Why the comparison is difficult
Jacob says the Nephites are appealing to David and Solomon to excuse their conduct. He describes the kings’ having many wives and concubines as “abominable” and instructs the Nephites to have one wife and no concubines. Section 132:1 names the same kings among those whose plural marriages God says he justified. Verses 38–39 qualify that justification by what God gave, then explicitly say that David received wives through prophets and sinned in the case of Uriah and his wife. Robert Bowman argues that Jacob’s wording condemns the kings’ practice itself, so pointing to an exception for other people would leave this specific comparison unanswered. The Reluctant Watchman and Richard Packham make the same comparison. Jacob 2:23–28 · D&C 132:1, 38–39 · Bowman · The Reluctant Watchman · Packham
What does “otherwise” refer to?
The Church reads Jacob 2:30 as a conditional exception. On that reading, if God commands plural marriage to raise up a covenant people, the command governs that situation. Otherwise, the people follow Jacob’s instruction to have one wife. Verse 30 leaves the content of the command unstated. Steven Reed proposes a different reading in which God commands the people to follow the monogamy rule. Without that direction they follow what was written about the kings. The two readings turn on what God commands and which earlier words “these things” points back to. Jacob’s instruction to his audience is clear either way. He praises the Lamanites for their fidelity to one spouse and takes seriously the grief of the women and children harmed by the Nephites. Jacob 2:27–35 · Jacob 3:5–7 · Church teaching manual · Reed’s alternative reading
How the Latter-day Saint reading fits the two passages
The Church’s reading distinguishes unions God authorized from ones the kings took without that authorization. The distinction comes from section 132:38–39. It also has a biblical parallel. Nathan says God gave David his master’s household and wives, then condemns him for taking Uriah’s wife and arranging Uriah’s death. Deuteronomy warns kings against multiplying wives, and 1 Kings 11 links Solomon’s marriages to his turning away from God. These passages give a reason to distinguish the Lord’s gifts from what the kings took for themselves. They leave the status of individual marriages largely unspecified. D&C 132:38–39 · 2 Samuel 12:7–12 · Deuteronomy 17:17 · 1 Kings 11:1–10
This reading takes Jacob’s condemnation to apply to the kings’ unauthorized conduct and rejects the Nephites’ attempt to use royal precedent as permission. Jacob 2:24 sounds broader on its own, so that scope is the point to defend. A possible reconciliation answers the textual objection. Whether God authorized a particular marriage in Nauvoo requires its own evidence and argument. What the Nauvoo records show · The wider D&C 132 case