MIKE - Is it true that Joseph Smith was getting married to other women behind his wife's back?
JOEL - Joesph Smith was sealed to other women as directed in
the revelation on plural marriage(D&C 132), but he did
not have any traditional husband/wife marital relationships with anyone other than Emma.
Reports of Emma's anger over some of Joseph's sealings
to other women have caused some historians to
incorrectly assume that she might not have known about
every one of them. But there is nothing in the
historical records that specifically supports this
assumption. The records only indicate that she did not
give her consent for every one of them and that she
was not happy about them happening.
A verse in the revelation on this practice directed to
Emma says:
"And let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those
that have been given unto my servant Joseph" (D&C
132:52).
"All those" does not suggest that she was aware of
only a small number of them.
Emma never did completley accept the doctrine of
plural marriage, although she tried very hard to. In
fact, on some occaisions she actually did give
permsision and even chose some of the women for Joseph
to be sealed to. But the bottom line is that there is
not enough evidence to support the idea that Joseph
was doing this behind Emma's back.