he came to the man. And, behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. He said, "Come, blessed of Hashem. Why are you standing outside
The Ohr Hachaim quotes a fascinating Medrash on this possuk and explains it.
Why did Lavan reverse the order of the question? One would expect the question to be “Why are you standing outside? Come, blessed one of Hashem!” Why did he give the blessing first?
The Yalkut Shimoni writes that Eliezer noticed that Lavan was running towards him, and he knew that the reason for this was because he heard about the jewelry that Eliezer had given to Rivkah. He expected Lavan to attack him and rob him.
He invoked one of the holy names of Hashem, and as a result the camels were levitated into the air above the well.
This is why the Torah describes the camels as "הגמלים על העין." Eliezer himself then stood on top of the camels.
He called out to Lavan from an elevated position whereupon Lavan addressed him with the words: "come in, blessed one of Hashem!" Right there, he recognized the Beracha of Eliezer. Afterwards, he invited him into his house.
Another reason why Eliezer is reported as remaining standing by the camels maybe that the Torah wants us to know that the mere fact that Rivka had indicated that there was plenty of room in her father's home for Eliezer to spend the night together with his entourage was not sufficient reason for him to follow her to her home.
The wording of Lavan's invitation, indicates that Lavan 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. If he had invited him in and then blessed him as the one blessed from Hashem, the meaning would have been that the invitation was wholehearted, and his entrance to the house would be with a blessing. Now that the beracha preceded the invitation, the meaning of the invitation is only to spend the night and not to share in the blessing of the house.
