My reading of it is that Jacob wanted one of them (Rachel) in particular, was tricked by his father-in-law Laban into marrying her sister (Leah) first, then each wife, exercising sibling rivalry expressed by proxy childbearing, urged him to take her maidservant as another wife as a means of producing children.
Therefore the foundation of the twelve tribes of Israel was through deception and rivalry, yet despite this God still brought good out of it.
There is no discussion of polygamy I've read that doesn't involve rivalry and bickering among the multiple wives. Each wife gets less than a whole husband.
Left to his own devices, I'm not sure Jacob wouldn't have been satisfied with Rachel alone. Jacob's favorite children (Joseph and Benjamin) were her sons.
"Neither shall he multiply wives" was a commandment to Israel's king.
Christ Himself pointed back to Adam and Eve's union (monogamous) as the divine blueprint for marriage. Anything beyond that was due to man's "hardness of heart" provision for which was given in Mosaic law.
As part of a command not to accumulate a lot of gold and silver or many horses. IOW, not to be extravagant.
Didn't mean the king could only have one item of gold or silver, or one horse, or one wife.
Okay, I'll buy that. Bud this of course recognizes that polygamy was allowed by Mosaic Law, which is all I've said from the beginning.
I never said God endorsed or approved it. The original post to which I responded said that he never "sanctioned" it. Well, in the Law he certainly did.
Sanction - verb: Give official permission or approval for (an action).
To sanction means to allow, not necessarily instruct or command to do something.