Doctrine and Covenants 132
Historical Context
Doctrine and Covenants 132 contains some of the most uplifting and some of the most controversial revelations of Joseph Smith. In the section, Joseph outlines the principles of eternal marriage, explaining how the sealing power can allow family relationships to continue beyond the grave. Joseph also taught the principles of plural marriage, pointing back to the righteous patriarchs of the Old Testament, such as Abraham and Israel. These teachings were received in the intensely personal context of ongoing discussions about this topic between Joseph Smith and his wife Emma.
We do not know the precise origins of plural marriage in the Church, although evidence suggests that some of the principles of plural marriage were known as early as 1831. It is likely that Joseph Smith began asking questions about the practice while engaged in his project to produce a new translation of the Bible. Doctrine and Covenants 132 directly states that Joseph prayed to know why Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and Solomon entered into the practice of having more than one wife. The Lord responded that He had commanded these prophets to enter into these relationships (D&C 132:34–38).
Throughout the 1830s, Joseph Smith began to privately teach a small number of Latter-day Saint couples that their relationships would become eternal if they endured in the faith. William W. Phelps wrote to his wife in 1835 about “a new idea, Sally, if you and I continue faithful to the end, we are certain of being one in the Lord throughout eternity.” To the early Saints, the ideas of eternal marriage and plural marriage were connected to each other in the minds of the early Saints. By the late 1830s, Joseph may have taken his first plural wife, a woman named Fanny Alger. Sources on this relationship are scattered, and because this information was related by some participants decades after the fact, these sources must be approached with caution. However, the sources indicate that Joseph entered into a marriage with the consent of Fanny Alger as well as that of her parents. We do not know what conversations Joseph and Emma had about this first plural union. After Joseph left Ohio, the union seems to have ended, and Joseph set aside the practice of plural marriage for several years.
Joseph revisited the practice after the Saints began to establish themselves in Nauvoo. During the early 1840s, Joseph began to introduce the principles of eternal marriage and plural marriage to a small group of trusted associates. By the time the revelation in section 132 was given, Joseph Smith had entered into several plural relationships. He had also continued to discuss the practice with Emma Smith, who quite understandably struggled to accept this new teaching. Doctrine and Covenants 132 was initially received to help Emma understand the principles surrounding the practice.
Section 132 was written down at the request of Hyrum Smith, who was seeking to help Emma understand plural marriage. Hyrum Smith had also struggled with the new teaching at first, but after careful discussions and prayer, he became convinced of its truth. Hyrum offered to help Emma understand its principles as well. William Clayton, Joseph Smith’s scribe, remembered being present when the revelation was recorded. He recorded that on July 12, 1843, Joseph and Hyrum Smith sat down in the office on the upper floor of Joseph’s Red Brick Store in Nauvoo. Hyrum told Joseph, “If you will write the revelation on celestial marriage, I will take it and read it to Emma, and I believe I can convince her of its truth, and you will hereafter have peace.” Joseph smiled and said, “You do not know Emma as well as I do.” Hyrum felt that “the doctrine is so plain, I can convince any reasonable man or woman of its truth, purity[,] and heavenly origin.” Joseph asked William to get some paper so he could record the revelation.
Joseph then sat down and dictated Doctrine and Covenants 132 while William Clayton recorded it sentence by sentence. When Joseph was finished, he asked William to read the revelation back to him, and he pronounced it correct. Joseph then commented “that there was much more that he could write on the same subject, but what was written was sufficient for the present.” Hyrum took the revelation to Emma while Joseph and William waited in the office. When Hyrum returned, Joseph asked how Emma had responded. Hyrum replied that “he had never received a more severe talking to in his life, that Emma was very bitter and full of resentment and anger.” William Clayton noted that Joseph then quietly remarked, “I told you you did not know Emma as well as I did.”
This incident was not the first or last conversation Joseph had with Emma on the subject. Joseph’s journal for the following day, July 13, records, “I [was] in conversation with Emma most of the day.” Emma eventually accepted the practice for a time, though she struggled with it for the rest of her life. The challenges surrounding plural marriage would have been difficult for anyone. Because of the personal context surrounding Doctrine and Covenants 132, it must be read carefully and with consideration for the people involved and the issues they were struggling with.
President Joseph F. Smith, son of Hyrum Smith, advised a careful reading of Doctrine and Covenants 132 when he said:
When the revelation [D&C 132] was given in 1843, it was for the special purpose, by the request of the Patriarch Hyrum Smith, and was not then designed to go forth to the church or to the world. It is most probable that had it been then written with a view to its going out as a doctrine of the church, it would have been presented in a somewhat different form. There are personalities [Emma Smith, specifically] contained in a part of it which are not relevant to the principle itself, but rather to the circumstances which necessitated its being written at the time. Joseph Smith, on the day it was written, expressly declared that there was a great deal more connected with the doctrine which would be revealed in due time, but this was sufficient for the occasion, and was made to suffice for the time.
The full teachings surrounding the nature of eternal marriage came through the sacred ceremonies found inside the temple. In a discourse given several days after recording section 132, Joseph Smith taught that “a man must enter into an everlasting covenant with his wife in this world or he will have no claim on her in the next.” In the same discourse he acknowledged that “he could not reveal the fulness of these things until the temple [was] completed.” Doctrine and Covenants 132 serves as an introduction to those teachings, outlining the basic principles surrounding the sealing power and the duration of eternal relationships. The latter part of the revelation (Doctrine and Covenants 132:51-57) is specifically addressed to Emma Smith and is better understood if read in that context. The nature of families is a deeply emotional concept for most people and must be handled carefully.
The original manuscript of section 132 was read by several authorities of the Church before it was given to Emma Smith, who destroyed it. However, a copy was made at the request of Bishop Newel K. Whitney before the original was destroyed. Joseph Kingsbury copied the original revelation. After seeing the copy of the original, William Clayton said that “the copy made by Joseph C. Kingsbury is a true and correct copy of the original in every respect.” The revelation was published in the Deseret News in 1852. When the 1876 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants was published, section 132 replaced an earlier article on marriage, which was removed from the book.
See “Historical Introduction,” Revelation, 12 July 1843 [D&C 132].
Verse-by-Verse Commentary
D&C 132:1–6
1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines—
2 Behold, and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching this matter.
3 Therefore, prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same.
4 For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory.
5 For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world.
6 And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fulness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fulness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God.
While the primary purpose of Doctrine and Covenants 132 is to explain the practice of plural marriage (D&C 132:1–2), the Lord began by outlining the new and everlasting covenant, which includes eternal marriage. The new and everlasting covenant is a theme throughout the revelations of the Restoration. The covenant is ancient, going back to Adam and Eve, but also “new” in the sense that restoring the covenant was the culmination of all the revelations given to Joseph Smith. In their first appearance to Joseph Smith in 1820, the Father and the Son stated that one of their purposes was to restore the new and everlasting covenant. In an account of the First Vision recorded by Levi Richards on June 11, 1843, Joseph Smith told Levi that he “went into the grove and enquired of the Lord which of all the sects were right—[he] received for [an] answer that none of them were right, that they were all wrong, and that the Everlasting covena[n]t was broken.”
The ultimate aim of the new and everlasting covenant is to allow men and women to become like God and become “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). When performed by the proper authority, marriage is a part of this new and everlasting covenant, which encompasses all of the ordinances and covenants a person can enter into with God. In a revelation given to Joseph Smith the day the Church was organized, the Lord referred to baptism as “a new and everlasting covenant, even that which was from the beginning” (D&C 22:1). Marriage, baptism, and all the gospel covenants and ordinances are how we come unto the Father and receive of His fulness (D&C 84:38). If we do not receive these ordinances, we are damned, or inhibited from progressing further toward exaltation. The Lord warns three different times in these verses (D&C 132:3–6) that those who know the law will be damned if they do not obey it.
D&C 132:7–14
7 And verily I say unto you, that the conditions of this law are these: All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this power (and I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold this power in the last days, and there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred), are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead.
8 Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion.
9 Will I accept of an offering, saith the Lord, that is not made in my name?
10 Or will I receive at your hands that which I have not appointed?
11 And will I appoint unto you, saith the Lord, except it be by law, even as I and my Father ordained unto you, before the world was?
12 I am the Lord thy God; and I give unto you this commandment—that no man shall come unto the Father but by me or by my word, which is my law, saith the Lord.
13 And everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or principalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be, that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God.
14 For whatsoever things remain are by me; and whatsoever things are not by me shall be shaken and destroyed.
In Doctrine and Covenants 132:7–14 the Lord emphasized that for any covenant to be eternal, it must be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. This includes all the ordinances of the gospel. If a baptism, endowment, marriage, or any kind of covenant is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise, the ordinance is not in force when we are dead. To be sealed means that the covenants are made eternally binding so they continue after a person’s mortal life has ended. To receive this seal is, in effect, to receive the Lord’s seal of approval and His blessing for our covenants to continue beyond the grave.
Elder David A. Bednar explained, “The Holy Spirit of Promise is the ratifying power of the Holy Ghost. When sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise, an ordinance, vow, or covenant is binding on earth and in heaven. (See D&C 132:7.) Receiving this ‘stamp of approval’ from the Holy Ghost is the result of faithfulness, integrity, and steadfastness in honoring gospel covenants ‘in [the] process of time’ (Moses 7:21). However, this sealing can be forfeited through unrighteousness and transgression. Purifying and sealing by the Holy Spirit of Promise constitute the culminating steps in the process of being born again.” The ratifying seal of the Holy Spirit is necessary for all ordinances of the gospel, including eternal marriage. They must be performed by one with authority—someone “who is anointed” (D&C 132:7)—and be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise to last in the eternities.
D&C 132:15–18
15 Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me nor by my word, and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world and she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world; therefore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world.
16 Therefore, when they are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in marriage; but are appointed angels in heaven, which angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory.
17 For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever.
18 And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, and make a covenant with her for time and for all eternity, if that covenant is not by me or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, through him whom I have anointed and appointed unto this power, then it is not valid neither of force when they are out of the world, because they are not joined by me, saith the Lord, neither by my word; when they are out of the world it cannot be received there, because the angels and the gods are appointed there, by whom they cannot pass; they cannot, therefore, inherit my glory; for my house is a house of order, saith the Lord God.
In Doctrine and Covenants 132:15–20 the Lord provided three scenarios to illustrate the importance of the proper authority in marriage and the ratifying seal of the Holy Ghost. First, the Lord described a marriage performed by someone who does not have the sealing power: “if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me nor by my word” (D&C 132:15). This kind of marriage serves to legally bind husband and wife to each other while they are in this life but is of no effect in the life to come. Most marriage ceremonies performed outside the temple acknowledge this limitation, usually ending with the phrase “till death do us part.” Even Latter-day Saint bishops who perform marriages outside the temple inform couples that they are “legally and lawfully wedded for the period of [their] mortal lives.”
The second scenario describes a situation in which “a man marr[ies] a wife, and make[s] a covenant with her for time and for all eternity” but “that covenant is not by me or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, through him whom I have anointed and appointed unto this power” (D&C 132:18). In this scenario the marriage is also not in force when the couple leaves this life. Even if the couple aims to create an eternal marriage, without proper authority, the marriage is dissolved at death. In addition, if the individuals in the marriage do not live so that the Holy Spirit can provide His ratifying seal to a marriage, it is also not in force when they are dead. President Joseph Fielding Smith explained, “If one or both of these covenanting persons break that covenant by which they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise, then the Spirit withdraws the deal and the guilty party, or parties, stands as if there had been no sealing or promise given. All covenants are based on faithfulness.”
These verses (D&C 132:15–20) do not imply a cruel or harsh punishment for those who do not enter into eternal relationships in this life, for whatever reason. But those individuals cannot enter into the same kind of life that God lives. Instead, they serve as ministering angels and assist in the work of salvation in their own way. Joseph Smith taught, “Gods have an ascendancy over the Angels who are ministering servants, in the resurrection some are raised to be angels, others are raised to become Gods.”
D&C 132:19–25
19 And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them—Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths—then shall it be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.
20 Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.
21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory.
22 For strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world neither do ye know me.
23 But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation; that where I am ye shall be also.
24 This is eternal lives—to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. I am he. Receive ye, therefore, my law.
25 Broad is the gate, and wide the way that leadeth to the deaths; and many there are that go in thereat, because they receive me not, neither do they abide in my law.
The final scenario given by the Lord is what occurs “if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood” (D&C 132:19). In this case, a man and a woman are married by one who holds the sealing keys and their union is sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. The list of blessings promised to those who honor this covenant constitutes one of the longest verses in all of recorded scripture (D&C 132:19) and continues on through several more verses (D&C 132:20–24). It is enough to summarize that those who receive the blessing of eternal marriage become like God and will receive the opportunity of enjoying an endless posterity in the eternities.
Family relationships stemming from eternal marriages continue after death, and those who honor their sacred covenants are given the opportunity after their mortal existence to create new family relationships with a posterity that endures forever. This opportunity is not just limited to eternal life. The Lord refers to this as “eternal lives” (D&C 132:24), the chance to experience the kind of life that God and Jesus Christ know and live. President Brigham Young taught in an 1876 discourse:
The great and grand secret of salvation, which we should continually seek to understand through our faithfulness, is the continuation of the lives. Those of the Latter-day Saints who will continue to follow after the revelations and commandments of God to do them, who are found to be obedient in all things, continually advancing little by little towards perfection and the knowledge of God, they, when they enter the spirit world and receive their bodies, will be able to advance faster in the things pertaining to the knowledge of the Gods, and will continue onward and upward until they become Gods, even the sons of God. This I say is the great secret of the hereafter, to continue in the lives forever and forever, which is the greatest of all gifts God has ever bestowed upon his children. We all have it within our reach, we can all attain to this perfected and exalted state if we will embrace its principles and practice them in our everyday life.
D&C 132:26–27
26 Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man marry a wife according to my word, and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, according to mine appointment, and he or she shall commit any sin or transgression of the new and everlasting covenant whatever, and all manner of blasphemies, and if they commit no murder wherein they shed innocent blood, yet they shall come forth in the first resurrection, and enter into their exaltation; but they shall be destroyed in the flesh, and shall be delivered unto the buffetings of Satan unto the day of redemption, saith the Lord God.
27 The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall not be forgiven in the world nor out of the world, is in that ye commit murder wherein ye shed innocent blood, and assent unto my death, after ye have received my new and everlasting covenant, saith the Lord God; and he that abideth not this law can in nowise enter into my glory, but shall be damned, saith the Lord.
These verses (D&C 132:26–27) have at times been misunderstood to imply that a person’s exaltation is assured if they enter into the new and everlasting covenant of marriage and do not commit murder or commit the unpardonable sin of denying the Holy Ghost. President Joseph Fielding Smith became so frustrated with this misinterpretation that he declared, “Verse 26, in section 132, is the most abused passage in any scripture. The Lord has never promised any soul that he may be taken into exaltation without the spirit of repentance. While repentance is not stated in this passage, yet it is, and must be, implied. It is strange to me that everyone knows about verse 26, but it seems that they have never read or heard of Matthew 12:31–32, where the Lord tells us the same thing in substance as we find in verse 26, section 132.” Matthew 12:31–32 reads, “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.”
President Smith continued, “So we must conclude that those spoken of in verse 26 are those who, having sinned, have fully repented and are willing to pay the price of their sinning, else the blessings of exaltation will not follow. Repentance is absolutely necessary for the forgiveness, and the person having sinned must be cleansed.”
D&C 132:28–36
28 I am the Lord thy God, and will give unto thee the law of my Holy Priesthood, as was ordained by me and my Father before the world was.
29 Abraham received all things, whatsoever he received, by revelation and commandment, by my word, saith the Lord, and hath entered into his exaltation and sitteth upon his throne.
30 Abraham received promises concerning his seed, and of the fruit of his loins—from whose loins ye are, namely, my servant Joseph—which were to continue so long as they were in the world; and as touching Abraham and his seed, out of the world they should continue; both in the world and out of the world should they continue as innumerable as the stars; or, if ye were to count the sand upon the seashore ye could not number them.
31 This promise is yours also, because ye are of Abraham, and the promise was made unto Abraham; and by this law is the continuation of the works of my Father, wherein he glorifieth himself.
32 Go ye, therefore, and do the works of Abraham; enter ye into my law and ye shall be saved.
33 But if ye enter not into my law ye cannot receive the promise of my Father, which he made unto Abraham.
34 God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law; and from Hagar sprang many people. This, therefore, was fulfilling, among other things, the promises.
35 Was Abraham, therefore, under condemnation? Verily I say unto you, Nay; for I, the Lord, commanded it.
36 Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac; nevertheless, it was written: Thou shalt not kill. Abraham, however, did not refuse, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.
In verses 28–36 of Doctrine and Covenants 132, the Lord explained a few of the principles behind the practice of plural marriage. First, plural marriage is biblical. It was practiced by the men and women in the early histories of Genesis as a way of fulfilling the Lord’s promises to them of a posterity “as innumerable as the stars” (Genesis 15:5; 22:17–18; 26:4; Abraham 3:14; D&C 132:30). Abraham, considered the father of the faithful, practiced plural marriage. The Savior Himself taught that Abraham was one of the few people, along with Isaac and Jacob, who were already in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 8:11; Luke 16:22). Anyone who reads the scriptures seriously has to reckon with the exalted status of Abraham, a righteous man who also practiced plural marriage.
It is also fitting that the Lord invoked the example of Abraham in section 132 because it appears that one of the primary purposes of commanding the early Saints to practice plural marriage was to test their faithfulness. Abraham underwent a painfully severe test—he was commanded to sacrifice his son, Isaac (Genesis 22; D&C 132:36). The men and women of the early Restoration lived in a period in which chastity and fidelity were held in high esteem. Asking these people to enter into a new system of marriage was an Abrahamic test of sorts. Brigham Young, who was one of the most ardent defenders of plural marriage in his later life, recalled, “My brethren know what my feelings were at the time Joseph revealed the doctrine; I was not desirous of shrinking from any duty, nor of failing in the least to do as I was commanded, but it was the first time in my life that I had desired the grave, and I could hardly get over it for a long time. And when I saw a funeral, I felt to envy the corpse [and] its situation, and to regret that I was not in the coffin.”
The introduction of plural marriage was perhaps an even greater trial for the faithful women of the Church. Phebe W. Woodruff, the wife of Wilford Woodruff, later wrote about her introduction to the practice:
When the principles of polygamy was first taught[,] I thought it the most wicked thing I ever heard of; consequently I supposed it to the best of my ability, until I became sick and wretched. As soon, however, as I became convinced that it originated as a revelation from God through Joseph, and knowing him to be a prophet, I wrestled with my Heavenly Father in fervent prayers—, to be guided aright at that all important moment of my life. The answer came. Peace was given to my mind. I knew it was the will of God; and from that time to the present[,] I have sought to faithfully honor the patriarchal law. Of Joseph, my testimony is that he was one of the greatest prophets the Lord ever called; that he lived for the redemption of mankind, and died a martyr for the truth.
The Saints were not freed from the trial of plural marriage at the last moment the way that Abraham was, but they followed through with the Lord’s commands and endured the trial. Helen Mar Kimball later said, “The Prophet said that the practice of this principle would be the hardest trial the Saints would ever have to test their faith.” She also recalled: “I did not try to conceal the fact of its having been a trial, but confessed that it had been one of the severest of my life; but that it had also proven one of the greatest of blessings. I could truly say it had done the most towards making me a Saint and a free woman, in every sense of the word; and I knew many others who could say the same, and to whom it had proven one of the greatest boons—a ‘blessing in disguise.’”
D&C 132:37–39
37 Abraham received concubines, and they bore him children; and it was accounted unto him for righteousness, because they were given unto him, and he abode in my law; as Isaac also and Jacob did none other things than that which they were commanded; and because they did none other things than that which they were commanded, they have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods.
38 David also received many wives and concubines, and also Solomon and Moses my servants, as also many others of my servants, from the beginning of creation until this time; and in nothing did they sin save in those things which they received not of me.
39 David’s wives and concubines were given unto him of me, by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets who had the keys of this power; and in none of these things did he sin against me save in the case of Uriah and his wife; and, therefore he hath fallen from his exaltation, and received his portion; and he shall not inherit them out of the world, for I gave them unto another, saith the Lord.
Doctrine and Covenants 132:37–39 mentions two of the most controversial aspects of plural marriage as it was practiced in the Old Testament. The Lord speaks of Abraham, David, Solomon, and Moses as having “wives and concubines” (D&C 132:37–39). A concubine was seen as a secondary wife. One biblical scholar has noted, “The biblical narratives demonstrate that another major motivating factor [for plural marriage] was the securing of offspring.” For instance, the form of plural marriage practiced by Abraham appears to have been an exception to the law of marriage that a man should have one wife (D&C 49:16; Jacob 2:27–30). He acted so that he could secure his posterity (see Genesis 15).
Abraham’s engagement in the practice of plural marriage took place under the guiding hand of revelation. Joseph Smith taught, “Abraham was guided in all his family affairs by the Lord; was told where to go, and when to stop; was conversed with by angels, and by the Lord; and prospered exceedingly in all that he put his hand unto; it was because he and his family obeyed the counsel of the Lord.” The practice of concubinage is mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants 132, but it was part of the cultural environment of the early biblical period, not part of marriage relationships in the eternities.
David and Solomon also had many wives. Speaking of them, the Lord declares, “In nothing did they sin save in those things which they received not of me” (D&C 132:38). Both of these Israelite rulers took the practice too far because they were later condemned in the Book of Mormon by the Prophet Jacob, who rebuked the Nephites for invoking David and Solomon to justify “whoredoms” (Jacob 2:23). Jacob taught, “David and Solomon had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord” (Jacob 2:24). In the same discourse, Jacob established that monogamous marriage was the rule in God’s kingdom, while plural marriage was an exception granted under unusual circumstances. He specified:
Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none; For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts. Wherefore, this people shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of Hosts, or cursed be the land for their sakes. For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things. (Jacob 2:27–30)
D&C 132:40–45
40 I am the Lord thy God, and I gave unto thee, my servant Joseph, an appointment, and restore all things. Ask what ye will, and it shall be given unto you according to my word.
41 And as ye have asked concerning adultery, verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man receiveth a wife in the new and everlasting covenant, and if she be with another man, and I have not appointed unto her by the holy anointing, she hath committed adultery and shall be destroyed.
42 If she be not in the new and everlasting covenant, and she be with another man, she has committed adultery.
43 And if her husband be with another woman, and he was under a vow, he hath broken his vow and hath committed adultery.
44 And if she hath not committed adultery, but is innocent and hath not broken her vow, and she knoweth it, and I reveal it unto you, my servant Joseph, then shall you have power, by the power of my Holy Priesthood, to take her and give her unto him that hath not committed adultery but hath been faithful; for he shall be made ruler over many.
45 For I have conferred upon you the keys and power of the priesthood, wherein I restore all things, and make known unto you all things in due time.
In Doctrine and Covenants 132:40–45 the Lord provided a second reason for the reintroduction of plural marriage. Joseph Smith was given a commission to “restore all things” (D&C 132:40, 45). In an 1840 instruction on the priesthood, Joseph taught, “All the ordinances and duties that ever have been required by the priesthood under the directions and commandments of the Almighty in any of the dispensations, shall all be had in the last dispensations. Therefore, all things had under the authority of the priesthood at any former period shall be had again, bringing to pass the restoration spoken of by the mouth of all the Holy prophets.”
The Saints of the early Restoration understood plural marriage as a biblical practice that was part of the prophesied “restitution of all things” (Acts 3:19–21). Benjamin F. Johnson, near the end of his life, recalled, “In 1835 at Kirtland I learned from my sister’s husband, Lyman R. Sherman, who was close to the Prophet, and received it from him. That the ancient order of plural marriage was again to be practiced by the Church.” Helen Mar Kimball remembered, “[Joseph] astonished his hearers by preaching on the restoration of all things, and said that as it was anciently with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so it would be again, etc.”
Eliza R. Snow also contextualized plural marriage as part of the restoration of all things. She wrote:
In Nauvoo I first understood that the practice of plurality of wives was to be introduced into the church. The subject was very repugnant to my feelings—so directly was it in opposition to my educated prepossessions, that it seemed as though all the prejudices of my ancestors for generations past congregated around me: But when I reflected that I was living in the Dispensation of the fulness of times, embracing all other Dispensations, surely Plural Marriage must necessarily be included, and I consoled myself with the idea that it was far in the distance, and beyond the period of my mortal existence. It was not long however, after I received the first intimation, before the announcement reach[ed] me that the “set time” had come—that God had commanded his servants to establish the order, by taking additional wives—I knew that God . . . was speaking. . . . As I increased in knowledge concerning the principle and design of Plural Marriage, I grew in love with it.
It is also clear from Doctrine and Covenants 132:40–45 that Joseph Smith worried over the possibilities of plural marriage being perceived as adultery. The Lord assured him that such marital relationships are not adultery if they are performed by the proper authority (D&C 132:41). However, if either a husband (D&C 132:43) or a wife (D&C 132:41) enters into a plural marriage without the Lord’s sanction, it is a sin.
The Lord also taught a comforting truth in Doctrine and Covenants 132:44: a spouse who engages in sin does not condemn a spouse who remains faithful to their covenants. The Lord taught that the spouse who has remained faithful can still obtain the blessings of exaltation. President Lorenzo Snow confirmed this teaching, saying, “There is no Latter-day Saint who dies after having lived a faithful life who will lose anything because of having failed to do certain things when opportunities were not furnished to him or her. In other words, if a young man or young woman has no opportunity of getting married, and they live faithful lives up to the time of their death, they will have all the blessings, exaltation, and glory that any man or woman will have who had this opportunity and improved it. That is sure and positive.”
D&C 132:46–50
46 And verily, verily, I say unto you, that whatsoever you seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever you bind on earth, in my name and by my word, saith the Lord, it shall be eternally bound in the heavens; and whosesoever sins you remit on earth shall be remitted eternally in the heavens; and whosesoever sins you retain on earth shall be retained in heaven.
47 And again, verily I say, whomsoever you bless I will bless, and whomsoever you curse I will curse, saith the Lord; for I, the Lord, am thy God.
48 And again, verily I say unto you, my servant Joseph, that whatsoever you give on earth, and to whomsoever you give any one on earth, by my word and according to my law, it shall be visited with blessings and not cursings, and with my power, saith the Lord, and shall be without condemnation on earth and in heaven.
49 For I am the Lord thy God, and will be with thee even unto the end of the world, and through all eternity; for verily I seal upon you your exaltation, and prepare a throne for you in the kingdom of my Father, with Abraham your father.
50 Behold, I have seen your sacrifices, and will forgive all your sins; I have seen your sacrifices in obedience to that which I have told you. Go, therefore, and I make a way for your escape, as I accepted the offering of Abraham of his son Isaac.
Doctrine and Covenants 132:46–50 speaks of the sealing keys, a divine power that makes covenants binding on earth and in heaven, or in this life and the next. In a March 10, 1844, discourse recorded by Wilford Woodruff, Joseph Smith declared:
The doctrine or sealing power of Elijah is as follows: If you have power to seal on earth and in heaven then we should be crafty—the first thing you do, go and seal on earth your sons and daughters unto yourself and yourself unto your fathers in eternal glory and go ahead and not go back. Seal all you can, and when you get to heaven, tell your father that what you seal on earth should be sealed in heaven. I will walk through the gate of heaven and claim what I seal and those that follow me and my counsel.
This power to seal is held by the President of the Church and is used under his direction to bless the lives of the members of the Church. In his own lifetime Joseph Smith carefully oversaw the use of the sealing power. His history records, “[I] gave instructions to try those persons who were preaching, teaching, or practicing the doctrine of plurality of wives; for according to the law I hold the keys of this power in the last days, for there is never but one on Earth at a time on whom the power and its keys are conferred—and I have constantly said no man shall have but one wife at a time, unless the Lord directs otherwise.”
D&C 132:51–56
51 Verily, I say unto you: A commandment I give unto mine handmaid, Emma Smith, your wife, whom I have given unto you, that she stay herself and partake not of that which I commanded you to offer unto her; for I did it, saith the Lord, to prove you all, as I did Abraham, and that I might require an offering at your hand, by covenant and sacrifice.
52 And let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before me; and those who are not pure, and have said they were pure, shall be destroyed, saith the Lord God.
53 For I am the Lord thy God, and ye shall obey my voice; and I give unto my servant Joseph that he shall be made ruler over many things; for he hath been faithful over a few things, and from henceforth I will strengthen him.
54 And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide this commandment she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord; for I am the Lord thy God, and will destroy her if she abide not in my law.
55 But if she will not abide this commandment, then shall my servant Joseph do all things for her, even as he hath said; and I will bless him and multiply him and give unto him an hundred-fold in this world, of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, houses and lands, wives and children, and crowns of eternal lives in the eternal worlds.
56 And again, verily I say, let mine handmaid forgive my servant Joseph his trespasses; and then shall she be forgiven her trespasses, wherein she has trespassed against me; and I, the Lord thy God, will bless her, and multiply her, and make her heart to rejoice.
Doctrine and Covenants 132:51–56 is directed toward Emma Smith. Much of the context of these verses is only known to Emma, Joseph Smith, and the Lord. Plural marriage was a severe test for both of them. One historian noted:
Plural marriage opened the door to Emma’s personal Abrahamic sacrifice, namely her own marriage. [Joseph and Emma] had been sealed for eternity, a deep, intimate bond between them, but a bond that was severely tested in unimaginable ways. Over time, Emma expressed her hope to understand: “I desire a fruitful, active mind, that I may be able to comprehend the designs of God, when revealed to his servants without doubting.” Somehow, sometime, before Joseph died, Emma was reconciled in her own way. Although very little is sure about Joseph’s practice of plural marriage and Emma’s experience, two things are certain: no children resulted from Joseph’s plural wives, and Emma was pregnant with Joseph’s son when he died.
After Joseph Smith’s martyrdom, Emma did not follow Brigham Young and the Twelve to the Great Basin. Beginning in 1860, she supported her sons as they affiliated with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (today named Community of Christ). Emma remained a faithful witness of the Restoration and the divine calling of Joseph Smith, though her statements on plural marriage contradict accounts given by dozens of other witnesses from the same time period. It is best to reserve judgment on Emma and to honor her as a stalwart supporter of the Restoration and a disciple of Jesus Christ. Plural marriage was one of many trials faced by Emma because of her faith. In an 1869 letter to her son Joseph Smith III, she wrote, “I have seen many, yes very many, trying scenes in my life which I could not see . . . where any good could come of them.” She then added this testimony: “But yet I feel a divine trust in God, that all things shall work for good.”
D&C 132:57–66
57 And again, I say, let not my servant Joseph put his property out of his hands, lest an enemy come and destroy him; for Satan seeketh to destroy; for I am the Lord thy God, and he is my servant; and behold, and lo, I am with him, as I was with Abraham, thy father, even unto his exaltation and glory.
58 Now, as touching the law of the priesthood, there are many things pertaining thereunto.
59 Verily, if a man be called of my Father, as was Aaron, by mine own voice, and by the voice of him that sent me, and I have endowed him with the keys of the power of this priesthood, if he do anything in my name, and according to my law and by my word, he will not commit sin, and I will justify him.
60 Let no one, therefore, set on my servant Joseph; for I will justify him; for he shall do the sacrifice which I require at his hands for his transgressions, saith the Lord your God.
61 And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood—if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else.
62 And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him; therefore is he justified.
63 But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be with another man, she has committed adultery, and shall be destroyed; for they are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be glorified.
64 And again, verily, verily, I say unto you, if any man have a wife, who holds the keys of this power, and he teaches unto her the law of my priesthood, as pertaining to these things, then shall she believe and administer unto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your God; for I will destroy her; for I will magnify my name upon all those who receive and abide in my law.
65 Therefore, it shall be lawful in me, if she receive not this law, for him to receive all things whatsoever I, the Lord his God, will give unto him, because she did not believe and administer unto him according to my word; and she then becomes the transgressor; and he is exempt from the law of Sarah, who administered unto Abraham according to the law when I commanded Abraham to take Hagar to wife.
66 And now, as pertaining to this law, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will reveal more unto you, hereafter; therefore, let this suffice for the present. Behold, I am Alpha and Omega. Amen.
The final verses of Doctrine and Covenants 132 contain references to the “law of Sarah,” or a reference to Sarah’s consent when Abraham entered into a relationship with Hagar to have a son. The biblical account teaches that this action took place at Sarah’s bidding (Genesis 16:1–2). Doctrine and Covenants 132 adds that the Lord commanded Abraham to take Hagar as a wife (D&C 132:65). Abraham and Sarah both obeyed the Lord’s command in this case. In section 132, the law of Sarah is invoked in the context of the difficulties Joseph and Emma Smith experienced with the command to practice plural marriage. Again, we possess very little information about the private discussions Joseph and Emma held about the doctrine and its practice. Given the timeline presented by different sources, it is likely that they wrestled with the doctrine for years before Joseph was given an exemption from the law of Sarah. We also know that Emma vacillated between acceptance of the practice and opposition to it for the rest of Joseph Smith’s life.
The Lord’s stern warning to Emma that she would be “destroyed” (D&C 132:54) must also be taken in proper context. Several scriptural commentators have pointed out that the use of the word destroyed here is the same as its use in Peter’s prophecy of Moses and those who would reject Christ. Peter taught, “A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people” (Acts 3:22–23). When the same prophecy of Moses was cited by Nephi in the Book of Mormon, instead of “destroyed,” Nephi said those who refused to listen would be “cut off from among the people” (1 Nephi 22:20).
Questions of Emma’s struggles with plural marriage cannot be resolved with the current sources at hand. It is also improper to speculate about Emma’s salvation. An incident told by Emma’s nurse, Elizabeth Revel, illustrates Emma’s relationship with God near the end of her life. According to Revel, a few days before Emma’s death,
Joseph came to her in a vision and said, “Emma, come with me, it is time for you to come with me.” As Emma related it, she said, “I put on my bonnet and my shawl and went with him; I did not think that it was anything unusual. I went with him into a mansion, and he showed me through the different apartments of that beautiful mansion.” And one room was the nursery. In that nursery was a babe in the cradle. She said, “I knew my babe, my Don Carlos that was taken from me.” She sprang forward, caught the child up in her arms, and wept with joy over the child. When Emma recovered herself sufficient[,] she turned to Joseph and said, “Joseph, where are the rest of my children.” He said to her, “Emma, be patient and you shall have all of your children.” Then she saw standing by his side a personage of light, even the Lord Jesus Christ.
Footnotes
