Genesis 24:31

24:31 Laban said to him, ¹  “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord! ²  Why are you standing out here when I have prepared ³  the house and a place for the camels?”

Genesis 24:50

24:50 Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “This is the Lord’s doing. ⁴  Our wishes are of no concern. ⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent (Laban) has been specified and the words “to him” supplied in the translation for clarity.

² sn Laban’s obsession with wealth is apparent; to him it represents how one is blessed by the Lord. Already the author is laying the foundation for subsequent events in the narrative, where Laban’s greed becomes his dominant characteristic.

³ tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial.

⁴ tn Heb “From the Lord the matter has gone out.”

⁵ tn Heb “We are not able to speak to you bad or good.” This means that Laban and Bethuel could not say one way or the other what they wanted, for they viewed it as God’s will.