ויירא יעקב. ירא היה שיועיל לעשו זכות שכבד אב ואם והוא לא קיים כבר עברו עשרים שנה. אי נמי שיועיל לו זכות ארץ ישראל והוא היה בחוצה לארץ: ויירא יעקב, “Yaakov was greatly afraid;” seeing that Yaakov had had many assurances from G–d, why would he be afraid of the encounter with his brother Esau? He realised –belatedly-that he had erred in staying with Lavan after having completed his 14 years of service, in order to marry. During the years when he had worked to amass material wealth, his brother Esau had performed the commandment of honouring father and mother. He was afraid that he did not have sufficient merits to overcome Esau’s lead in that department. (B’reshit Rabbah 76,2) According to the Midrash, G–d’s promise to protect him, was limited to while he was outside the borders of the Holy Land.
ויצר לו. מיצר היה על שהיה ירא מעשו לאחר שהבטיחו הקב"ה מהרב אליאב הכהן ז"ל. ד"א ויירא כדפרישית ויצר לו לפי ששמע שהיה בא לקראתו להרגו ומתחלה אמר יקרבו ימי אבל אבי ואהרגה וגו' אמר א"כ יצחק אבי ודאי מת ולהא ניחא הא דקאמר אלהי אבי יצחק אע"פ שאין מיחדין שם הקב"ה על אדם כל זמן שהוא חי: ויצר לו, “he was distressed;” his distress was over his inability to overcome his fear of Esau in spite of the assurances he had received from G–d. (attributed to Harav Eliav hacohen) An alternate interpretation. The commentator agrees with the meaning of the words: ויירא. However, he interprets the word ויצר as referring to his fear when hearing that Esau was on the way with an armed escort planning to kill him. He knew from his mother that although Esau had sworn to await the death of his father before killing Yaakov (Genesis 27,41) he had changed his mind; when he is quoted as referring to G–d as “the G–d of my father Yitzchok,” instead of “the G–d of my father,” that Yitzchok had died in the meantime, (during the 36 years he had been away from home) as G–d does not associate His name with a living person. (Compare B’reshit Rabbah on that verse.)