Genesis 42:23

And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
knew	יָֽדְע֔וּ ya.de.'U	H3045	to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
Joseph	יוֹסֵ֑ף yo.Sef	H3130	Joseph · proper noun, a man's name
understood	שֹׁמֵ֖עַ sho.Me.a'	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
interpreter	הַמֵּלִ֖יץ ha.me.Litz	H3887	properly · definite article + verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

John 16:13-14 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall…
2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 42:21-28

Here is, I. The penitent reflection Joseph's brethren made upon the wrong they had formerly done to him, Gen 42:21. They talked the matter over in the Hebrew tongue, not suspecting that Joseph, whom they took for a native of Egypt, understood them, much less that he was the person they spoke of. 1. They remembered with regret the barbarous cruelty wherewith they persecuted him: We are verily guilty concerning our brother. We do not read that they said this during their three days' imprisonment; but now, when the matter had come to some issue and they saw themselves still embarrassed, now they began to relent. Perhaps Joseph's mention of the fear of God (Gen 42:18) put them upon consideration…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 42:17

put them . . . into ward three days--Their confinement had been designed to bring them to salutary reflection. And this object was attained, for they looked upon the retributive justice of God as now pursuing them in that foreign land. The drift of their conversation is one of the most striking instances on record of the power of conscience [Gen 42:21-22].

Adam Clarke on Genesis 42:23

For he spake unto them by an interpreter - Either there was a very great difference between the two languages as then spoken, or Joseph, to prevent all suspicion, might affect to be ignorant of both. We have many evidences in this book that the Egyptians, Hebrews, Canaanites, and Syrians, could understand each other in a general way, though there are also proofs that there was a considerable difference between their dialects.

John Gill on Genesis 42:23

And they knew not that Joseph understood them,.... For what is above related they spoke in his presence and hearing; but speaking to one another in the Hebrew language, and he being an Egyptian, as they took him to be, they did not imagine that he could understand them, and therefore were not at all upon their guard in what they said: and what confirmed them in this was: for he spake unto them by an interpreter; which he the rather chose to do, that they might have no suspicion of him; and which shows, that though there was a likeness between the Hebrew language and the Egyptian in many things, yet in some they differed, and the difference was such that there was need of an interpreter, whe…

The Church Fathers

ON THIS PASSAGE: THEY DID NOT KNOW THAT JOSEPH HEARD THEM, FOR THERE WAS OF THEM AN INTERPRETER. —What do the words of the Scripture mean: They did not know that Joseph understood them, because there was an interpreter between them ? The words refer to the repentant conversation of the children of Israel concerning their brother Joseph, in the sense that they had wronged him, and that God punished them for it, for they saw that they were in danger. This text must be interpreted in the sense that the brothers thought that Joseph did not understand them, because they saw the interpreter who stood between them. And they told him nothing of what they were talking about, believing that the interpreter was there precisely because Joseph ignored his tongue. They thought that the interpreter did not bother to say to the one who had put him there, the things that they did not say to him, but they commented to each other. [
— Augustine of Hippo, QUESTIONS ON GENESIS, Q. 139 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Joseph — Remover or increaser. (1.) The elder of the two sons of Jacob by Rachel (Gen. 30:23, 24), who, on the occasion of his birth, said, “God hath taken away [Heb. ‘asaph] my reproach.” “The Lord shall add…
Commerce · Egyptians — Egyptians
Interpreter · Of languages — Of languages
Language · Interpretation of: Antiquity of engaging persons for — Interpretation of: Antiquity of engaging persons for

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 42:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 42:21-28

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 42:17

Adam Clarke on Genesis 42:23

John Gill on Genesis 42:23

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 42:23

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 42:21-28

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 42:17

Adam Clarke on Genesis 42:23

John Gill on Genesis 42:23

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 42:22-26

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 42:18-25

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 42:22

Rashi on Genesis 42:23