Genesis 35:5

5 Then Jacob and his sons left there. But God caused the people in the nearby cities to be afraid, so they did not follow them.

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 We will leave here and go to Bethel. There I will build an altar to God, who has helped me during my time of trouble. He has been with me everywhere I have gone."

4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had, and the earrings they were wearing, and he hid them under the great tree near the town of Shechem.

5 Then Jacob and his sons left there. But God caused the people in the nearby cities to be afraid, so they did not follow them.

6 And Jacob and all the people who were with him went to Luz, which is now called Bethel, in the land of Canaan.

7 There Jacob built an altar and named the place Bethel, after God, because God had appeared to him there when he was running from his brother.