Now Rivka had a brother whose name was Lavan. Lavan ran out to the man at the well. when he saw the nose-ring and the bracelet on his sister’s arms, and when he heard his sister Rivka say, “Thus did the man say to me.” He went to the man, who was still standing beside the camels at the well. (24-29,30).
There are a few questions that we must address. 1) When the posuk mentions the name of Lavan, it uses the expression "and his name was - Lavan." Why did the posuk first say "and his name" and then say "Lavan" instead of saying the reverse, "Lavan was his name?" Chazal tell us that the sequence found in our posuk is used only about the righteous. For example, in Megillas Rus it says about two tzaddikim, Boaz and Elimelech. "His name was Boaz," "His Name was Elimelech." Regarding the wicked, the order is the opposite. For example, regarding the Rasha Naval mentioned in Sefer Shmuel it says, "Naval was his name." 2) Why does the posuk repeat the fact that Lavan went out to meet Eliezer. First it says "Lavan ran out to the man at the well." In the very next Posuk it says again "He went to the man, who was still standing beside the camels at the well." Why the repetition? 3) Why in the first verse does it say that Lavan "ran" but in second verse it says he "went out?" What is the difference between running and going out?
The Ohr Hachaim answers with a novel idea. The Torah is revealing that Lavan had a noble trait. Although Chazal have made it abundantly clear that Lavan was wicked and wanted to completely destroy the Jewish people it does not deny him from praising a good quality trait that he had. In our story, Lavan witnessed a conversation between Eliezer and his younger sister Rivka. Lavan was not aware of the exact details of the discussion. He assumed the worst. He suspected that wrongdoing had occurred and zealously proceeded to inquire what happened and take all necessary action to correct a wrong or punish a crime. This is a virtu, Lavan was acting to protect his younger sister. She was vulnerable and he behaved nobly by running out to protect her. He correctly understood that his role was to protect her as an older brother should do. As the Torah describes this part of the story it refers to him as a Tzadik. It put the term "his name" before "Lavan" as is done when discussing the righteous. It was only later when Lavan became aware that no wrongdoing had occurred and uncovered the true nature and purpose of Eliezer's visit did he calm down and behave differently. This part of the story is what the Torah describes in the next section. "And Laven went out." The tone here is a calm and pleasant Lavan. Now, his evil nature begins to become dominant. He now considered what was in his best interest and tried to take advantage of the situation.
