רמב"ן — ויבא האיש הביתה ויפתח הגמלים

Q — Rashi (from Bereshit Rabba) says Eliezer unmuzzled (התיר זמם) the camels — Avraham's camels traveled muzzled so they wouldn't graze in others' fields. What does Ramban find wrong with this on two levels?

A — First, grammatically: 'ויפתח' refers not to Eliezer but to Lavan, who as host opened the camels' restraining ropes (not muzzles) and provided food and water — 'כי רחוק הוא שיהיה אליעזר הוא הנותן מים לרחוץ רגליו ורגלי אנשיו'. Subject change mid-verse without notation is common (see Yosef's brothers pulling him from the pit, and David's speech in Shmuel II). Second, hashkafically: Avraham's camels would never need muzzling — if Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair's donkey wouldn't eat forbidden food, kal va'chomer Avraham's animals. The Midrash itself questions Rashi's reading on this ground. The principle: 'לא יאונה לצדיק כל און' — a tzaddik's domain is protected, and his animals don't even need physical restraint. (Ramban notes this leniency applies only at Avraham's spiritual level; standard השתדלות remains for everyone else, as he taught in Noach.)