Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the LORD: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.
Then Laban and Bethuel answered. The brothers conduct all the marriage negotiations, and without consulting their sister. This usage, which prevailed in ancient times, particularly among polygamous families (cf. Genesis 34:12-13), still obtains among the Arabs.
The thing proceedeth from the Lord. Any one who has penetrated into the ruling principle of Laban's character can feel no difficulty in accounting for such an observation falling from his lips. It is nothing more than an echo of the language employed by the pious servant; and the sight of the nose-ring and the bracelets which had been presented to his sister rapidly led him, for whom gold had irresistible attractions, to join in the general feeling, that 'the thing proceeded from the Lord.'