the Third Sunday after Easter
Click here to join the effort!
Read the Bible
THE MESSAGE
Genesis 37:34
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- CondensedParallel Translations
Ya`akov tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
And Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.
Then Jacob tore his clothes and put on rough cloth to show that he was upset, and he continued to be sad about his son for a long time.
Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourned for his son many days.
So Jacob tore his clothes [in grief], put on sackcloth and mourned many days for his son.
So Jacob tore his clothes, and put on a sackcloth undergarment over his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
And Iaakob rent his clothes, & put sackecloth about his loynes, and sorowed for his sonne a long season.
So Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.
Jacob mourned for Joseph a long time, and to show his sorrow he tore his clothes and wore sackcloth.
Ya‘akov tore his clothes and, putting sackcloth around his waist, mourned his son for many days.
And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Jacob was so sorry about his son that he tore his clothes. Then Jacob put on special clothes to show that he was sad. He continued to be sad about his son for a long time.
Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.
Then Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Jacob tore his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. He mourned for his son a long time.
Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
And Jacob tore his clothing and put sackcloth on his loins. And he mourned many days for his son.
And Iacob rete his clothes, and put a sack cloth aboute his loynes, & mourned for his sonne a longe season.
And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Then Jacob, giving signs of grief, put on haircloth, and went on weeping for his son day after day.
And Iacob rent his clothes, & put sackcloth about his loynes, and mourned for his sonne a long season.
And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
And Iacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth vpon his loines, & mourned for his sonne many dayes.
And all his sons and his daughters gathered themselves together, and came to comfort him; but he would not be comforted, saying, I will go down to my son mourning to Hades; and his father wept for him.
And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
And he to-rente his clothis, and he was clothid with an heire, and biweilide his sone in myche tyme.
And Jacob rendeth his raiment, and putteth sackcloth on his loins, and becometh a mourner for his son many days,
And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
Then Jacob tore his clothes and dressed himself in burlap. He mourned deeply for his son for a long time.
So Jacob tore his clothes and dressed in clothes made from hair. He had sorrow for his son many days.
Then Jacob tore his garments, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, - and mourned over his son many days.
And tearing his garments, he put on sackcloth, mourning for his son a long time.
Then Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Genesis 37:29, Joshua 7:6, 2 Samuel 1:11, 2 Samuel 3:31, 1 Kings 20:31, 1 Kings 21:27, 2 Kings 19:1, 1 Chronicles 21:16, Ezra 9:3-5, Nehemiah 9:1, Esther 4:1-3, Job 1:20, Job 2:12, Psalms 69:11, Isaiah 22:12, Isaiah 22:13, Isaiah 32:11, Isaiah 36:22, Isaiah 37:1, Isaiah 37:2, Jeremiah 36:24, Joel 2:13, Jonah 3:5-8, Matthew 11:21, Matthew 26:65, Acts 14:14, Revelation 11:3
Reciprocal: Leviticus 21:10 - uncover Numbers 14:6 - rent their clothes Judges 11:35 - rent his clothes 2 Samuel 1:2 - clothes 2 Samuel 13:31 - arose 2 Kings 18:37 - with their clothes rent 1 Chronicles 7:22 - mourned Ecclesiastes 3:7 - time to rend Jeremiah 45:3 - added Jeremiah 48:37 - upon the loins
Cross-References
Meanwhile Jacob had settled down where his father had lived, the land of Canaan.
Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was the child of his old age. And he made him an elaborately embroidered coat. When his brothers realized that their father loved him more than them, they grew to hate him—they wouldn't even speak to him.
Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said, "Listen to this dream I had. We were all out in the field gathering bundles of wheat. All of a sudden my bundle stood straight up and your bundles circled around it and bowed down to mine."
His brothers said, "So! You're going to rule us? You're going to boss us around?" And they hated him more than ever because of his dreams and the way he talked.
His brothers had gone off to Shechem where they were pasturing their father's flocks. Israel said to Joseph, "Your brothers are with flocks in Shechem. Come, I want to send you to them." Joseph said, "I'm ready."
Later Reuben came back and went to the cistern—no Joseph! He ripped his clothes in despair. Beside himself, he went to his brothers. "The boy's gone! What am I going to do!"
Joshua ripped his clothes and fell on his face to the ground before the Chest of God , he and the leaders throwing dirt on their heads, prostrate until evening.
In lament, David ripped his clothes to ribbons. All the men with him did the same. They wept and fasted the rest of the day, grieving the death of Saul and his son Jonathan, and also the army of God and the nation Israel, victims in a failed battle.
David ordered Joab and all the men under him, "Rip your cloaks into rags! Wear mourning clothes! Lead Abner's funeral procession with loud lament!" King David followed the coffin. They buried Abner in Hebron. The king's voice was loud in lament as he wept at the side of Abner's grave. All the people wept, too.
At about this same time Ben-Hadad king of Aram mustered his troops. He recruited in addition thirty-two local sheiks, all outfitted with horses and chariots. He set out in force and surrounded Samaria, ready to make war. He sent an envoy into the city to set his terms before Ahab king of Israel: "Ben-Hadad lays claim to your silver and gold, and to the pick of your wives and sons." The king of Israel accepted the terms: "As you say, distinguished lord; I and everything I have is yours." But then the envoy returned a second time, saying, "On second thought, I want it all—your silver and gold and all your wives and sons. Hand them over—the whole works. I'll give you twenty-four hours; then my servants will arrive to search your palace and the houses of your officials and loot them; anything that strikes their fancy, they'll take." The king of Israel called a meeting of all his tribal elders. He said, "Look at this—outrageous! He's just looking for trouble. He means to clean me out, demanding all my women and children. And after I already agreed to pay him off handsomely!" The elders, backed by the people, said, "Don't cave in to him. Don't give an inch." So he sent an envoy to Ben-Hadad, "Tell my distinguished lord, ‘I agreed to the terms you delivered the first time, but this I can't do—this I won't do!'" The envoy went back and delivered the answer. Ben-Hadad shot back his response: "May the gods do their worst to me, and then worse again, if there'll be anything left of Samaria but rubble." The king of Israel countered, "Think about it—it's easier to start a fight than end one." It happened that when Ben-Hadad heard this retort he was into some heavy drinking, boozing it up with the sheiks in their field shelters. Drunkenly, he ordered his henchmen, "Go after them!" And they attacked the city. Just then a lone prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and said, " God 's word: Have you taken a good look at this mob? Well, look again—I'm turning it over to you this very day. And you'll know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I am God ." Ahab said, "Really? And who is going to make this happen?" God said, "The young commandos of the regional chiefs." "And who," said Ahab, "will strike the first blow?" God said, "You." Ahab looked over the commandos of the regional chiefs; he counted 232. Then he assessed the available troops—7,000. At noon they set out after Ben-Hadad who, with his allies, the thirty-two sheiks, was busy at serious drinking in the field shelters. The commandos of the regional chiefs made up the vanguard. A report was brought to Ben-Hadad: "Men are on their way from Samaria." He said, "If they've come in peace, take them alive as hostages; if they've come to fight, the same—take them alive as hostages." The commandos poured out of the city with the full army behind them. They hit hard in hand-to-hand combat. The Arameans scattered from the field, with Israel hard on their heels. But Ben-Hadad king of Aram got away on horseback, along with his cavalry. The king of Israel cut down both horses and chariots—an enormous defeat for Aram. Sometime later the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, "On the alert now—build up your army, assess your capabilities, and see what has to be done. Before the year is out, the king of Aram will be back in force." Meanwhile the advisors to the king of Aram said, "Their god is a god of the mountains—we don't stand a chance against them there. So let's engage them on the plain where we'll have the advantage. Here's the strategy: Remove each sheik from his place of leadership and replace him with a seasoned officer. Then recruit a fighting force equivalent in size to the army that deserted earlier—horse for horse, chariot for chariot. And we'll fight them on the plain—we're sure to prove stronger than they are." It sounded good to the king; he did what they advised. As the new year approached, Ben-Hadad rallied Aram and they went up to Aphek to make war on Israel. The Israelite army prepared to fight and took the field to meet Aram. They moved into battle formation before Aram in two camps, like two flocks of goats. The plain was seething with Arameans. Just then a holy man approached the king of Israel saying, "This is God 's word: Because Aram said, ‘ God is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,' I'll hand over this huge mob of an army to you. Then you'll know that I am God ." The two armies were poised in a standoff for seven days. On the seventh day fighting broke out. The Israelites killed 100,000 of the Aramean infantry in one day. The rest of the army ran for their lives back to the city, Aphek, only to have the city wall fall on 27,000 of the survivors. Ben-Hadad escaped into the city and hid in a closet. Then his advisors told him, "Look, we've heard that the kings of Israel play by the rules; let's dress in old gunnysacks, carry a white flag of truce, and present ourselves to the king of Israel on the chance that he'll let you live."
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And Jacob rent his clothes,.... As expressive of his grief and mourning for the death of his son, as he supposed:
and put sackcloth upon his loins; put off his usual apparel, and put on a coarse garment on his loins next to his flesh, as another token of his great trouble and affliction for the loss of his son; which though afterwards was frequently done in times of public or private mourning, yet this is the first time we read of it; whether Jacob was the first that used it, whom his posterity and others imitated, is not certain; however it appears that this usage, as well as that of rending clothes on sorrowful occasions, were very ancient:
and mourned for his son many days: or years, as days sometimes signify; twenty two years, according to Jarchi, even until the time he went down to Egypt and saw him alive.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- Joseph Was Sold into Egypt
17. דתין dotayı̂n Dothain, “two wells?” (Gesenius)
25. נכאת neko't “tragacanth” or goat’s-thorn gum, yielded by the “astragalus gummifer”, a native of Mount Lebanon. צרי tsērı̂y “opobalsamum,” the resin of the balsam tree, growing in Gilead, and having healing qualities. לט loṭ, λῆδον lēdon, “ledum, ladanum,” in the Septuagint στακτή staktē. The former is a gum produced from the cistus rose. The latter is a gum resembling liquid myrrh.
36. פוטיפר pôṭı̂yphar Potiphar, “belonging to the sun.”
The sketch of the race of Edom, given in the preceding piece, we have seen, reaches down to the time of Moses. Accordingly, the history of Jacob’s seed, which is brought before us in the present document, reverts to a point of time not only before the close of that piece, but before the final record of what precedes it. The thread of the narrative is here taken up from the return of Jacob to Hebron, which was seventeen years before the death of Isaac.
Genesis 37:1-5
Joseph is the favorite of his father, but not of his brethren. “In the land of his father’s sojournings.” This contrasts Jacob with Esau, who removed to Mount Seir. This notice precedes the phrase, “These are the generations.” The corresponding sentence in the case of Isaac is placed at the end of the preceding section of the narrative Genesis 25:11. “The son of seventeen years;” in his seventeenth year Genesis 37:32. “The sons of Bilhah.” The sons of the handmaids were nearer his own age, and perhaps more tolerant of the favorite than the sons of Leah the free wife. Benjamin at this time was about four years of age. “An evil report of them.” The unsophisticated child of home is prompt in the disapproval of evil, and frank in the avowal of his feelings. What the evil was we are not informed; but Jacob’s full-grown sons were now far from the paternal eye, and prone, as it seems, to give way to temptation. Many scandals come out to view in the chosen family. “Loved Joseph.” He was the son of his best-loved wife, and of his old age; as Benjamin had not yet come into much notice. “A Coat of many colors.” This was a coat reaching to the hands and feet, worn by persons not much occupied with manual labor, according to the general opinion. It was, we conceive, variegated either by the loom or the needle, and is therefore, well rendered χιτὼν ποικίλος chitōn poikilos, a motley coat. “Could not bid peace to him.” The partiality of his father, exhibited in so weak a manner, provokes the anger of his brothers, who cannot bid him good-day, or greet him in the ordinary terms of good-will.
Genesis 37:5-11
Joseph’s dreams excite the jealousy of his brothers. His frankness in reciting his dream to his brothers marks a spirit devoid of guile, and only dimly conscious of the import of his nightly visions. The first dream represents by a figure the humble submission of all his brothers to him, as they rightly interpret it. “For his dreams and for his words.” The meaning of this dream was offensive enough, and his telling of it rendered it even more disagreeable. A second dream is given to express the certainty of the event Genesis 41:32. The former serves to interpret the latter. There the sheaves are connected with the brothers who bound them, and thereby indicate the parties. The eleven stars are not so connected with them. But here Joseph is introduced directly without a figure, and the number eleven, taken along with the eleven sheaves of the former dream, makes the application to the brothers plain. The sun and moon clearly point out the father and mother. The mother is to be taken, we conceive, in the abstract, without nicely inquiring whether it means the departed Rachel, or the probably still living Leah. Not even the latter seems to have lived to see the fulfillment of this prophetic dream Genesis 49:31. The second dream only aggravated the hatred of his brothers; but his father, while rebuking him for his speeches, yet marked the saying. The rebuke seems to imply that the dream, or the telling of it, appears to his father to indicate the lurking of a self-sufficient or ambitious spirit within the breast of the youthful Joseph. The twofold intimation, however, came from a higher source.
Genesis 37:12-17
Joseph is sent to Dothan. Shekem belonged to Jacob; part of it by purchase, and the rest by conquest. Joseph is sent to inquire of their welfare (שׁלום shālom “peace,” Genesis 37:4). With obedient promptness the youth goes to Shekem, where he learns that they had removed to Dothan, a town about twelve miles due north of Shekem.
Genesis 37:18-24
His brothers cast him into a pit. “This master of dreams;” an eastern phrase for a dreamer. “Let us slay him.” They had a foreboding that his dreams might prove true, and that he would become their arbitrary master. This thought at all events would abate somewhat of the barbarity of their designs. It is implied in the closing sentence of their proposal. Reuben dissuades them from the act of murder, and advises merely to cast him into the pit, to which they consent. He had a more tender heart, and perhaps a more tender conscience than the rest, and intended to send Joseph back safe to his father. He doubtless took care to choose a pit that was without water.
Genesis 37:25-30
Reuben rips his clothes when he finds Joseph gone. “To eat bread.” This shows the cold and heartless cruelty of their deed. “A caravan” - a company of travelling merchants. “Ishmaelites.” Ishmael left his father’s house when about fourteen or fifteen years of age. His mother took him a wife probably when he was eighteen, or twenty at the furthest. He had arrived at the latter age about one hundred and sixty-two years before the date of the present occurrence. He had twelve sons Genesis 25:13-15, and if we allow only four other generations and a fivefold increase, there will be about fifteen thousand in the fifth generation. “Came from Gilead;” celebrated for its balm Jeremiah 8:22; Jeremiah 46:11. The caravan road from Damascus to Egypt touches upon the land of Gilead, goes through Beth-shean, and passes by Dothan. “Spicery.” This gum is called tragacanth, or goats-thorn gum, because it was supposed to be obtained from this plant. “Balm,” or balsam; an aromatic substance obtained from a plant of the genus Amyris, a native of Gilead. “Myrrh” is the name of a gum exuding from the balsamodendron myrrha, growing in Arabia Felix. “Lot,” however, is supposed to be the resinous juice of the cistus or rock rose, a plant growing in Crete and Syria. Judah, relenting, and revolting perhaps from the crime of fratricide, proposes to sell Joseph to the merchants.
Midianites and Medanites Genesis 37:36 are mere variations apparently of the same name. They seem to have been the actual purchasers, though the caravan takes its name from the Ishmaelites, who formed by far the larger portion of it. Midian and Medan were both sons of Abraham, and during one hundred and twenty-five years must have increased to a small clan. Thus, Joseph is sold to the descendants of Abraham. “Twenty silver pieces;” probably shekels. This is the rate at which Moses estimates a male from five to twenty years old Leviticus 27:5. A man-servant was valued by him at thirty shekels Exodus 21:32. Reuben finding Joseph gone, rends his clothes, in token of anguish of mind for the loss of his brother and the grief of his father.
Genesis 37:31-36
The brothers contrive to conceal their crime; and Joseph is sold into Egypt. “Torn, torn in pieces is Joseph.” The sight of the bloody coat convinces Jacob at once that Joseph has been devoured by a wild beast. “All his daughters.” Only one daughter of Jacob is mentioned by name. These are probably his daughters-in-law. “To the grave.” Sheol is the place to which the soul departs at death. It is so called from its ever craving, or being empty. “Minister.” This word originally means eunuch, and then, generally, any officer about the court or person of the sovereign. “Captain of the guards.” The guards are the executioners of the sentences passed by the sovereign on culprits, which were often arbitrary, summary, and extremely severe. It is manifest, from this dark chapter, that the power of sin has not been extinguished in the family of Jacob. The name of God does not appear, and his hand is at present only dimly seen among the wicked designs, deeds, and devices of these unnatural brothers. Nevertheless, his counsel of mercy standeth sure, and fixed is his purpose to bring salvation to the whole race of man, by means of his special covenant with Abraham.
