Samuel 3:7 reveals the truth of this.
7. And Saul had a concubine, whose name was Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah. So Ishbosheth said to Abner, “Why have you gone in to my father’s concubine?”
So Saul had a concubine (one of those “slave-wives” so common in those days) besides his wife Ahinoam. It is her children, not those of Ahinoam, whom David turns over to the Gibeonites at their request in II Samuel 21:8. She protects their bodies, and again is called Saul’s concubine in II Samuel 21:11.
11. And David was told what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.
So while we can commend Saul for having only one wife, he did add to her a concubine. Other than these two, I can find no other mention of wives for Saul. He at least stuck much closer to the command not to multiply wives than David did.
Precepts 
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September 6, 2016 at 11:10 am
Samuel Kakraba
At 2 Samuel 2:28 ,God told David “I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.” This shows that saul had wives not one wife . Notice, I gave your master’s wives (saul’s wives )to you. This is a direct statement showing that Saul was not a monogamist but polygamous
October 14, 2016 at 5:45 pm
Precepts
Samuel Kakraba,
You bring up a good point. I did point out above that Saul had at least one concubine, which does count as a wife, so he definitely was a polygamist. Yet I would also point out, regarding the verse you mentioned, that in the patriarchal system that existed in Israel, the wives of Saul’s sons would also count as “Saul’s” wives in the sense that they belonged to his household (though of course they did not belong to Saul personally). Thus I do not think this verse alone would be enough to prove beyond a doubt that Saul was a polygamist, though it certainly does add weight to the argument. Yet, as I pointed out above, the fact that he had at least two wives cannot be questioned, and it does not take more than two to make one a polygamist.
Thanks for writing. Keep studying the Word!
Nathan
December 14, 2016 at 10:16 pm
Sansenoy
You meant, 2 Samuel 12:8.
February 10, 2017 at 7:54 pm
Precepts
Sansenoy,
You are quite correct. Mr. Kakraba did indeed make an error here when he referenced II Samuel 2:8 instead of II Samuel 12:8. Thank you for pointing this out.
Nathan