Genesis 35:5

5 Then they set out on their journey, and the terror of God was upon the cities that [were] all around them, so that they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

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 us make ready and let us go up to Bethel, so that I can make an altar there to the God who answered me in the day of my trouble, and who has been with me on the way that I have gone."

4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that [were] in their hands, and the ornamental rings that [were] in their ears. And Jacob buried them under the oak which [was] near Shechem.

5 Then they set out on their journey, and the terror of God was upon the cities that [were] all around them, so that they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

6 And Jacob came to Luz which [was] in the land of Canaan (that [is] Bethel), he and all the people that [were] with him.

7 And he built an altar there and called the place El-Bethel, for there God had appeared to him when he fled before his brother.