The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 28:17

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

And he was afraid,—so were Moses (Exodus 20:18, Exodus 20:19), Job (Genesis 42:5, Genesis 42:6), Isaiah (Genesis 6:5), Peter (Luke 5:8), John (Revelation 1:17, Revelation 1:18), at similar discoveries of the Divine presence—and said, How dreadful is this place!

—i.e. how to be feared! how awe-inspiring! φοβερὸς (LXX.), terribilis (Vulgate)—this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. Not literally, but figuratively, the place where God dwells, and the entrance to his glorious abode (Keil); the idea that Jacob was "made aware by the dream that he had slept on one of those favored spots singled out for a future sanctuary, and was fearful that he had sinned by employing it for a profane purpose" (Kalisch), being fanciful.

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