Introduction
Bethuel is a son of Nahor and Milcah, and the father of Rebekah, who marries Isaac, and Laban, whose daughters Leah and Rachel later marry Jacob. His family, settled in the region of Aram-Naharaim (or Paddan-aram), serves as the source of wives for the covenant line across two generations of Genesis's patriarchal narrative.
Family
In the genealogy and Rebekah's betrothal
Bethuel is named in Genesis 22:20-23 as a son of Nahor and Milcah, and again in Genesis 24, where Abraham's servant, seeking a wife for Isaac, arrives at Bethuel's household and, after the sign at the well involving Rebekah, negotiates with Bethuel and Laban for her hand in marriage. Bethuel's own role in the negotiation is relatively brief in the text, which gives more attention to Laban's involvement in the discussion.
Father of Laban
Bethuel's son Laban becomes a significant figure a generation later, hosting Jacob after his flight from Esau and, in due course, becoming his father-in-law through the marriages of Leah and Rachel, extending the family's marital ties within Nahor's line for a second generation.