Yaakov loved Rachel and he said, "I will work for you for seven years for your younger daughter, Rachel." Lavan said, "Better that I give her to you than I give her to another man. Stay with me." Yaakov worked for Rachel for seven years and they seemed to him like just a few days in his love of her.
The Ohr Hachaim explains the conversation between the two and how Lavan attempted to trick Yaakov from the first minute and how Yaakov attempted to pre-empt him.
First, Yaakov told Lavan that he was willing to work for Rachel, his younger daughter. This was for Rachel not Leah, his daughter – not some Rachel from the street. And the younger daughter, not the older one.
As we know, none of this had any effect, and Lavan tricked Yaakov anyway.
Lavan’s answer to Yaakov is that it would be better for Lavan to give his daughter to Yaakov than to anyone else. It seems that Lavan was beginning a negotiating tactic, in which he pretends that he has another suitor for Rachel that would lower the price he would have to pay.
However, the expression used is תתי – giving, which denotes a gift. Yaakov would have to work for seven years for this daughter of Lavan’s. How is it to be considered a gift?
The Ohr Hachaim explains that Lavan was laying the groundwork for his future trickery. If Yaakov was to be considered buying Rachel, he could later claim that the deal was invalidated by the fact that he was tricked, Lavan could answer him that the deal was never a mutual transaction, it was a gift of his to Yaakov, and Yaakov had no valid claims on him.
However, this was insufficient for Lavan. Lavan was afraid that Yaakov would demand payment for seven years of work, if he did not deserve Rachel as a wife for his work.
Lavan told Yaakov that it would be best for him to choose to gift Rachel to Yaakov than anyone else. The price of this choice was the seven years of work that Yaakov did. Even though they considered Rachel a gift, choosing Yaakov as the recipient of this gift was worth money.
Lavan ensured that he received the better part of the deal by adding another condition to his deal. He told him שבה עמדי – stay with me. Yaakov had to stay close to Lavan, and work according to Lavan’s conditions. This also ensured that Yaakov stay with Lavan until he allowed him to leave. He wished to keep everything under his control, and when Yaakov indeed left, the possuk describes the efforts Lavan underwent to bring him back, until Hashem stopped him.
