The Mishnah interpreted the words "Neither shall he multiply wives to himself" in to limit him to no more than 18 wives. Judah said that he could have more wives, provided that they did not turn away his heart. But Simeon said that he must not marry even one wife who would turn away his heart. The Mishnah concluded that prohibited the king from marrying more than 18 wives, even if they were all as righteous as Abigail the wife of David. The "Gemara" noted that Judah did not always employ the rationale behind a Biblical passage as a basis for limiting its legal effect, as he did here in . The Gemara explained that Rabbi Judah employed the rationale behind the law here because itself expounds the rationale behind its legal constraint: The reason behind the command, "he shall not multiply wives to himself," is so "that his heart be not turned aside." Thus Rabbi Judah reasoned that itself restricts the law to these conditions, and a king could have more wives if "his heart be not turned aside." The "Gemara" noted that Simeon did not always interpret a Biblical passage strictly by its plain meaning, as he appeared to do here in . The "Gemara" explained that Simeon could have reasoned that adds the words, "that his heart turn not away," to imply that the king must not marry even a single wife who might turn away his heart. And one could interpret the words "he shall not multiply" to mean that the king must not marry many wives even if they, like Abigail, would never turn away his heart. The "Gemara" then analyzed how the anonymous first view in came to its conclusion that the king could have no more than 18 wives. The "Gemara" noted that refers to the children of six of David's wives born to David in Hebron. The "Gemara" reasoned that the prophet Nathan referred to these six wives in when he said, "And if that were too little, then would I add to you the like of these, and the like of these," each "these" implying six more wives. Thus with the original six, these two additions of six would make 18 in all.