Genèse 32:8

'He was afraid' that he [Esau] might kill him [Jacob] and he was 'distressed' that he [Esau] might kill others.

And Jakob was greatly afraid, because for twenty years he had not been mindful of the glory of his father: and he had anxiety; and he divided the people who were with him, the sheep, and oxen, and camels, into three troops, for a portion. to Leah, and a portion to Rahel.

THEN JACOB WAS GREATLY AFRAID. This was because they told him that Esau had gone forth from his city and was coming to meet Jacob, and moreover, that he took along many men — four hundred. He thus greatly feared for his life, for he said, “He has not taken all these men except for the purpose of waging war against me.”
It appears to me in this matter that Esau did not receive the messengers properly and paid them no heed. Perhaps they did not even come before him for he did not at all give permission for them to come before him and speak to him for otherwise, Scripture would have related that Esau questioned them concerning his brother’s welfare and about his circumstances and those of his household and children. [Scripture further would have told how Esau requested] that they convey greetings to Jacob and tell him that he is proceeding towards him to see him, and they would have told it thus to Jacob. Scripture, however, does not narrate that the messengers transmitted a word in Esau’s name. Instead, he [Esau] kept his wrath in his heart, and he came with his army for the purpose of doing Jacob evil. Now the messengers had investigated the matter in the camp, and they knew that he was going to meet Jacob. This is the meaning of the word vegam (and moreover) [in the verse, and moreover he goeth to meet thee], for they said, “We came to thy brother Esau, but he did not answer us a word, and he sent you no greeting, and moreover, he goeth to meet thee with might and an army.” This was why he added fear to his fear, as Scripture says, And Jacob was greatly afraid, and was distressed. And so our Rabbis said that the messengers recognized hatred in him[Esau]. Thus they said: “We came to thy brother Esau. You behave towards him like a brother, but he behaves towards you like Esau the villain.” However, in the end, when Esau saw the great honor that Jacob bestowed upon him and how he prostrated himself before him, bowing to the ground seven times from the distance until he approached him, his mercy was aroused, and he thought that Jacob is recognizing his birthright and his pre-eminence, as I have explained. And with this he was comforted, for the hearts belong to G-d, Who turns them whither He will.

ויירא יעקב, in his heart; Although he had pretended to his messengers that Esau approached with a large delegation in order to honour him, he did not believe this himself, but he was convinced that Esau’s intentions were hostile.

ויצר, a word derived from the same root as Numbers 25,17 צרור את המדינים, “harass the Midianites.” The construction is not unlike that of the word ותקל in Genesis 16,4 which describes Hagar’s attitude to her mistress after she had become pregnant by Avraham. The word there is derived from the root קלל.

ויחץ, from the root חצה, to divide into half. We find this word in this sense in Numbers 31,42 describing Moses as having divided the booty from the Midianites into two halves.

ויירא ויצר, the reason why the Torah repeated the emotions Yaakov experienced twice but in different words was to underline how strongly he felt this fear. In Bereshit Rabbah 76,2 these two expressions are described as basically meaning the same thing, the only difference being that the former is intransitive, Yaakov being afraid of being killed, whereas the latter describes a similar fear, but that of having to kill one’s adversary.

ויחץ, Rabbah Chiyah said that in this part of the verse the Torah teaches us prudence. A man must not place all his eggs in one basket.

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, “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.)