Genesis 33:18

Then came Jakob in peace with all that he had to the city of Shekem, in the land of Kenaan, in his Coming from Padan Aram; and he dwelt near the city,

AND JACOB CAME IN PEACE … FROM PADDAN-ARAM. [This is stated here in the same manner] as a person says to his friend, “That man there has come from between the teeth of the lions and has arrived unhurt.” Similarly here, And Jacob came in peace, i.e., from Laban and from Esau. This is the language of Rashi. But Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained that the sense of the verse is that Jacob arrived in peace from his lengthy journey and nothing happened to him, as Scripture now begins to narrate the event of Dinah.
In my opinion Scripture speaks thus since for the length of his sojourn in Succoth he was fearful of Esau. Succoth — if it be the one mentioned in the book of Joshua — was east of the Jordan, in the kingdom of Sihon, and if it be another city by that name, it was nearer to Se’ir. Thus until he entered the land of Canaan Jacob did not feel safe, for only then did he know that Esau would not touch him for his father was nearby, or because the people of the land would help him as his father was a prince of G-d in their midst, or because the merit of having entered the land would save him. And therefore, Scripture now said that he came in peace into the land of his father’s sojourning since G-d delivered him in his travels out of the hand of all his enemies. And the Rabbis have said in Bereshith Rabbah that during all these months that our father Jacob stayed in Succoth he honored Esau with that present enumerated above by Scripture for he was afraid of him there, and monthly or annually he would send him a comparable present.

ויבא יעקב שלם, to the city named Shalem. The construction is similar to ותבאנה בית לחם, “they arrived at Bet Lechem.” (Ruth 1,19)

עיר שכם, the city of Shechem (who subsequently raped Dinah) The description parallels Numbers 21,26 where Cheshbon is described as the city of Sichon, King of the Emorites. Anyone who explains Shechem as being the name of the city errs. We do not find anywhere that a city is described in such terms, i.e. as עיר ציון, or as עיר ירושלים. Invariably such cities are described with the appropriate definitive article ה i.e. as the word העיר following the name of the city in question. Even assuming that the city under discussion was Shechem, the town may have been renamed in commemoration of the heroism displayed by the sons of Yaakov. We know that the town Luz was renamed Bet El by Yaakov. (28,19) We find the same construction in Joshua 19,7 when the Danites renamed a city “Dan” to honour their tribal father and the acts of heroism by the soldiers of the tribe in capturing the city. Already the first builder of a city, Kayin, is described in Genesis 4,14 as ויקרא שם העיר כשם בנו חנוך, “he named the city in accordance with the name of his son Enoch.” Even the sages of the Midrash who understand the word שלם as an attribute, adjective, describing Yaakov at that point as “whole” in body, spirit, and material wealth, did not catch the plain meaning of the text if that was their intention. It is simply not the style of the Scriptures to express itself in such terms. There is no need for this. Did the Torah have to tell us that Yaakov’s wealth was not impaired as a result of the lavish gift he sent to Esau?

ויבא יעקב שלם עיר שכם, he reached the land of Israel unharmed. This was the fulfillment of the condition he had set in his vow in 28,21 ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי, “and I will return in peace to the house of my father.” He did not wait until he had physically returned to the house of his father.

בבאו מפדן ארם, while he was still on the way to his father’s house. He began to fulfill the terms of his vow by building an altar This was in accordance with his promises והיה ה' לי לאלוקים. (the last words of his vow).

ויבא יעקב שלם, meaning that he had not incurred any damage or loss as a result of his encounter with Esau. He had not suffered any deterioration during his entire journey from Aram Naharayim. The matter is underlined to show that now that he had returned to the land of Canaan, his homeland, he suffered the indignity of his daughter Dinah being raped. Seeing that this happened at Shechem, the Torah mentions that town instead of telling us that he was 100% o.k. until he came to Sukkot and built himself a house. The Midrash understands the word שלם as a state of being, i.e. similar to when he had said יש לי כל,“I am blessed with everything,” in response to Esau having said יש לי רוב. “I have lots.”

את פני העיר; in front of the town. The expression is parallel to Proverbs 17,24 את פני מבין חכמה, “wisdom is in front of (available) any discerning person.” Perhaps the town was small so that there was not enough room to accommodate Yaakov whose entourage consisted of two camps. His presence inside the town might have cramped their quarters. He therefore erected his tent outside the borders of the town on the piece of land he had bought. According to our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 79,6 the words ויחן את פני העיר mean that seeing he arrived on Friday evening shortly before the onset of the Sabbath, he made an Eiruv Techumim, delineating the area he could walk within freely on the Sabbath. We would learn from here that Yaakov observed the Sabbath legislation down to Rabbinic decrees before such a legislation was given to his descendants at Mount Sinai.