Joseph Smith said the reason he had so many wives, is because God commanded him to. Zina Huntington Jacobs was concerned because she already had a husband when Joseph Smith asked her to marry him. Joseph told her: "I put it off and put it off till an angel with a drawn sword stood by me and told me if I did not establish that principle upon the earth I would lose my position and my life" http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/05-ZinaHuntingtonJacobs.htm Almera Johnson said she was afraid to marry Joseph but Joseph explained: "...an Angel with drawn Sword Stood before him and declared that if [he] longer delayed fulfilling that command he would Slay him" http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/22-AlmeraJohnson.htm Mary Rollins Lightner was hesitant because she was already happily married when Joseph asked her to marry him. Joseph explained the possible danger he was in : "The angel came to me three times between the year of ’34 and ’42 and said I was to obey that principle or he would slay me" http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/09-MaryRollinsLightner.htm

I am going to add something here as neither of the answers given here fully answer the question. My brother's answer was correct as far as it went, but there is more detail I would like to add. First of all, I will point you to another question and its answers (http://www.answerbag.com/q_view.php/5118). This question dealt with books of lost scripture that the ancient writers considered to be authoritative. Note that there are a lot of books that they accepted that we don't have. Because of this, it really is impossible to say that God never said or commanded something because we don't have all of God's revelations. Now that, in and of itself does not justify simply adding something based on our whims and desires, but it does mean that you cannot discount a possibility just because it is not specifically spelled out in the Bible. Next I would point out all of the great figures of the Bible who had multiple wives, namely, Abraham, Jacob, Moses for starters. Is there any where in the Bible that they are condemned for this practice? No, just the opposite. Abraham was promised posterity without number. Jacob became the bearer of that promise and was the father of the twelve patriarch whose descendants became the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Moses was chosen of God to deliver Israel from their bondage in Egypt. Through him God brought about the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea just to name a few of the miracles. Sexual immorality is one of the sins for which God declared the death penalty as appropriate. If these men we such immoral people, then do you really think that God would have chosen them for such great things? Obviously, polygamy, as these men practiced it, was not considered to be immoral by God. Now we come to the first three kings of Israel. All of them were great men in their own right, but they were also flawed men. Saul had many wives. Once again, he did not come under condemnation for this. He was rejected of the Lord for other problems, but nothing negative is written concerning his having multiple wives. David and Solomon on the other hand are different stories. I'll start with Solomon and then come back to David. Solomon took many wives. In order cement alliances, several of his wives came from gentile nations that worshiped idols. These idol worshiping wives ultimately turned Solomon to idol worship thus bringing on his condemnation. Now we come to David. His example is the most instructive because this a place where God speaks fairly directly on the matter. Once again David had many wive. In this he did not sin until he decided to take the wife of another man, Bath-sheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. This started with adultery and ended with murder. 2 Samuel 12:7-9 is, in part, God's condemnation as delivered by the prophet Nathan, "...Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; and I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon." There are two things to note here. First of all God specifically condemns David for taking another man's wife and for murdering him to coverup the affair. Second, and more importantly, God says that He gave David his master's wives. God was an active participant in Davids polygamy. He was not turning a blind eye to the practice; He gave Saul's wives to David. More over, after all that He gave David, God tell him that if he had wanted more, then God would have given it to him, including more wives, but David wanted and took another man's wife. Therefore, he fell under condemnation. As to the references given by John C., if Joseph Smith was a prophet, as I believe he was, then, when he said that he was commanded of God to do something, he was commanded of God to do it. David and Solomon fell under condemnation for taking wives that they were not given by the Lord. Joseph Smith would have fallen under condemnation if he had not taken wives as the Lord commanded.

Do you sin? (Bible say there is no one without sin) If you do, God allowed it to happen. ************************************************************** The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. The Bible also tells us that there is no one that is righteous and that all of us have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. According to the above statements we all are condemmed to die because of our sin. How can any of us be called to do great things? God in his mercy has saved us by the blood of His Son Jesus Christ... our Savior, the only sinless one. Because of Christ's death on the cross, believers in Christ have been set free from the bondage of sin and are able to do great things. Nothing that we have done ourselves enabled us to do these great things, it is all because of Christ. First of all, whether or not we have all of God's Word present in the Bible is purely a matter of opinion. Secondly, I will have to agree that polygamy was allowed. I will disagree, however, that there were not any bad consequences for Abraham, Jacob and Moses. Read this link regarding Abraham http://scriptures.lds.org/gen/16 and determine for yourself. Jacob had only 2 wives as far as I can tell although he had children with 2 maid servants, one from Rachel and the other from Leah. Rachel and Leah were in constant battle with each other to get attention from their husband because of this marraige arrangement. So they gave him their maid servants so as to produce more children. This, they thought, would get them more attention. I have only found one instance in which Moses married a second wife and there was not much there other than to say he married an Ethiopian women. It did cause some conflict with Aaron and Mariam. In all 3 of these case, the wife that was married first bore the child that would pass on the ultimate blessing. This was the lineage that Jesus was born into. So in way you could argue (although it is a stretch) that because the other wives were not blessed in this way, God did not approve of them in the same way he did the first wives. Bottom line is, God did not command these men to marry multiple wives. He did allow it Also, [a user] made the comment: "...If these men we such immoral people, then do you really think that God would have chosen them for such great things?" Whether we are immoral (basically sinners) or not does not determine who God chooses to do great things. If that was the case we would all be doomed. Abraham was a sinner, Jacob was a sinner and Moses was a sinner. God, in his mercy and love for us, called these people to do great things. These great things pale in comparison to what Christ (the only sinless one) accomplished for us on the Cross.

Joseph Smith had so many wives because God restored the law of plural marriage along with restoring the full and complete Gospel of Jesus Christ that was lost after the Jews rejected their Savior and God in the crucifixion. The rejection and loss of the Gospel's truths and power given to men to act for God after Christ death and resurrection was prophesied in the Bible. As well as the future the restoration of the Gospel after a long season of famine of the word of God. Joseph Smith declared he was a prophet raised up to do the work of God to restore the truth and the Church of Christ on the earth for the last time (The members of The Church who who obtain testimonies from God that he was a prophet testify he was a prophet) As part of the restored truths and powers of God placed on earth to those who follow and obey him was the law of plural marriage (erroneously named polygamy which is both a man or woman having multiple partners-- obviously a serious habit of people not looking at a dictionary) Joseph had more than one wife because that is the way God intended his people to live when they are given permission to have this blessing and responsibility to live the highest law of marriage

The answer is negative, simply because Joseph Smith said ( according to his teachings) that his god creates humans by sexual intercourse, and since he said that he has spoken to his god and to his jesus christ (note his god and his jesus christ) he will also follow the footsteps of his god to create humans by sexual intercourse, since most of the Kings and Great persons of the Bible particularly in the Old Testament like Abraham, Jacob, Moses,David,Solomon and many others who happened to have multiple wives, Joseph Smith has followed their footsteps by having multiple wives as well, but since Joseph Smith is covered by New Testament and NOT by the Old Testament, he should not follow the footsteps of these great persons in the Old Testament, since Jesus when He came, He gave us The New Commandments to follow and obey...Referring to my term "his god and his jesus christ"...When the TRUE JESUS from heaven was here on earth He said that be careful of false prophets who will speak in His name..in 2Corinthians 11:4- "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus,whom we have not preached, or if ye recieve another spirit,which ye have not recieved, or another Gospel which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him". and in Galacians 1:8 " But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed"...When Jesus said in 1 Corinthians 6:18 says, Flee FORNICATION. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his body. (19) What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you,which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" How come Joseph Smith use the name of Jesus Christ for his church but he does not follow the teachings of Christ, or maybe he only gets some law in the Bible that would be favourable for his church leaving other laws that would ruin his own church...In Matthew 5:28-" But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart..." Then how come this Joseph Smith does not follow waht Jesus have told us to do and to follow...Joseph Smith even claimed that he has spoken to his god and his jesus face to face and instructed him to guide this people in their names...How could that be? In the book of John 1:18, says " No MAN hath seen God at anytime;" How come he claimed that he actually spoke to god? Is it the real God that he has spoken to or was it the father being mentioned in the book of John 8:44-"Ye are of your father the DEVIL, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beggining, and abode not in truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." (13) " He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him the last day." Many preachers would say, do not believe in the Bible because it is just being written by man, yes it is true but you can use later versions of the Bible which was written and translated from original manuscripts...many preachers would say do not beleive in the Bible primarily because they do not want you to read and discover the True Teachings of Christ...The Bible says, BLESSED are those who READ...Please READ the Bible first before you say NO... Members of Church of jesus christ of the Latter Day Saints, I am appealing to all of you, The BIBLE is enough for you to be saved...Please read the Bible and see the differences of all Joseph Smith's teachings against The TRUE Gospels of the LORD JESUS CHRIST...Love your SOUL, for It is the Father in heaven that should be glorified and not the man with whom you entrusted your souls... "for more information regarding salvation, questions and answers, visit the website : www.theoldpath.tv or www.angdatingdaan.org, enrich your mind for free, know the truth and all of your questions shall be answered directly from the Bible".

Because Smith re-wrote the bible(in the form of the Book of Mormon) to accomidate his needs and leave a legacy for himself. If somehting didn't fit his needs he changed it. And it is still going on now. That is why the LDS have current prophets, so when something conflics you all of a sudden receive prphecy that it needs changed.

Joseph Smith did what he believed the Lord commanded him to. Do we really need to get into a discussion of sex and marriage in the Bible? It isn't pretty.

Perhaps some of you do not know why Joseph Smith introduced plural marriage into the Church, so let me explain, if I may. The LDS Church is a Restored Church. It is made up of all the things which were once had on earth since Adam which had been lost. From Adam clear through the New Testament Church, the Lord has restored ALL THINGS. One of the things that needed to be restored was the New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage. Which includes Plural Marriage. But Plural Marriage had to be practiced for a time in order to be Restored. So from 1834 till 1890, we (The Church 4% that is) practiced Plural Marriage. Then when it became critical for the Church to continue this practice the Lord told Wilford Woodruff,(Prophet) the Church was released from this part of the Covenant and Plural Marriage was stopped. The Lord said it was no longer necessary. It had been successfully Restored. Today anyone caught living this principle is excommunicated. I hope this helps some to understand some things you may have wondered about...whew4

why just look at joseph smith? look at jacob, eseu, abraham, lamech, gideon, solomon, and many many more! they all had multiple wives!

The answer, as usual, is "42". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrases_from_The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy#Answer_to_Life.2C_the_Universe.2C_and_Everything_.2842.29

Why did Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel), King Saul, King David and King Solomon? Their lives and their wives are part of what the Bible expresses. (I originally included Isaac, which was incorrect.)