The shock of the discovery cannot be expressed in words but only in a desperate gesture of grief.

Rent their clothes: see 37.29. In this context the action expresses the emotion of grief or horror: “… because they were very upset.”

The text does not say if the steward took the cup. Furthermore nothing is said about the money in the sacks. With dismay and disbelief the brothers load their animals and return, probably under the threatening scrutiny of the steward, to the city and to Joseph’s house.

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 .