And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

And tearing his garments, he put an sackcloth, mourning for his son a long time.

And Jacob rendeth his raiment, and putteth sackcloth on his loins, and becometh a mourner 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 tearing his garments, he was clothed in haircloth, mourning his son for a long time.

Et scidit Iahacob vestimenta sua, et posuit saccum in lumbis suis, et luxit super filio suo diebus multis.

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.

Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins--the common signs of Oriental mourning. A rent is made in the skirt more or less long according to the afflicted feelings of the mourner, and a coarse rough piece of black sackcloth or camel's hair cloth is wound round the waist.