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.
Parallel translations
- WEB They traveled, and a terror of God was on the cities that were around them, and they didn’t pursue the sons of Jacob.
- BSB As they set out, a terror from God fell over the surrounding cities, so that they did not pursue Jacob’s sons.
- NKJV And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
- NASB As they journeyed, there was a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
- NLT As they set out, a terror from God spread over the people in all the towns of that area, so no one attacked Jacob’s family.
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
A terror from God falls on the surrounding cities, so no one pursues Jacob's family as they travel.
Overview
Despite the danger Jacob feared after Shechem, God supernaturally protects the family by striking fear into their neighbors. This 'terror of God' shows the LORD guarding the covenant line even amid their failures. It reassures readers that God's purposes for His people cannot be thwarted by human enemies.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Exod 23:27I 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 unto thee.
- 2 Chr 17:10And 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.
- Ps 14:5There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
- Josh 5:1And 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, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.
- Exod 34:24For 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 before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.
- Josh 2:9–11And 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 inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
- Exod 15:15–16Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away.
- 1 Sam 14:15And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling.
- 1 Sam 11:7And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.
- 2 Chr 14:14And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the LORD came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding much spoil in them.
- Deut 11:25There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
- Gen 34:30And 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 Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
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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 35:5 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
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