The phrase “like them of old” refers to David and Solomon. In order to prevent the problems of the “strange” wives like David and Solomon, Yahweh commands the Nephites that they have only one wife. Verse 30 will confirm that Yahweh’s condemnation of polygyny is situational, not absolute. Yahweh’s commands about marriage are related to the people and conditions in which they find themselves. For the Nephites, Yahweh is requiring them to be monogamous. The reason he gives is that they are to avoid the “abominations” of David and Solomon (v. 24). The Lord even tells them that one of the reasons he led people out of Jerusalem was to avoid that particular “abomination.” We may therefore be fairly confident that this is the motivation for Yahweh’s condemnation of polygyny among the Nephites. He desires to preserve their religion rather than subject it to the risks of multiple marriages to the “strange” women who would bring with them their foreign ideas and religions. I will suggest below that this was precisely what was happening in Nephite society at this time.