Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio

When Avraham’s servant first arrives at Rivkah’s home, her brother, Lavan, and her father, Betuel, both speak to him, both expressing their support of Rivkah’s marriage to Yitzhak. But, after Avraham’s servant stays the night, Betuel vanishes from the story. Instead, only Lavan speaks, along with Rivkah’s mother:

What happened to Betuel? If both he and Lavan were speaking to Avraham’s servant before, why is Lavan speaking without him at this point? The following midrash suggests that Betuel is left out of the pasuk not by accident, but because he wasn’t around to speak anymore because he had died overnight!