Genesis 44:28

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

and the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he is torn in pieces;" and I haven't seen him since.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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טָרֹ֣ף

ṭâraph

H2963

“to tear”

Verb, Qal, Infinitive Absolute

Appears 25× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 37:33

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 827

to tear, rend, pluck - (Qal) to tear, rend - (Niphal) to be torn in pieces - (Poal) to be torn in pieces - (Hiphil) to provide food

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

11: words
10: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is טָרֹ֣ף to tear H2963 — appearing just 25 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

טָרֹ֣ף to tear H2963 occurs in 22 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

5 verbs
1 adjective
2 prepositions
1 adverb
2 particles

Verb forms

וַיֵּצֵ֤א Qal · Sequential Imperfect
וָאֹמַ֕ר Qal · Sequential Imperfect
טָרֹ֣ף Qal · Infinitive Absolute
טֹרָ֑ף Qal Passive · Perfect
רְאִיתִ֖יו Qal · Perfect

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

טָרֹ֣ף to tear H2963 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 22 words from the Hebrew and 24 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 11 Hebrew tokens and 18 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Genesis 44:28 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Genesis 37:33 He recognized it, and said, "It is my son's coat. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces."
Genesis 37:13–14 Israel said to Joseph, "Aren't your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." He said to him, "Here I am."
Genesis 42:36 Jacob, their father, said to them, "You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me."
Genesis 42:38 He said, "My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm happens to him by the way in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol."

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Genesis 44:28 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיֵּצֵ֤א הָֽאֶחָד֙ מֵֽאִתִּ֔י וָאֹמַ֕ר אַ֖ךְ טָרֹ֣ף טֹרָ֑ף וְלֹ֥א רְאִיתִ֖יו עַד הֵֽנָּה

and the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he is torn in pieces;" and I haven't seen him since.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Genesis 44:28 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ἐκἔρχομαι ὁ εἷς ἀπό ἐγώ καί εἶπον ὅτι θηριοβρώτος γίγνομαι καί οὐ ὁράω αὐτός ἔτι καί νῦν

and one is departed from me; and you⌃ said that he was devoured of wild beasts, and I have not seen him until now.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וּנְפַק חַד מִלְוָתִי וַאֲמָרִית בְּרַם מִקְטַל קְטִיל וְלָא חֲזִתֵּהּ עַד כְּעָן

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְנָפַק חַד מִלְוָתִי וַאֲמָרִית בְּרַם מִיקְטַל קְטִיל וְלָא חֲמִיתֵיהּ עַד כְּדוֹן

One went forth from me, and I said, Surely he is dead, and I have not beheld him since;

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Genesis 44:28 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

28. and I have not seen him since] The unconscious pathos in the words which Judah uses must have struck Joseph to the heart.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And the one went out from, me,.... Being sent by him to see how his brethren did, who were feeding his flocks at Shechem, and he had never returned to him to that day:

and I said, surely he is torn in pieces; by some wild beast; this he said on sight of his coat, being shown him all bloody:

and I saw him not since; now twenty two years ago; for though Joseph was not such a great way off his father, especially if he was at Memphis, as some think; yet what through his confinement as a servant in Potiphar's house, and then for some years in prison, and through the multiplicity of business when advanced in Pharaoh's court, he had no leisure and opportunity of visiting his father; and especially so it was ordered by the providence of God that he should not, that he might be made known at the most proper time for the glory of God, and the good of his family.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Keil & Delitzsch

C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch

ואמר, preceded by a preterite, is to be rendered "and I was obliged to say, Only (nothing but) torn in pieces has he become."

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Genesis, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 11 words (10 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is ṭâraph (“to tear”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “to tear” (ṭâraph) shape what this verse is saying?
Genesis 37:33 shares the word «to tear» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“to tear” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
The verb «וַיֵּצֵ֤א» is Qal Sequential Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges and John Gill's Exposition read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 11 Hebrew ↔ 18 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 9 words in this verse.
“to tear” occurs 2× in this single verse.
10 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 11 words in this verse.