Genesis 42:7

And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Joseph	יוֹסֵ֛ף yo.Sef	H3130	Joseph · proper noun, a man's name
saw	וַיַּ֥רְא vai.Yar'	H7200	to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
brethren	אֶחָ֖יו 'e.Chav	H251	a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
knew	וַיַּכִּרֵ֑ם vai.ya.ki.Rem	H5234	properly · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
strange	וַיִּתְנַכֵּ֨ר vai.yit.na.Ker	H5234	properly · conjunction + verb, hithpael sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
spake	וַיְדַבֵּ֧ר vay.da.Ber	H1696	perhaps properly · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
roughly	קָשׁ֗וֹת ka.Shot	H7186	severe (in various applications) · adjective, feminine plural absolute
said	וַיֹּ֤אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Whence	מֵאַ֣יִן me.'A.yin	H370	where? (only in connection with prepositional prefix · preposition + interrogative particle
come	בָּאתֶ֔ם ba.Tem	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
said	וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ vai.Yo.me.Ru	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
land	מֵאֶ֥רֶץ me.'E.retz	H776	the earth (at large · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
Canaan	כְּנַ֖עַן ke.Na.'an	H3667	Kenaan · proper noun, a place name
buy	לִשְׁבָּר lish.bor-	H7666	to deal in grain · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
food	אֹֽכֶל 'O.khel	H400	food · noun, common 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

Genesis 42:30 The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.
Genesis 42:9-12 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
Genesis 42:14-17 And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies:
Genesis 42:19-20 If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:
Matthew 15:23-26 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 42:7-20

We may well wonder that Joseph, during the twenty years that he had now been in Egypt, especially during the last seven years that he had been in power there, never sent to his father to acquaint him with his circumstances; nay, it is strange that he who so often went throughout all the land of Egypt (Gen 41:45, Gen 41:46) never made an excursion to Canaan, to visit his aged father, when he was in the borders of Egypt, that lay next to Canaan. Perhaps it would not have been above three or four days' journey for him in his chariot. It is a probable conjecture that his whole management of himself in this affair was by special direction from Heaven, that the purpose of God concerning Jacob and…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 42:7

Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, . . . but they knew not him--This is not strange. They were full-grown men--he was but a lad at parting. They were in their usual garb--he was in his official robes. They never dreamt of him as governor of Egypt, while he had been expecting them. They had but one face; he had ten persons to judge by. made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly--It would be an injustice to Joseph's character to suppose that this stern manner was prompted by any vindictive feelings--he never indulged any resentment against others who had injured him. But he spoke in the authoritative tone of the governor in order to elicit some much-longed-for information res…

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Adam Clarke on Genesis 42:6

Joseph was the governor - שליט shallit, an intendant, a protector, from שלט skalat, to be over as a protector; hence שלטים shelatim, shields, or arms for protection and defense, Sa2 8:7; and שלטון shilton, power and authority, Ecc 8:4, Ecc 8:8; and hence the Arabic sultan, a lord, prince, or king, from salata, he obtained and exercised dominion, he ruled. Was it not from this very circumstance, Joseph being shallit, that all the Mohammedan governors of Egypt, etc., took the title of sultan? Bowed down themselves before him - Thus fulfilling the prophetic dream, Gen 37:7, Gen 37:8, which they had taken every precaution to render null and void. But there is neither might nor counsel against th…

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
Dissembling · .Joseph — .Joseph
Egypt · History of Israel in: Joseph recognises his brethren — History of Israel in: Joseph recognises his brethren

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 42:7

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 42:7-20

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 42:7

Adam Clarke on Genesis 42:6

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 42:7

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 42:7-20

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 42:7

Adam Clarke on Genesis 42:6

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Genesis 42:7

John Calvin on Genesis 42:7-8

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 42:7-8

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 42:6-7

Rashi on Genesis 42:7