Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban. Laban ran out to the man, to the spring. When he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “This is what the man said to me,” he came to the man. Behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. He said, “Come in, you blessed of Yahweh. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.” The man came into the house, and he unloaded the camels. He gave straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.”
(Genesis 24:29-32)

Rebekah’s brother Laban is very welcoming, but his motivation is possessions. He is impressed with the gifts, not their relation to Abraham. Laban is courteous, but he is clearly hoping for gain. He performs the acts of hospitality, but his motivations are suspect.

Laban mentions Yahweh as if he shared in the worship of Yahweh. And he might have in some form. But in Genesis 31:30-34 it is clear that Laban also dallied with idols – whether he always had or if it came after this point is unclear.

The servant of Abraham had clearly come with other people. He has men with him. This makes sense because ten camels with goods on them would be hard for one man to handle, to say nothing of security as they travelled.

The sage Or HaChaim writes: ‘ולרבקה אח ושמו לבן, Rebeccah had a brother called Laban. Our sages observe that whenever the Bible mentions righteous people, their name precedes them, whereas the reverse is the case when the Bible mentions wicked people (Esther Rabbah 6,3). Examples are Ruth 2,1; 1,2. Samuel I 25,3. It is puzzling then that Laban is introduced here in the manner of the righteous. In order to understand this we must pay attention to the verse describing Laban as running. Our sages in Yalkut Shimoni 109 state that as soon as Laban saw the nose-ring on Rebeccah he became greedy for money. This does not throw any light on our problem. The Torah should have written: “As soon as he saw the nose-ring, etc., Laban ran,” instead of mentioning the fact that Laban saw the nose-ring after he had already commenced to run towards Eliezer. Besides, why did the Torah repeat the words: “to the man outside at the well” in verse 29 and then again in verse 30? The fact is that Laban was sincerely concerned about his sister’s innocence, suspecting that the gifts to her of the jewelry by a total stranger could have been the beginning of an immoral relationship between them. The Torah here describes Laban as if he were a righteous person because it acknowledges his concern for his sister’s chastity. When the Torah states: “it was when he saw,” this shows that Laban reacted first to what he saw and subsequently to what he heard. As long as he had not yet heard what transpired between the two he put an ugly intepretation on the manner in which he thought his sister had obtained the jewelry, suspecting Eliezer of seducing Rebeccah. Laban nevertheless continued on his way to meet Eliezer and to offer him hospitality. The wording of Laban’s invitiation, prefaced by his description of Eliezer as a man blessed by the Lord, indicates that Laban did not invite him wholeheartedly but merely to save him the disgrace of having to remain outdoors, i.e. למה תעמוד בחוץ? Even when the wicked perform an act of graciousness such an act reflects a degree of their basic reluctance to do good.

The sage Rav Hirsch writes: ‘V. 30. This is a peculiar verse. It has already said that he had run out to the well, and now it says: when he saw the nose-ring etc. and heard the words etc. then ויבא, then he came etc. So that the whole seems to be one continuous story, and this verse seems to be the antecedent clause to the concluding sentence which follows (V.31). The whole household saw the jewellery, but while they were busy looking at it, (it does not say כראותו) to Laban the sight of gold at once exercised its magic: “Ha, there will be more where this comes from, if this is what he pays for a drop of water, what will it be for board and lodging!” So the speculative brother takes his sister aside and hears the whole story in detail again, and then hurries out that nobody should get ahead of him, expecting to find him just outside. He is not a little surprised to have to run to the well, and there (הנה I.L.) is quite confounded to find a man, who, according to all he has heard and seen, must be a gold-scattering Croesus, still modestly and patiently waiting with his camels at the well. That is why he does not bow, does not speak politely, — as Abraham and Lot did, when inviting strangers — he had already lost respect for him, and says somewhat abruptly: Come on, come in, what are you shy about, you are, after all, a ברוך ה׳ i.e. a rich man, blessed with wealth. This is also apparent in verses 32 and 33. V. 32.—33. Eliezer had to look after the camels himself — perhaps also for himself and his men — the subject is doubtful — ויישם (from ישם, like טוב and יטב) and יושם, the way it is written and the way it is to be read shows that the food was just placed before him with distinct uncertainty to what extent Laban assisted thereat. All this proves how Laban felt, through Eliezer’s modest behaviour, that it was not a rich man himself that he was dealing with, and shows the character which we recognise again later in his more advanced age. It seems remarkable to find the name ה׳ in the mouth of Laban, especially as later he calls only on אלהי נחור (XXXI,53). It is possible that Rebecca heard Eliezer saying ברוך ה׳ אלקי אדוני וגו׳, and had repeated it in her report to Laban, so that the latter already knew to which “religious sect” Eliezer belonged. That the name of God, or of any god, seems fluent in the mouth of a Laban need not surprise us, it is quite in keeping with his character: The more irreligious at heart, the more the speech is decorated with “pious phrases” — ויאמר דבר Laban always leads the conversation, either by himself or anyway before his father or mother.’