Genesis 35:5

5 And they journeyed: and the terror of God was on the cities that [were] round them, and 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 And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.

4 And they gave to Jacob all the strange gods which [were] in their hand, and [the] ear-rings which [were] in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which [was] by Shechem.

5 And they journeyed: and the terror of God was on the cities that [were] round them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

6 So Jacob came to Luz, which [is] in the land of Canaan (that is Beth-el) he and all the people that [were] with him.

7 And he erected there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el; because there God appeared to him, when he fled from the face of his brother.