Genesis 35:5

5 When they set out, God made all of the surrounding cities fearful so that they didn't pursue Jacob's sons.

Genesis 35:5 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 35:5

And they journeyed
Jacob and his family, with all that were with them, from Shechem to Bethel:

and the terror of God was upon the cities that [were] round about
them;
an exceeding great panic seized the inhabitants of the cities of the land of Canaan, all about Shechem, which was from God himself impressing it on their minds, through what the sons of Jacob had done to that city:

and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob;
as it might have been thought they would, and take revenge on them for their ill usage of the inhabitants of a neighbouring city; but instead of this, they were afraid they should be used in the same manner; wherefore Jacob and his family journeyed in safety, and came to Bethel in peace.

Genesis 35:5 In-Context

3 Then let's rise and go up to Bethel so that I can build an altar there to the God who answered me when I was in trouble and who has been with me wherever I've gone."

4 So they gave Jacob all of the foreign gods they had, as well as the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the terebinth at Shechem.

5 When they set out, God made all of the surrounding cities fearful so that they didn't pursue Jacob's sons.

6 Jacob and all of the people with him arrived in Luz, otherwise known as Bethel, in the land of Canaan.

7 He built an altar there and named the place El-bethel, because God had revealed himself to him there when he ran away from his brother.