Genesis 37:34

Summary

This verse narrates Jacob's mourning ritual after being led to believe his son Joseph is dead: he tears his clothes, puts sackcloth on his loins, and mourns for many days. The three actions are presented as a sequence of narrative verbs describing the customary gestures of grief.

Key words

• va-yiqRa' ("he tore", H7167) — qal narrative verb, the wayyiqtol form marking the first sequential action in the chain of events.
• simloTav ("his clothes", H8071) — feminine plural noun in construct with the possessive suffix "his," referring to Jacob's garments as the object torn.
• va-yaSem ("he put", H7760H) — qal narrative verb continuing the sequence, introducing the second action (placing sackcloth).
• va-yit'aBel ("he mourned", H0056) — hithpael narrative verb; the hithpael stem here conveys a reflexive/self-directed action, "he made himself mourn" or "he engaged in mourning."
• yaMim raBim ("many days", H3117G + H7227A) — plural noun with plural adjective in agreement, indicating extended duration rather than a single moment.

What the text says

The verse is built as a chain of three wayyiqtol (narrative) verbs, each introduced by the vav consecutive: va-yiqra' ("and he tore"), va-yasem ("and he put"), va-yit'abbel ("and he mourned"). This chain structure presents the actions as sequential events following one another in the story, each flowing from the previous.

The first two verbs (yiqra', yasem) are in the qal (simple active) stem, describing direct physical actions: tearing garments and placing sackcloth on the loins (motnav, H4975, a dual-form noun referring to the pair of loins/hips). The third verb, yit'abbel, shifts to the hithpael stem, a form associated with reflexive or self-involved action. This grammatical shift distinguishes the internal/ongoing state of mourning from the two preceding discrete physical acts — the hithpael suggests Jacob entering into or performing the state of mourning, rather than a single completed act like tearing or placing.

The final phrase, yamim rabbim ("many days"), uses a plural noun modified by a plural adjective in agreement, marking the mourning as extended over time rather than a momentary act, in contrast to the two initial punctual verbs.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders va-yit'abbel with ἐπένθει (imperfect tense, "he was mourning"), which grammatically emphasizes ongoing/continuous action, aligning with the durative sense of the Hebrew hithpael combined with "many days." The Vulgate uses "lugens" (present participle, "mourning"), similarly framing the mourning as a continuing state accompanying the main verbs. Where the Hebrew has yamim rabbim ("many days," plural noun + plural adjective), the LXX has ἡμέρας τινάς ("some/certain days"), a phrase with a different nuance (indefinite quantity rather than explicitly "many"), while the Vulgate's "multo tempore" ("for a long time") corresponds more closely to the Hebrew's emphasis on duration.