Jacob had many wives and concubines. Others with multiple wives include Moses, David and Solomon.
RayA,
And according to the Book of Mormon, it is "an abomination". Why?
In saying that "whoredoms are an abomination before me" (see Jacob 2:28), the Lord was
not equating the principle of plural marriage with whoredoms or declaring that all such marriages - including those of Abraham, Isacc, and Jacob - are abominable in his sight. He was denouncing the abuse of a sacred principle, not the principle itself.
Although the law of Moses permitted wives and concubines, the Lord forbade the practice for the house of Joseph in the Promised Land, in the Americas. This was probably because the basis for such marriages did not exist in Lehi's colony.
The Nephites did not practice slavery, nor did they take female captives and make wives of some of them as had their Israelitish ancestors even in the days of Moses. As for the many war-produced widows found at times among the Nephites, the policy was to care for their temporal needs rather than to marry them (see Mosiah 21:10, 17; Moroni 9:16).
Following the death of Nephi (about 540 BC), pride and "the grosser crime" (see Jacob 2:22) of whoredoms appeared for the first time among the Nephites. Certain men "began to grow hard in their hearts, and indulge themselves somewhat in wicked practices, such as like unto David of old desiring many wives and concubines, and also Solomon, his son" (Jacob 1:15).
Jacob, Nephi's younger brother, was instructed by the Lord to denounce this evil in its incipency. Only some Nephites were actually engaged in polygyny; others probably contemplated doing so, while others remained "pure in heart." So it was a mixed audience - as such groups usually are- that Jacob addressed. The heart of the message on the subject was as follows:
Jacob chp.2
23 But the word of God burdens me because of your grosser crimes. For behold, thus saith the Lord: This people begin to wax in iniquity; they understand not the scriptures, for they seek to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms, because of the things which were written concerning David, and Solomon his son.
24 Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord.
25 Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph.
26 Wherefore, I the Lord God will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old.
27 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;
28 For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts.
Jacob did not proclaim a new doctrine. He told the Nephites: "ye know that these commandments were given to our father, Lehi; wherefore, ye have known them before" (Jacob 2:34; see also 3:5)
The effort to introduce forbidden practices and to justify them by appealing to scriptural precedents was clearly out of order. It was so then, and it is so now. The Lord's people are bound by the commandments given them through the prophet of their day, not those of an earlier time. They are accountable to the prophet they raise their hand to sustain. President Benson said, "The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet... Beware of those who would pit the dead prophets against the living prophets, for the living prophets always take precedence" (Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet").
Thus Jacob cut to the heart of the matter. What prominent men did and what the Lord approved could be two very different things. No man was justified in deviating from the commandments of the Lord for his time because of the commandments of the Lord to others in another time.
What was abominable in the practices of the Nephites Jacob was addressing was any form of marriage that is motivated by lust, or when it robs ones wife of her personhood and reduces her to the level of a thing to be used, mistreated, manipulated, or whimsically abandoned. In that regard, some monogamous marriages among us are abominations.
When wives are neglected, subjected to physical or verbal abuse, to emotional trauma, or to humiliating or degrading conduct by their husbands, the spirit of chastity in them is violated. For chastity is more than a sexual matter, it is also a state of mind, heart, and spirit towards one's whole being. The very soul is at issue.
On the part of husbands, the spirit of chastity implies a concious commitment to the physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being of their wives and of all women. When a woman is rendered a mere object, a piece of chattel, the spirit of chastity leaves her. She does not feel toward herself as she has the right to feel.
If we understand the prophet's words, we can understand why the Nephites were forbidden to have plural wives and why the early Latter-day Saints were enjoined to do so. The time to "raise up seed unto me" (see Jacob 2:30) came with the Latter-day Saints, not the Nephites. Much of the leadership of the Church has been drawn from just that seed. Many members of the Church today are products of plural marriage. So the temporary need was met and the commandment suspended. Of course, there are still eternal needs yet to be met, so in due time the Lord will speak again on the subject.
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. - Plato