Commenting on the tasks outlined for Emma to perform in D&C 25, Jennifer Reeder wrote that:
These were unusual
tasks—expounding, exhorting, and hymn selecting—for a woman of Emma’s time. In
expounding, she was by definition tasked to “explain, to lay open the meaning,
to clear of obscurity, to interpret,” while in exhorting, she was to
“encourage, to embolden, to cheer, to advise, to excite or to give strength,
spirit or courage” (An American Dictionary of the English Language, ed.
Noah Webster [New York: S. Converse, 1828], s.vv. “exhort,” “expound.”). The
Lord also instructed Emma that her “time shall be Given to writing & to
Learning” (Revelation, July 1839-C [D&C 25:8]”. While living in Kirtland,
Ohio, she sent hymns to William W. Phelps in Independence, Missouri, who
printed them in The Evening and the Morning Star, a newspaper
distributed somewhat widely among the Saints. A Collection of Sacred Hymns,
for the Church of the Latter Day Saints was published in Kirtland in time
for the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in early 1836 (While the copyright
year is 1835, most likely the book was typeset for the press that year and
then actually printed in 1836. (See Michael Hicks, Mormonism and Music: A
History [Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2003], 20)). Though she did
not write the hymns, Emma’s selection certainly preached doctrine and cheered
and encouraged the Saints, both collectively and individually, through worship.
The Lord told Emma in 1830, “My Soul delighteth in the song of the heart yea
the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me & it shall be answered with a
blessing upon their heads” (Revelation, July 1830-C [D&C 25:12]). When
Joseph dedicated the temple, Emma’s hymns united the Saints in worship and
great spiritual manifestations.
A second way in which Emma
expounded scripture and exhorted the Church was through the Relief Society. On
March 17, 1842, twenty women gathered on the second floor of the red brick
store in Nauvoo and were organized by the Prophet Joseph “after the pattern, or
order, of the priesthood,” or “according to the ancient Priesthood” (“First
Organisation,” n.d., cal. July 1880, Relief Society Record, 1880-92, p. 5, CHL;
“Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book,” Mar. 31, 1842, p. 22). The women elected
Emma as president, and Joseph read from 2 John to teach that Emma was an “Elect
lady . . . elected to preside.” HE explained that she had been ordained in July
1830, at the time of her revelation., “to expound the scriptures to all; and to
teach the female part of the community” (“Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book,”
Mar. 17, 1842, pp. 8-9). Sarah Kimball, present at the first Relief Society
meeting, recalled that Joseph taught the women, “I have desired to organise the
Sisters in the order of the Priesthood . . . The organization of the Church of
Christ was never perfect until the women were organised” (Sarah M. Kimball,
Reminiscence, Mar. 17, 1882, The First Fifty Years of Relief Society). Emma led
the women in providing relief to the poor and saving sols, as instructed by
Joseph (“Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book,” June 9, 1842, p. 63). (Jennifer
Reeder, “Emma, Joseph, and the Revelation ‘Unto All,’” in R. Eric Smith,
Matthew C. Godfrey, and Matthew J. Grow, eds., Know Brother Joseph: New
Perspectives on Joseph Smith’s Life and Character [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2021], 53-58,
here, pp. 55-56)
