Jacob was a Syrian, partly, by his original, as being born of Syrian parents, as were Abraham and Rebekah, both of Chaldea or Mesopotamia, which was a part of Syria largely so called, as is confessed by Strabo, b. 16. and by Pliny, b. 5. c. 12; partly, by his education and conversation, for which reason Christ is called a Nazarene, and a Capernaite; and partly, by his relations, his wives being such, and his children too by their mothers. Ready to perish; either through want and poverty; see Genesis 28:11,20 Genesis 32:10; or through the rage of his brother Esau, and the treachery and cruelty of his father-in-law Laban.
Related Commentaries of Deuteronomy 26:5
Deuteronomy 26:5
5 And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: