He recognized it: Jacob saw that it was Joseph’s robe. In some languages it may be more natural to say, for example, “He looked at it and said ‘Yes, it is my son’s robe….’ ”

A wild beast has devoured him: wild beast renders a term used for wild animals in contrast to domestic ones. In translation this may be represented as in Good News Translation or by the name of an animal of prey that attacks and kills domestic animals. Devoured in English expresses the greedy eating of a hungry animal. It may be necessary to say “has killed and eaten him.”

Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces: the Hebrew expression is a lament in which the words have repeating sounds or alliteration: tarof toraf yosef. A few translations have tried to bring out the element of mourning by using traditional lament forms in this sentence; for example, “Oh my son Joseph! Something has destroyed him!”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .