Genesis 30:4

4 and she giveth to him Bilhah her maid-servant for a wife, and Jacob goeth in unto her;

Genesis 30:4 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 30:4

And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid
To be enjoyed as a wife, though she was no other than a concubine; yet such were sometimes called wives, and were secondary ones, and were under the proper lawful wife, nor did their children inherit; but those which Jacob had by his wives' maids did inherit with the rest: and Jacob went in unto her;
consenting to what Rachel his wife proposed to him: having concubines, as well as more wives than one, were not thought criminal in those times, and were suffered of God, and in this case for the multiplication of Jacob's seed; and perhaps he might the more readily comply with the motion of his wife, from the example of his grandfather Abraham, who took Hagar to wife at the instance of Sarah.

Genesis 30:4 In-Context

2 And Jacob's anger burneth against Rachel, and he saith, `Am I in stead of God who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?'

3 And she saith, `Lo, my handmaid Bilhah, go in unto her, and she doth bear on my knees, and I am built up, even I, from her;'

4 and she giveth to him Bilhah her maid-servant for a wife, and Jacob goeth in unto her;

5 and Bilhah conceiveth, and beareth to Jacob a son,

6 and Rachel saith, `God hath decided for me, and also hath hearkened to my voice, and giveth to me a son;' therefore hath she called his name Dan.