And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go.
And her brother and her mother. Although Bethuel was alive (Genesis 24:15; Genesis 24:50), he acts a most insignificant part, or rather is ignored in this transaction; and 'whether he was incapable from years or imbecility to manage his own affairs, it is of course impossible to say; but something of this kind seems to be implied in all that relates to him. The narrative represents him in a light totally different from the very active part which Laban took in the matrimonial arrangements of his daughters' (Blunt's 'Undesigned Coincidences').
Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten, [Hebrew, yaamiym (H3117) 'ow (H176) `aasowr (H6218)] - some days, if perhaps ten; i:e., ten days, if she choose (Gesenius). It is equivalent to our phrase, 'a week or ten days.'