Genesis 35:5

And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
journeyed	וַיִּסָּ֑עוּ vai.yi.Sa.'u	H5265	properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
terror	חִתַּ֣ת chi.Tat	H2847	fear · noun, common feminine singular construct
God	אֱלֹהִ֗ים 'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
cities	הֶֽעָרִים֙ he.'a.Rim	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
about	סְבִיבֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם se.vi.Vo.tei.Hem	H5439	(as noun) a circle · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
pursue	רָֽדְפ֔וּ ra.de.Fu	H7291	to run after (usually with hostile intent · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
after	אַחֲרֵ֖י 'a.cha.Rei	H310	properly · cardinal number, masculine plural construct
sons	בְּנֵ֥י be.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Jacob	יַעֲקֹֽב ya.'a.Ko	H3290	Jaakob · proper noun, a man's name

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Exodus 23:27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs…
2 Chronicles 17:10 And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat.
Joshua 5:1 And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, whi…
Psalms 14:5 There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
Exodus 15:15-16 Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall mel…
Exodus 34:24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear…
Joshua 2:9-11 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitant…
Genesis 34:30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the P…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 35:1-5

Here, I. God reminds Jacob of his vow at Beth-el, and sends him thither to perform it, Gen 35:1. Jacob had said in the day of his distress, If I come again in peace, this stone shall be God's house, Gen 28:22. God had performed his part of the bargain, and had given Jacob more than bread to eat and raiment to put on - he had got an estate, and had become two bands; but, it should seem, he had forgotten his vow, or at least had too long deferred the performance of it. Seven or eight years it was now since he came to Canaan; he had purchased ground there, and had built an altar in remembrance of God's last appearance to him when he called him Israel (Gen 33:19, Gen 33:20); but still Beth-el is…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 35:5

the terror of God was upon the cities--There was every reason to apprehend that a storm of indignation would burst from all quarters upon Jacob's family, and that the Canaanite tribes would have formed one united plan of revenge. But a supernatural panic seized them; and thus, for the sake of the "heir of the promise," the protecting shield of Providence was specially held over his family.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 35:5

The terror of God - A supernatural awe sent by the Almighty, was upon the cities that were round about, so that they were not molested in their departure. This could be owing to nothing less than the especial providence of God.

John Gill on 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…

The Church Fathers

HOW GOD ACTS ON THE MINDS OF MEN. — And the fear of God was upon the cities round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Israel . Let us begin by noting how God acts in the minds of men. For whom to attribute the fear of God spread over these cities, if not to the one who showed himself faithful to his promises to Jacob and his children? [
— Augustine of Hippo, QUESTIONS ON GENESIS, Q. 111 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Bethel — House of God. (1.) A place in Central Palestine, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem, at the head of the pass of Michmash and Ai. It was originally the royal Canaanite city of Luz (Gen. 28:19). The…
Hornet — Heb. tsir’ah, “stinging”, (Ex. 23:28; Deut. 7:20; Josh. 24:12). The word is used in these passages as referring to some means by which the Canaanites were to be driven out from before the Israelites.…
Altar · Built by Jacob — Built by Jacob
Beth-El · .And builds an altar at — .And builds an altar at
Panic · From God — From God
Patriarchal Government · Exercised in: Acting as priests — Exercised in: Acting as priests
Reverence · REVERENCE — REVERENCE

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 35:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 35:1-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 35:5

Adam Clarke on Genesis 35:5

John Gill on Genesis 35:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 35:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 35:1-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 35:5

Adam Clarke on Genesis 35:5

John Gill on Genesis 35:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 35:5-6

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 35:5

Rashi on Genesis 35:5