There is an old phrase Jakob quietly used against his father-in-law: the Lord hath blessed thee at my foot. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves it exactly (Genesis 30:30). The little flock Laban had before Jakob arrived had swelled into a fortune — and both men knew why.
Jakob's argument was simple and sharp. He had crossed the Pherat with nothing but a staff and a dream of Beth El. When he stepped into Laban's fields, the sheep multiplied. When he watered them, the troughs filled. Everything that prospered, prospered at his feet.
And now, he said, the time had come to ask an honest question: when shall I do the work for which I am bound, to nourish the men of my house? A man can build another's estate for only so long before his own children begin to wonder why their father is always gone.
The Maggid teaches: the blessing that flows through you still belongs to you. The sheep grew because Jakob walked among them. Sooner or later, the one whose feet bring the blessing must be allowed to walk home.