Genesis 30:16
And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son’s mandrakes. And he lay with her that night. And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son’s mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.
Genesis 30:16 belongs to the account of Jacob's visit to Laban, including his marriages to Leah and Rachel and his years in Laban's household. It belongs to the account of the sons born to Jacob while he served Laban fourteen years for his two daughters. The chapter is part of the story of God's care for Jacob despite his selfishness and unfaithfulness. It shows God prospering Jacob in flocks and herds despite Laban's efforts to deprive him of his right.
Laban's deception of Jacob in the matter of his daughters was just retribution for Jacob's deception of Esau, though Jacob's sin did not justify Laban's. Genesis 30:16 is an example of patriarchal violation of the marriage institution, and Genesis 30 describes conduct among the patriarchs that violated the sacred institution of marriage. Jacob's polygamous household shown in Genesis 30 is included in that violation. Such violations do not cancel or diminish the sacred character and sanctity of the institution.
The marriage institution was established before the fall and is guarded by the seventh commandment. Jacob's polygamous household proves that polygamy causes very great unhappiness in every family where it enters. Polygamy was never anything but evil and wrong. It was allowed to remain through the whole Old Testament period, tolerated by Moses because of the hardness of Israel's hearts, until Christ placed marriage back on the original order of Eden which should never have been departed from.