Genesis 37:35 · Bible study
Genesis 37:35 Commentary: Refusing Comfort, Descent to Sheol
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why Jacob refuses comfort and what his words about Sheol reveal about his grief and ancient Israelite beliefs about the afterlife.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Jacob refuses comfort for his supposedly dead son and vows to descend to Sheol still mourning, expressing deep grief and a belief in continued existence after death.
- Key words: refused (מאן, Piel, strong rejection); comfort (נחם, to be sorry/console); Sheol (שאול, underworld/abode of the dead); mourning (אבל, state of grief).
- Main debate: Whether Jacob’s refusal to be comforted is sinful rebellion against God (Calvin, Wesley) or a natural, even poignant, expression of enduring love (most moderns).
- Theological theme: The partial revelation of life after death in the Old Testament; the honesty of lament; the tension between grief and hope.
- Best use: Pastoral care for the grieving; exploring Old Testament views of the afterlife; teaching on family deception and repentance.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.
WEB World English Bible 2000
All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” His father wept for him.
KJV King James Version 1769
And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down to Sheol to my son mourning. And his father wept for him.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
and all his sons and all his daughters rise to comfort him, and he refuseth to comfort himself, and saith, `For--I go down mourning unto my son, to Sheol,' and his father weepeth for him.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted, and said, For I will go down to my son into Sheol mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And all his children being gathered together to comfort their father in his sorrow, he would not receive comfort, but said: I will go down to my son into hell, mourning. And whilst he continued weeping,
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y levantáronse todos sus hijos y todas sus hijas para consolarlo; mas él no quiso tomar consolación, y dijo: Porque yo tengo de descender á mi hijo enlutado hasta la sepultura. Y llorólo su padre.
E levantaram-se todos os seus filhos e todas as suas filhas para consolá-lo; mas ele não quis tomar consolação, e disse: Porque eu tenho de descer a meu filho com luto até à sepultura. E chorou por ele seu pai.
Tous ses fils et toutes ses filles vinrent pour le consoler; mais il ne voulut recevoir aucune consolation. Il disait: C’ est en pleurant que je descendrai vers mon fils au séjour des morts! Et il pleurait son fils.
Und alle seine Söhne und Töchter traten auf, daß sie ihn trösteten; aber er wollte sich nicht trösten lassen und sprach: Ich werde mit Leid hinunterfahren in die Grube zu meinem Sohn. Und sein Vater beweinte ihn.
En al zijn zonen, en al zijn dochteren maakten zich op, om hem te troosten; maar hij weigerde zich te laten troosten, en zeide: Want ik zal, rouw bedrijvende, tot mijn zoon in het graf nederdalen. Alzo beweende hem zijn vader.
E tutti i suoi figliuoli e tutte le sue figliuole vennero a consolarlo; ma egli rifiutò d’esser consolato, e disse: “Io scenderò, facendo cordoglio, dal mio figliuolo, nel soggiorno de’ morti”. E suo padre lo pianse.
I zeszli się wszyscy synowie jego, i wszystkie córki jego, aby go cieszyli, lecz nie dał się cieszyć, ale mówił: Zaprawdę zstąpię za synem moim do grobu; i płakał go ojciec jego.
И собрались все сыновья его и все дочери его, чтобы утешить его; но он не хотел утешиться и сказал: с печалью сойду к сыну моему в преисподнюю. Так оплакивал его отец его.
他的 兒 女 都起來 安慰他，他卻不肯 受安慰，說：「我必 悲哀著 下 陰間，到 我兒子那裡。」約瑟的父親 就為他 哀哭。
And all his sons and all his daughters came to give him comfort, but he would not be comforted, saying with weeping, I will go down to the underworld to my son. So great was his father's sorrow for him.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Genesis 37:35
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree this verse captures Jacob's raw, unguarded grief. The Hebrew verb vayema'ein (and he refused) is a strong Piel form meaning he actively rejected comfort. Wesley and Calvin read this as a sinful excess, with Calvin adding that refusing human consolation can be a willful rebellion against God's chastening. But most interpreters see a deeper issue: Jacob's words about Sheol show he believes Joseph exists beyond death. As the Cambridge Bible notes, Sheol is the underworld where departed spirits have a shadowy existence. Jacob's determination to 'go down mourning' means he will carry his grief all the way to that realm, where Joseph will recognize his father's sorrow. Keil and Delitzsch add that the brothers' hypocrisy makes their comfort hollow. They are trying to console the father they have just deceived. The consensus holds that Jacob's refusal is both a measure of his love for Joseph and an expression of a worldview in which death does not annihilate relationship.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Sinful rebellion: Jacob rejects the comfort his children offer, indicating a stubborn refusal to submit to God’s will (Calvin, Wesley).
- Natural lament: The text does not censure Jacob; he expresses authentic grief that has its own legitimacy (many moderns, pastoral tradition).
- Hope in Sheol: Jacob’s words show he believes Joseph exists in Sheol and expects reunion there (Cambridge, Keil-Delitzsch, JFB).
What is clear: Jacob believed Joseph was dead, refused premature comfort, and expected to descend to Sheol still mourning, with the conviction that his son was there and would recognize his father's grief.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Nature of Jacob's refusal | Jacob refused comfort from his children because his grief was overwhelming. | Some see this as sinful excess rebelling against God (Calvin, Wesley). Others view it as a natural, even faithful, lament that God honors (many modern interpreters). |
| Identity of 'all his daughters' | The phrase refers to female relatives gathering to comfort Jacob. | Jewish tradition (Targum Jonathan) and some Christian commentators (Gill) hold that these are daughters-in-law or twin sisters born with each son. Others (Clarke) think it includes sons' wives, since only Dinah is named elsewhere. |
| Meaning of Sheol | Sheol is the abode of the dead, not merely the grave. | Some interpret Sheol as a neutral underworld (Cambridge, Keil). Others see it as a place of punishment (later tradition). Jacob's statement does not specify torment; he expects to go there mourning and be with his son. |
| Whether Jacob believed in an afterlife | Jacob expected to go to Sheol and be reunited with Joseph in some sense. | Conservative readers see this as evidence of an Old Testament belief in conscious existence after death. More skeptical readers view Sheol as a poetic metaphor for death's permanence; Jacob's words express despair, not confident hope. |
Historical & Cultural Context
This verse sits at the lowest point of Jacob's life. He believes his favorite son is dead, torn apart by a wild animal. His sons, who orchestrated the deception, now perform a grotesque charade: they rise together ('rose up,' Hebrew vayyakumu, implying concerted action) to comfort him. Their hypocrisy, noted by Adam Clarke and Calvin, compounds the tragedy.
Jacob's grief follows ancient Near Eastern mourning customs: tearing garments, wearing sackcloth, an extended period of lamentation. The detail 'all his sons and all his daughters' raises a question. Genesis earlier names only Dinah as a daughter. Gill and the Cambridge Bible suggest the phrase includes daughters-in-law, or that Jacob had twin daughters with each son (a Jewish tradition). Either way, the picture is of the entire family encircling a grieving patriarch.
The key theological term is Sheol. In Hebrew thought, Sheol is not the grave but the shadowy underworld where all the dead go. It is a place of silence and darkness, without praise of God (Psalm 115:17). Jacob expects to enter Sheol 'avel (mourning) and to be reunited with Joseph there. This is not a confident hope of resurrection, that develops later in Scripture, but a stubborn refusal to let go of his son even in death. The verb 'ered (I will go down) is a determined declaration, almost a vow. Cross-references in Genesis 42:38 and 44:29 show Jacob repeating this phrase, making it a theme: 'you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.'
Family dynamics intensify the pathos. Reuben, the firstborn, is absent when the plot unfolds (Genesis 37:29). The brothers, according to Keil and Delitzsch, lack the courage to confess. Their comfort is a mask. Jacob's grief is isolated, he mourns alone amid a crowd of deceivers.
Textual Notes
The verse is well-preserved in the Masoretic Text. The Septuagint reads 'all his sons and his daughters' consistently. The Dead Sea Scrolls (Genesis 37 fragment) show no significant variation. The main textual question is the identity of 'daughters,' which is an interpretive issue rather than a textual one. The consulted sources note no variants affecting meaning.
Reception History
This verse has been central to Christian meditation on grief and hope. Early church fathers like John Chrysostom used Jacob's tears to ask why God allows the righteous to suffer, seeing his lament as a model of honest prayer. Medieval Jewish commentators (Rashi, Ibn Ezra) focused on the Targum's reading that Isaac wept for Jacob, emphasizing family solidarity even in estrangement. During the Reformation, Calvin used Jacob's refusal of comfort as a warning against immoderate grief, while Matthew Henry drew from it the lesson that inordinate love leads to inordinate sorrow. Modern interpreters often return to the pastoral side: the text does not condemn Jacob. Its stark final line, 'his father wept for him', has been read at countless funerals and grief support groups as permission to mourn without false cheerfulness.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Grief that refuses to be rushed. Jacob rejects quick comfort. His refusal is not necessarily sinful; it is honest. The text does not condemn him. It shows that deep love leaves deep wounds.
- Deception that silences truth. The brothers try to comfort Jacob while hiding their crime. Their hypocrisy makes real comfort impossible. Healing begins when hidden sin is brought into light.
- Hope that reaches beyond the grave. Jacob expects to go to Sheol to his son. His words reflect a belief that death is not the end of relationship. Even in his despair, he grasps at something beyond the visible world.
Five-point outline
- The cost of favoritism. Jacob's preferential love for Joseph has already fractured his family. Now it magnifies his pain. The same love that brought him joy brings him agony.
- The mask of false comfort. The brothers assemble to console their father, but they are the cause of his sorrow. Their comfort is a lie. True comfort requires honesty.
- The right to lament. Jacob does not suppress his grief. He lets it out. Faith does not demand we be stoic. The Psalms model raw lament before God.
- The geography of the dead. Sheol was a real place in the ancient imagination: a dim, dusty region below the earth. Jacob imagines descending there, still in mourning clothes, and being seen by his son. This is not resurrection hope, but it is a refusal to let death separate them absolutely.
- A father's tears. The final phrase 'his father wept for him' is stark. God sees this sorrow. The God who numbers our tears (Psalm 56:8) is present in Jacob's unconsoled weeping.
Illustration hooks
- A bereaved parent who feels that friends' platitudes ring hollow. The experience of being surrounded by people who mean well but cannot enter your pain.
- A family secret that everyone knows but no one speaks. The tension of gathering around someone who has been betrayed by the very people comforting them.
- The longing for reunion after death, a hope that appears in many cultures. The sense that love is stronger than the grave.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Is it wrong to refuse comfort when I am grieving? What does faith look like in prolonged sorrow?
- How do I relate to people who have hurt me deeply when they try to 'make things right' without admitting fault?
- What does the Bible really teach about what happens after death? Is Sheol the same as hell?
Leading a Discussion
Jacob's grief is raw, honest, and complicated. His sons try to comfort him, but they are hiding a terrible secret. The text does not criticize Jacob for refusing comfort; it simply reports. This passage invites us to explore the nature of grief, the meaning of Sheol in biblical theology, and the challenge of family dynamics when trust is broken. Begin by reading the verse aloud. Then imagine the scene: Jacob in sackcloth, his sons standing around with forced sympathy, a blood-stained coat as evidence. What do you see, hear, feel?
Discussion questions
- Why do you think Jacob refused to be comforted? What does this tell us about the depth of his love for Joseph, and about his emotional state?
- The brothers 'rose up' together to comfort their father. How does their hidden sin affect the comfort they offer? Can comfort be genuine when it comes from people who have caused the pain?
- What does Jacob mean when he says, 'I will go down to Sheol to my son'? Based on the cross-references (Genesis 42:38; 44:29; 44:31), how does Jacob picture Sheol?
- Is Jacob's refusal to be comforted a failure of faith, or is it a natural, even faithful, expression of grief? What does the rest of Scripture suggest about how God views our laments?
- In what situations have you experienced or witnessed comfort that felt hollow? What made it genuine or false?
- The text says 'his father wept for him.' How does this simple statement speak to God's own heart for those who suffer? How can we comfort others without minimizing their pain?
- Jacob's vision of Sheol is not a clear hope of resurrection. How does the fuller revelation of the New Testament change the Christian's hope in the face of death? Read John 11:25-26 and 1 Corinthians 15:55-57.
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Genesis 31:43 | Laban answered Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine! What can I do today to these my daughters, or to their children whom they have borne? |
| Genesis 35:22 | While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. |
| Genesis 35:26 | The sons of Zilpah (Leah’s servant): Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram. |
| Genesis 42:31 | We said to him, ‘We are honest men. We are no spies. |
| 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 along the way in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.” |
| Genesis 44:29 | If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.’ |
| Genesis 44:31 | it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol. |
| Genesis 45:28 | Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes the bitter irony in Jacob's sons trying to comfort him over Joseph's death. They knew Joseph was alive, so their comfort was sheer hypocrisy and their silence was cruel, needlessly prolonging their father's grief.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin sees the sons' attempt to comfort Jacob as hollow dissimulation. He argues that Jacob's refusal to be comforted does not mean he cast off patience toward God. Rather, Jacob rejects only the empty human consolations offered by his hypocritical sons, while remaining submissive to the Lord.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge Bible notes that Jacob's words about going to the grave point to Sheol, the Hebrew underworld of shadowy existence. Jacob expects to arrive there still mourning, and his son's shade will recognize the signs of his father's grief. The phrase means more than premature death; it describes carrying lamentation into the afterlife itself.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes highlight Jacob’s refusal to accept consolation because he clings to the hope of reuniting with Joseph in death. By stating he will go down to the grave mourning, Jacob insists that his grief is permanent and inseparable from his love for his son. This perspective frames his sorrow not as a phase to be overcome, but as an enduring testament to their bond.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill questions the identity of Jacob's daughters who rose to comfort him, noting the Jewish tradition that each son had a twin sister. He clarifies that Jacob's refusal to be comforted does not mean he will go literally to the grave, but that he will mourn continually until his own death.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB clarifies that Jacob did not mean the earthly grave when he spoke of going down to his son. He was referring to the unknown place of departed souls, where he fully expected to be reunited with Joseph after death.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch highlight how Jacob’s refusal of comfort stems from his certainty that Joseph was torn apart by beasts, signaled by the emphatic Hebrew phrase for violent destruction. They argue this conviction made Sheol appear as an inevitable destination where he would join his son, rendering any earthly consolation impossible.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange sees this verse as part of a larger pattern where God guides the elect from suffering to joy, a law that culminates in Jesus. He views Joseph’s history not just as personal tragedy but as a type of Christ, showing how evil plots are converted into salvation and glory for many.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry sees the brothers' deception as a twofold sin: they try to clear themselves from suspicion by covering one crime with another, and they design the bloody coat specifically to wound their father, taking revenge on him for loving Joseph best.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley highlights that Jacob's refusal to be comforted shows a dangerous pattern: strong attachment to any creature prepares us for even greater sorrow when that creature is taken away. Inordinate love, he warns, naturally ends in immoderate grief.