What is Yaakov's tent?
Ramban: It was separate from his wives' tents. 3 It was where the family ate.
Did the maidservants share one tent?
Ibn Ezra #1 (and so connotes Rashi): Yes.
Ramban: Surely, they did not! When he visited one of his wives, the others should not be aware of his visit, due to modesty. 1
Ramban - to have Bi'ah in front of other people is Asur, as the Gemara states in Nidah (17a). (Surely all agree that they had separate quarters when Yaakov was at home. However, when Yaakov was fleeing, he feared lest Lavan come at any moment. Surely it was not a time for intimacy! Perhaps then he saw no need to make separate tents for them - PF.)
After it says that Lavan did not find them in the maidservants' tent, why does it say "he went from Leah's tent to Rachel's tent"?
Rashbam and Ramban (citing the Ibn Ezra's second explanation) 1 : Due to the connection of this Pasuk to the following one, which discusses the dialogue between Lavan and Rachel, it found it convenient to set it this way (for brevity's sake). '
Rosh, Riva: Only Rachel's tent opened to Reshus ha'Rabim. One could enter the other tents only through hers. Lavan backtracked [and searched a second time in Rachel's tent because he suspected her].
Chizkuni: One could go from Leah's tent to the maidservants' tent only through Rachel's. He searched Rachel's again before searching the maidservants' tent.
Tosfos ha'Shalem (7, from Bereishis Rabah 74:4): Rachel had a tent in Yaakov's tent, and her own tent. Lavan first searched Yaakov's tent, then tents of mothers with the most children, so Rachel was last, and at the end, he searched her tent in Yaakov's tent.
Malbim: Rachel's tent had its own opening.
Ha'amek Davar: The Torah teaches the Hashgachah, why Rachel had time to hide them under Kar ha'Gamal. 2 Lavan most suspected Yaakov for wanting to disgrace idolatry, and then suspected first the lowest - the maidservants, Leah 3 and Rachel. Had Lavan found them, she would have been [greatly] ashamed, and who knows what Lavan would have done!
Ibn Ezra holds that the Torah concludes with the tent of Rachel, since that was where the Terafim were.
Were they not already hidden? Rachel would not want others to see that she has them! (PF)
Did Lavan esteem Rachel more than Leah, who was older? Perhaps he did, for he received 14 years of Yaakov's labor due to her. Or, because Yaakov esteemed Rachel more, Rachel felt, acted and became more esteemed. (PF) But Gur Aryeh differs; refer to 31:33:1.2:2.
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes: "Into the tent of Yaakov - I.e. the tent of Rachel." How then should we understand the conclusion of the verse, "He left Leah's tent and went into Rachel's tent"?
Gur Aryeh: After leaving Leah's tent, he returned to Rachel's tent to check again. 1
Rashi writes: "Into the tent of Yaakov - I.e. the tent of Rachel." How can we show this?
Gur Aryeh #1: Although the simple read of the verse tells us that he went to Leah first, we know that Rachel was the mainstay of the household (Rashi to 31:4).
Gur Aryeh #2: In fact, we are not forced to explain as Rashi did. In Lavan's eyes, Leah was more important, and he searched there first. 1
Gur Aryeh: The verse delays mentioning Rachel to the end, to emphasize that "Lavan searched the entire tent" of Rachel thoroughly, for he was familiar with her habits.
Rashi writes that Lavan searched Rachel's tent twice. What is the reason?
Rashi: Because he knew her to be particularly fidgety, and that, as such, she was the most likely person to have taken the Terafim.
Refer to 31:33:4:2.
