Genesis 33:18-20

Genesis 33:18-20

[18] And Jacob  came  a city  of Shechem,  which is in the land  of Canaan,  when he came  from Padanaram;  and pitched his tent  before  the city.  [19] And he bought  a parcel  of a field,  where he had spread  his tent,  at the hand  of the children  of Hamor,  Shechem's  father,  for an hundred  pieces of money.  [20] And he erected  there an altar,  and called it 

What does Genesis 33:18-20 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Jacob then crossed the Jordan River and moved his family into the land of Canaan. He chose Shechem ("peaceful") as his home. By purchasing land there he showed that he regarded Canaan as his permanent home and the home of his seed. The Israelites eventually buried Joseph at Shechem ( Joshua 24:32). Shechem was only about a mile from the Sychar of Jesus" day (cf. John 4:5; John 4:12).
God had granted Jacob"s request by bringing him safely back into the Promised Land (cf. Genesis 28:20-21). As he had vowed, Jacob worshipped the God of his father as his God. He called Yahweh "El-Elohe-Israel" meaning, "The mighty God is the God of Israel." Jacob used his own new name, Israel ( Genesis 32:29). He built an altar, Jacob"s first, to worship God as Abraham had done at Shechem when he had first entered Canaan ( Genesis 12:6-7). The altar would have served the double purpose of providing a table for Jacob"s sacrifice and serving as a memorial for Jacob"s descendants in the years to come.
What were Jacob"s motivation and relationship to God when he met Esau? This question rises often in the study of this chapter. The answer is not obvious. Some commentators have felt that Jacob completely backslid and returned to his former lifestyle of self-reliance and deceit. [1] Most interpreters attribute good motives to Jacob. [2] I believe the truth probably lies somewhere between these extremes. It seems to me that Jacob"s experience at Peniel had a life-changing impact on him. Jacob seems to be referring to it in Genesis 33:10. Nevertheless his former lifestyle had become so ingrained-Jacob was over90 years old at this time-that he easily slipped back into his former habits. I believe we have a clue to this in the use of his name "Jacob" in the text rather than "Israel." In short, Jacob seems to have had a genuine experience of coming to grips with himself and yielding his life to God at Peniel. Nevertheless from then on, his motives and attitudes vacillated. At times he trusted God as he should have, but at others, many others, he failed to trust God.
The divine Author"s main concern in this section was not Jacob"s motivation, however; He could have clarified that for us. Rather it seems to have been the faithfulness of God in sparing Jacob"s life and returning him to the Promised Land as He had promised ( Genesis 28:13-15). The Jacob narrative also contains evidence that God was faithful to bless others through Abraham"s descendants ( Genesis 12:3), including Laban (cf. Genesis 30:27) and Esau (cf. Genesis 33:11).
A major lesson of this chapter is that those who have received God"s grace may trust in God"s promise of protection when they seek reconciliation with others.