Genesis 33

12–17 Esau apparently thought that Jacob and his family would come with him and live in Seir¹¹¹ (verse 14). But Jacob had been told by God to return to Canaan; he had no intention of going with Esau to Seir. He even reverted to his old deceptive ways by suggesting to Esau that he would come to Seir later on (verse 14). Like Jacob, none of us becomes perfect in this life; we all have a tendency to slip back into our old nature from time to time.

18–20 Finally, having safely journeyed from Laban’s household in Paddan Aram (present-day Syria), Jacob arrived in Canaan. His safe arrival was a fulfillment of God’s promise to him at Bethel twenty years earlier (Genesis 28:15). Jacob then bought a piece of land near the city of Shechem and settled there (verse 18). He set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel, which means “mighty is the God of Israel” (verse 20). By settling near Shechem and building an altar, Jacob was following in the foot-steps of his grandfather Abraham (Genesis 12:6–7), and he was formally acknowledging that the God of Abraham and Isaac was his God too.

We are not told why Jacob chose to stay near Shechem rather than moving on. However, as the next chapter will show, his lingering in Shechem was to bring him and his family a great deal of trouble.