And they journeyed (from Shechem, after the work of reformation just described): and the terror of God—meaning not simply a great terror, as in Genesis 23:6; Genesis 30:8 (Dathe, Bush), but either a supernatural dread inspired by Elohim (Ainsworth, Clericus, Rosenmüller, Keil, Kalisch, and others), or a fear of Elohim, under whose care Jacob manifestly bad been taken (Murphy, Quarry)—was upon the cities that were round about them,—literally, in their circuits, i.
e. wherever they went—and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob—as might have been expected.