When one of them was gone, I said: “Surely he has been torn to pieces.” And I have not seen him since.
Parallel translations
- WEB and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn in pieces”; and I haven’t seen him since.
- KJV And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since:
- NKJV and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn to pieces”; and I have not seen him since.
- NASB and the one left me, and I said, “Surely he is torn to pieces,” and I have not seen him since.
- NLT and one of them went away and never returned. Doubtless he was torn to pieces by some wild animal. I have never seen him since.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jacob had concluded one son was torn to pieces and never seen again. His unhealed grief over Joseph drives the warning about Benjamin.
Overview
Judah quotes Jacob's lasting sorrow over Joseph, whom he believes destroyed by a beast. The words carry dramatic irony, spoken before the very son presumed dead. Jacob's enduring grief underscores how a second loss would utterly crush him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Gen 37:33His father recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!”
- Gen 37:13–14Israel said to him, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flocks at Shechem? Get ready; I am sending you to them.” “I am ready,” Joseph replied.
- Gen 42:36Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is going against me!”
- Gen 42:38But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If any harm comes to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 44:28 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.