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.
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.
- KJV 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.
- BSB As they set out, a terror from God fell over the surrounding cities, so that they did not pursue Jacob’s sons.
- 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 terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
- 2 Chr 17:10The fear of Yahweh fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat.
- Ps 14:5There they were in great fear, for God is in the generation of the righteous.
- Josh 5:1When all the kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, who were by the sea, heard how Yahweh had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we had crossed over, their heart melted, and there was no more spirit in them, because of the children of Israel.
- Exod 34:24For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire your land when you go up to appear before Yahweh, your God, three times in the year.
- Josh 2:9–11She said to the men, “I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.
- Exod 15:15–16Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
- 1 Sam 14:15There was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison, and the raiders, also trembled; and the earth quaked, so there was an exceedingly great trembling.
- 1 Sam 11:7He took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever doesn’t come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen.” The dread of Yahweh fell on the people, and they came out as one man.
- 2 Chr 14:14They struck all the cities around Gerar; for the fear of Yahweh came on them, and they plundered all the cities; for there was much plunder in them.
- Deut 11:25No man will be able to stand before you. Yahweh your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you tread on, as he has spoken to you.
- Gen 34:30Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 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
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.