ויצא-No More Mister Nice Guy

Lavan Ha'arami was greedy, a liar and a crook. He had no God, no code of ethics, no morals of any kind. His only God was money.

He hit the ground running, literally, when the Torah introduced him in Parshat חיי שרה. His mock hospitality towards Avraham Avinu's slave was only a device to get his hands on the treasures carried by the ten camels. In this week's parsha, we once again see the running man rushing to greet his guest in search of treasures. He even gives Yaakov a French kiss to see if maybe he has some jewels hidden in his mouth. This behavior is in sharp contrast to Avraham Avinu, who was also described as running to welcome strangers into his house upon whom he lavished a banquet at his own expense.

Lavan continues his crooked ways throughout the parsha, and cons Yaakov into working for 14 years to marry his daughters.

It is therefore surprising that Yaakov should say in chap. 31, 2 that Lavan's face had changed. No more mister nice guy. How much worse can it get? I would think that after 20 years of being systematically cheated and lied to in Lavan's house, a change could only be for the better.

Seforno comments that the change in face came about because Lavan and his family felt that Yaakov's windfall, his new wealth, was not his and that it belonged to Lavan. The Kli Yakar comments that Lavan did not change his face on account of Yaakov's new wealth-after all, Lavan remained a rich man in his own right. Lavan, per the Kli Yakar, was angry that he had been out-conned by Yaakov. Lavan had perfected his line of scams to the point that he felt that he could con anybody, but that nobody could con him. Lavan's sons were angry because they felt that Yaakov learned all of Lavan's tricks of the trade, and used that knowledge for his own personal gain.