Genesis 33.17-20-Jacob Settles at Succoth and Then Shechem

Tuesday September 19, 2006

Genesis: Genesis 33:17-20-Jacob Settles at Succoth and Then Shechem

Lesson # 207

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 33:17.

This evening we will complete our study of Genesis 33.

Last Thursday evening we studied Genesis 33:1-11, which gives us the record of Jacob and Esau reconciling with each other.

On Sunday morning we noted Genesis 33:12-16 where we saw Esau departing from Jacob.

This evening we will study Genesis 33:17, which records Jacob settling temporarily in Succoth to rest his flocks and family before reentering the land of Canaan.

Also, this evening we will study Genesis 33:18-20, which presents to us the record of Jacob moving from Succoth, crossing the Jordan River and returning to the land of Canaan and settling in Shechem.

Genesis 33:17, “Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built for himself a house and made booths for his livestock; therefore the place is named Succoth.”

“Journeyed” is the verb nasa` (us^n*) (naw-saw), which means, “to pull up” stakes that stabilize a tent and is a technical term for “breaking camp.”

“Succoth” is the proper noun Sukkoth (tw)Ks|) (sook-kohth), which means, “shelters” and implies a temporary stay at this location and was located east of the Jordan River, near the Jabbok River.

“House” is the noun bayith (ty!B^) (bah-yith), which denotes a permanent structure built of solid supports and materials including doorposts, walls, a roof, and stone, plaster and wood materials.

“Booths” is the noun sukkah (hK*s|) (soo-kaw), which denotes a temporary shelter or stalls for livestock.

The fact that Jacob builds a house and stalls for his livestock at Succoth signifies that Jacob intended to have a prolonged stay at this place before crossing the Jordan into Canaan.

This does “not” imply that Jacob was disobeying the Lord’s command to return to Canaan since Genesis 33:18 records that Jacob eventually journeyed to Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan.

Rather, Jacob wanted to stay for a period of time at Succoth in order to recoup what he gave away to Esau and to give his young children and the nursing animals a chance to recover from the long and difficult three hundred mile journey from Paddan Aram.

Jacob was not disobeying the Lord by delaying his entrance into the land of Canaan by staying at Succoth but rather he was concerned about the health of his family and flocks and wanted to give them time to recover.

Remember, the members of Jacob’s caravan had been under great strain because of the problems with leaving Laban and not knowing how Esau would respond to Jacob when reentering the land of Canaan.

Jacob’s entourage had traveled well over three hundred miles since their departure from Paddan Aram and would have been exhausted.

Therefore, he temporarily settled in Succoth for the sake of his family and flocks in order to give them all a rest and it helped that the pasture in Succoth was great.

Furthermore, we must remember that Jacob was crippled by the Lord at Peniel when the Lord dislocated his hip in the wrestling match and so I’m sure he was exhausted as well from all the travel and wanted to settle down to rest.

Some commentators believe that Jacob was delaying so as to avoid his father Isaac who was blind and was deceived by Jacob some twenty years before into bestowing upon him the blessing of the birthright rather than Esau, Isaac’s favorite son.

However, they fail to consider that if Esau who threatened to kill Jacob twenty years before had forgiven Jacob, how much more would his father Isaac who was old at this time, forgive him.

Some commentators contend that Succoth was north of the Jabbok because they identify it with “Sakut,” which is on the other side of the Jordan, about ten miles north of the mouth of the Jabbok.

Consequently, they argue that Jacob was going backwards and not forwards towards the land of Canaan, thus indicating his disobedience to the Lord’s command to return to Canaan.

However, they fail to consider Judges 8:4-9, which implies that Succoth was “south” of the Jabbok since this passage records that Succoth was east of the Jordan River but much closer to the Jordan than Penuel, which was north of the Jabbok River.

The fact that the Scriptures are silent about Jacob crossing back over the Jabbok is further indication that Succoth was “not” north of the Jabbok but rather south.

Furthermore, since Jacob was so concerned with the condition of his flocks, which were nursing and the young children in his caravan, he would by no means even consider performing once again the difficult operation of fording the Jabbok River!

Jacob had no reason to avoid reentering Canaan since the greatest threat to his life, Esau, had forgiven him and they were now reconciled.

Therefore, Jacob stopped at Succoth simply for the sake of his flocks and young family just as he stated to Esau.

In fact, we have the following statement in Genesis 33:18, “Now Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan” which implies that Jacob stays in Succoth was for the safety and well-being of his family and flocks and was a temporary stay and stepping stone before entering Canaan.

Also, Jacob had every reason for quickly returning to Canaan since the Lord had promised him possession of the land.

Therefore, Jacob’s stay at Succoth, which was just outside of the land of Canaan, was temporary even though he built a house and shelters for his flocks and herds since all hindrances for returning were now removed (Esau) and the Lord promised him and his descendants the land of Canaan as a permanent possession.

Genesis 33:18, “Now Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped before the city.”

Genesis 33:18 begins the final section of the account of Isaac’s line and extends to Genesis 35:29.

Genesis 25:19-35:29 constitutes the eighth book in Genesis presenting to us the family history of Isaac and in particular Jacob whose name was changed by the Lord to “Israel.”

Genesis 33:18-20 forms the prelude for the events recorded in Genesis 34 where Jacob’s sons exact revenge upon Shechem for the rape of their sister Dinah.

The Scriptures are silent as to how long Jacob stayed at Succoth before he entered the land of Canaan and settled at Shechem.

“Safely” is the adjective shalem (<l@v*) (shaw-lame), which means, “being complete, whole, total” or “full,” thus in context the word means that Jacob and his caravan arrived back “safe and sound” in the land of Canaan.

The fact that Jacob had arrived safely in the land of Canaan fulfilled Jacob’s request of the Lord at Bethel to bring him back safely to the land of Canaan (See Genesis 28:21).

“Shechem” is the proper noun shekhem (<k#v+) (shek-em), which means, “safe and sound” and is approximately thirty-five miles north of Jerusalem, directly west of the Jabbok River and approximately twenty miles from the Jordan in the land of Canaan.

“Shechem” was located in the heart of the Promised Land at the commercial crossroads of Canaan in the pass between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim.

The city was the place where Abraham first camped when he arrived in Canaan from Haran and is the place where he built an altar to worship the Lord in response to the Lord appearing to him and promising him and his descendants the land of Canaan (See Genesis 12:6-7).

The two prepositional phrases “in the land of Canaan when he came from Paddan Aram” alert the reader that the Lord has fulfilled His promise to Jacob at Bethel just prior to entering into exile with Laban in Paddan Aram to bring him back home to Canaan (See Genesis 28:15).

Genesis 33:19, “He bought the piece of land where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money.”

“Piece” is the noun chelqah (hq*l+j#) (khel-kaw), which refers to a well defined field or tract of land.

“Land” is the noun sadheh (hd#c*) (saw-deh), which means, “field” and refers to a well defined field or land without walls or fences.

Therefore, Jacob buys a tract of land for his flocks just outside the city of Shechem as indicated by the statement in Genesis 33:18 that Jacob “camped by the city” and in Genesis 33:19 by the phrase “where he had pitched his tent.”

The name “Hamor” literally means, “donkey,” and he was the father of Shechem who raped Dinah according to Genesis 34 and Genesis 34:2 records that “Hamor” was a Hivite, which is significant.

At times the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, were called “Canaanites” but strictly speaking the nations who dwelt on the coasts or river lowlands were called “Canaanite” (Nm. 13:29).

Therefore, “Hamor” was a Canaanite and the Canaanites were under a curse according to the prophecy of Noah recorded in Genesis 9:24-27 and thus Jacob’s family could not intermarry with the Canaanites.

Genesis 9:25, “So he said, ‘Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers.’”

Genesis 9:26, “He also said, ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.’”

Genesis 9:27, “May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.”

“Canaan” was the “youngest” son of Ham according to Genesis 10:6 and his descendants of Canaan are listed in Genesis 10:15-20 and 1 Chronicles 1:13-16.

Genesis 9:25 is a revelation of the decree of God, which is His eternal and immutable will regarding the future of the descendants of Canaan who were the descendants of Noah’s youngest son Ham.

This decree is simply a declaration of God’s sovereign will that is based upon His omniscient knowledge of all the facts concerning what will take place in the future concerning Canaan’s descendants.

Noah does “not” pronounce a curse upon Ham but rather his youngest son Canaan since it would be Canaan’s descendants, the Canaanites who according to the Bible were idolatrous and involved in gross immorality and the occult.

Noah was “not” punishing Ham’s youngest son Canaan for what Ham did but rather simply issuing a prophecy concerning the nation of Canaanites that would come from Ham through Canaan.

The Canaanites would not suffer the curse and the bondage because of the sins of Ham but rather because of their own sins.

God was simply looking down the corridors of time and in His omniscience saw what would take place in the future in regards to the descendants of Canaan and through Noah, the Holy Spirit revealed this to Noah’s sons.

The phrase “servant of servants he shall be to his brothers” refers to universal or worldwide servitude since Noah predicted that Canaan would be both a “servant” to Shem and Japheth meaning that the Canaanites would be servants to not only one nation or one other group of nations but to “all” other nations.

Remember, all the nations existing today descended from Noah’s three sons, therefore, when Noah says that Canaan would serve his brothers, he means that their servitude would be universal.

Genesis 9:25-27 was written on behalf of Israel and the history of the Canaanites would be of great interest to Israel since the Lord had promised Israel the land of the Canaanites.

The Lord used the nation of Israel under Joshua to pour out His judgment upon the Canaanites for their immoral degeneracy (Gen. 15:16; 19:5; Lev. 18; 20; Deut. 12:31).

The Canaanites were defeated on the battlefield, destroyed, or integrated with other nations or enslaved to Israel (Gen. 14:1-16; 15:18-21; Ex. 3:7-10; Deut. 1-3; Josh. 10-19).

Now, we must remember that this curse upon Canaan was conditional meaning that any Canaanite who placed their faith in the God of Israel, Jesus Christ, could escape it.

An example is Rahab the harlot who was a Canaanite and placed her faith in the God of Israel, Jesus Christ and after a period of purification, was brought into Israel’s society.

Therefore, Jacob and his descendants, the Israelites can have nothing to do with the Canaanites and this is witnessed by the fact that Abraham prohibited Eliezer his servant from getting Isaac his son a Canaanite woman and Isaac issued the same prohibition to Jacob.

Genesis 33:19, “He bought the piece of land where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money.”

The designation “Shechem’s father” anticipates the events of Genesis 34 where Shechem whose father is Hamor rapes Jacob’s daughter Dinah.

“Money” is the noun qositah (hf*yc!q() (kes-ee-taw), which is the name of a Hebrew monetary weight of unknown weight and value.

The exact price is recorded in Genesis 33:19 signifying that the sale was final and incontestable.

By allowing Jacob, now Israel to buy land and settle among them, the Canaanites and specifically, the Hivites were hoping to intermarry with Jacob’s family and this we have seen was prohibited by the Lord as stipulated in the prophecy of Noah.

If you recall in Genesis 23, Abraham sought to buy a piece of property as a permanent possession from the Hittites in order to bury his wife and Sarah.

We saw that the Hittites were reluctant to sell their land to Abraham as a permanent possession, which expressed a pervasive and deep rooted attitude throughout the Middle East.

Knowing this reluctance on the part of Middle East landowners in the days of the patriarchs, the fact that Hamor was willing to sell a piece of property to Jacob was significant in that it demonstrated the desire of Hamor to marry into the family of Jacob, which was very wealthy.

The wealth of Jacob’s family was very appealing to Hamor, making Jacob’s family appealing to intermarry with and thus Hamor was more than willing to part with a piece of property.

This intermarriage would mean that the Canaanites would absorb Jacob’s clan, making them a part of their culture and people, both of which were decadent.

Therefore, Jacob has made a bad decision by purchasing this tract of land belonging to the Canaanites.

The consequences of this decision are keenly felt in Genesis 34, which records the rape of Jacob’s daughter Dinah by Shechem, the son of Hamor.

Now, we must understand that the purchase of the land by Jacob and the building of the altar were done by him in faith and were a testimony to the faith of Jacob in the Lord’s promise to give him the land of Canaan.

However, Jacob’s decision to purchase land from the Canaanites lacked discernment in the sense that he could not perceive clearly and understand the dangerous situation he put himself in since the Canaanites sold him the land in the hopes of intermarrying with his family, which he was prohibited from doing.

His decision to purchase land from the Canaanites lacked acuteness of judgment and understanding of the consequences of such a purchase since the Canaanites sold Jacob the land in the hopes of intermarrying with his family, which he was prohibited from doing according to the prophecy of Noah.

Discernment stresses accuracy in reading character or motives and so Jacob’s decision to purchase land from Hamor lacked discernment since Jacob did not accurately read the character and motive of Hamor in selling him the tract of land.

Jacob’s decision to purchase land and build an altar to the Lord at Shechem was lacking in discernment since it was not God’s will that he build the altar at Shechem but at Bethel since he had made a vow to the Lord over twenty years before to build an altar at Bethel and worship the Lord there (Genesis 28:20-21).

Jacob proposed to give a tithe to the Lord, which would provide the means to build and maintain the altar to worship the Lord, which the pillar began.

Genesis 33:20, “Then he erected there an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.”

The building of the altar was designed so that Jacob with his family and servants could publicly worship the Lord, which expressed Jacob and his household’s total dedication and devotion to the Lord.

“El-Elohe-Israel” literally means, “God, the God of Israel” signifying that Jacob is identifying his new self with the living God and claims the land in his name and would distinguish Israel from the Canaanites whose language they speak (See Genesis 31:47).

By assigning this name to the altar he constructed, Jacob was testifying publicly that the God of his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac was also his God as well (See Genesis 28:21).

Although Jacob returned to the land of Canaan, he was wrong to settle at Shechem since he made a vow to the Lord to Bethel to return there and build an altar to worship the Lord in thanksgiving for prospering, and protecting him while in exile and fulfilling His promise to return him safely to the land of Canaan.

Once he departed from Succoth, he should have kept right on going to Bethel.

There was no reason for Jacob to stop just twenty miles to the west at Shechem.

So it appears that Jacob was getting lazy and procrastinating.

He had just experienced a great victory spiritually with Esau but it appears he got complacent and lazy and procrastinated.

Throughout his life, Jacob demonstrates tremendous passivity as in the case of letting his mother Rebekah manipulate him until the age of forty and his inability to confront Laban for twenty years for cheating him of his wages.

His passivity was demonstrated also with his wives, where he let them order him around and treated him as a stud for hire.

Jacob’s lack of discernment resulting in his failure to go to Bethel and fulfill his vow to the Lord there resulted in the rape of Dinah since if he went to Bethel as he should have, the rape of Dinah would never have taken place.