Limitless Word
And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, built himself a house, and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
Genesis 33:17 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Jacob traveled to Succoth, built himself a house, and made shelters for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
  • KJV And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
  • BSB but Jacob went on to Succoth, where he built a house for himself and shelters for his livestock; that is why the place was called Succoth.
  • NASB But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built for himself a house and made booths for his livestock; therefore the place is named Succoth.
  • NLT Jacob, on the other hand, traveled on to Succoth. There he built himself a house and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place was named Succoth (which means “shelters”).

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Jacob travels to Succoth, builds a house, and makes shelters for his livestock, naming the place Succoth ('booths'). He settles for a time after his long journey.

Overview

Rather than following Esau to Seir, Jacob stops at Succoth and establishes a temporary dwelling. The name, meaning 'booths' or 'shelters,' commemorates the structures he built there. This pause marks a stage in Jacob's gradual return to the land God promised to his fathers.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Josh 13:27and in the valley, Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, the Jordan’s bank, to the uttermost part of the sea of Chinnereth beyond the Jordan eastward.
  • Judg 8:5He said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
  • Ps 60:6God has spoken from his sanctuary: “I will triumph. I will divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth.
  • Judg 8:8He went up there to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered.
  • Judg 8:16He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.
  • Judg 8:14He caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him: and he described for him the princes of Succoth, and its elders, seventy-seven men.
  • 1 Kgs 7:46The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.
  • Exod 13:20They took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.
  • Exod 12:37The children of Israel traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot who were men, besides children.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 33:17YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.

How Genesis 33:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.