Sunday, January 2, 2022

Note on D&C 132:1, 37 and Isaac being a Polygamist

  

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-- . . . 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. (D&C 132:1, 37)

 

Some may say D&C 132 verses 1 and 37 are incorrect in stating that Isaac entered into polygamy, yet the text of Genesis in two places implies Isaac had a larger family than merely Jacob and Esau. Isaac’s blessing to Jacob in Genesis 27:29 stated “Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.” Additionally, some translations of Genesis 26:14 read that Isaac “had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household.” (Jacob Vidrine, “Joseph Smith’s Polygamy: Fact or Fiction?” in One Eternal Round: A Magazine Dedicated to Mormon History and Theology, no. 18 [November 15, 2020]: 12-13, italics in original)

 

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