‘And it happened that when Abraham's servant heard their words he bowed himself to the earth to Yahweh. And the servant brought forth jewels of silver and jewels of gold and clothes and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.'
When the steward receives this response he can only offer his gratitude to Yahweh. Rebekah is then loaded with presents which will befit her as a wife to Isaac.
The giving of ‘brothership gifts' in such circumstances is known also from documents at Nuzi. It would seem that a brother was to be compensated for the loss of a sister. But here it is probably rather as the head of the family that Laban receives gifts on behalf of his father. The non-mention of Bethuel confirms the background position he has in the account.