Polygamy
23 essays
2026
Prosper in the Land
“Keep my commandments and ye shall prosper in the land.” For Lehi’s family the commandments came by revelation, one wife among them, and prosper may mean pressing forward toward God’s presence.
Joseph and Jacob 2
Joseph never used Jacob 2:30 to justify plural marriage. On the day he and Hyrum died, five statements on record said a man should have one wife.
2025
Amulek’s Women
Some scholars read Amulek’s “my women” in Alma 10:11 as plural wives. Alma gave the same household blessing to the whole city of Gideon.
No Kings Upon the Land
Mosiah II held every record of Israel’s, the Nephites’ and the Jaredites’ kings. Each told the same story, so he ended the kings. The Book of Mormon says there shall be no kings upon this land.
The Law of the King
Why would the Lord call David and Solomon’s many wives “abominable” if no law forbade them? The law of the king did, and Jacob 1 echoes it almost word for word.
Raise Up Seed: Heirs of the Kingdom
Abinadi asks, “Who shall be his seed?” Those who hear the prophets and believe: “the heirs of the kingdom of God.” Is that the seed of Jacob 2:30?
Raise Up Seed: Levirate Marriage
In the Bible, “raise up seed” is the language of levirate marriage: a brother keeping a dead man’s name alive. Could that be the narrow exception in Jacob 2:30?
What’s in a Name?
“Lord of Hosts” appears only 52 times in the Book of Mormon, usually in warnings of destruction. Six are in Jacob 2:28–33, the verses from Lehi’s record.
2024
Jacob’s Prophecy
Jacob’s sermon ends in prophecy: break the one-wife commandment and the land is cursed, and the Lamanites will scourge you. Omni records it coming true.
Covenant Land
Lehi’s promised land came with a covenant, with blessings and curses. The one-wife commandment is one of its conditions, which is why Jacob 2:29 says “cursed be the land.”
Whose Voice?
Jacob’s sermon has several voices. Verses 27–33, including verse 30, are the Lord’s commandment to Lehi, read back to the Nephites a generation later.
Raise Up Seed
The only other time the Book of Mormon says “raise up seed,” the Lord tells Lehi’s sons to take wives, one each. Raising up seed was done through monogamy.
A Branch of Joseph
Five verses before “raise up seed unto me,” the Lord says he led Lehi out “that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch.” Seed, branch, and fruit are covenant language.
The Thoughts of the Heart
Jacob didn’t catch the Nephites in the act. He saw it in their hearts. The sin he condemns begins as a desire, and the Lord treats the desire as the sin.
Daughters of God
Jacob’s sermon is full of God’s daughters: tender wives, broken hearts, cries that reach heaven. Would the Lord command the very thing he says is breaking their hearts?
Context: Wickedness and Abominations
Read everything Jacob says around verse 30 and it’s all condemnation: abominations, whoredoms, a cursed land. Does that sound like the setup for an exception?
Alternate Universe
Ten years before Orson Pratt’s reading, Hyrum Smith preached from Jacob 2 at the temple and called its rule a perpetual principle. The historians who quote the sermon leave that part out.
Chapter and Verse
Jacob 2 and 3 were one sermon. The chapter break, verses, headings, and first footnotes came later, and the first note on verse 30 came from Orson Pratt.
The Root of the Interpretation
The conventional reading of Jacob 2:30 was first defended in print in 1853, in Orson Pratt’s The Seer, months after plural marriage was announced.
One Interpretation, Officially
Every official source reads Jacob 2:30 the same way: monogamy unless God commands otherwise, to raise up more children. The birth records don’t appear to bear that reason out.
Wresting the Scriptures
The Nephites excused their sins by misreading the scriptures about David and Solomon. The Book of Mormon warns that wresting scripture leads to destruction.
The Verse That Shaped Our History
Jacob 2:30 is the exception Mormons rely on to allow a future commandment of polygamy. This series looks at what the Book of Mormon itself says the verse means.
Hyrum Smith Discourse on Polygamy
Three times in his last year, Hyrum Smith spoke out against polygamy: a sermon at the temple, a letter, and a conference talk.