EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Genesis 42:23
23While they said all this, they did not know that Joseph could understand them. Joseph had been speaking in the Egyptian language and someone else told the brothers his message in Hebrew.
Genesis 42:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
- New International Version (NIV)They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter.
- English Standard Version (ESV)They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them.
- New King James Version (NKJV)But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter.
Context of Genesis 42:23
21The brothers said to each other, ‘This punishment is happening to us because of what we did to Joseph. We saw how upset he was when he asked us not to kill him. But we refused to be kind to him. That is why we have all this trouble.’ 22Reuben said, ‘I told you not to do anything bad to the boy. But you would not agree! We killed him and now we must receive the punishment.’ While they said all this, they did not know that Joseph could understand them. Joseph had been speaking in the Egyptian language and someone else told the brothers his message in Hebrew. 24Joseph went away from his brothers and he began to weep. But then he returned to speak to them again. While they watched, Joseph told his men to tie Simeon's hands and take him away. 25Then Joseph told his servants to fill the brothers' bags with food. He also told them to put each man's money back into his bag. He told them to give the brothers enough food for their journey. The servants did what Joseph told them.
Read all of Genesis 42Genesis 42:23 word by word
וְהֵם֙ לֹ֣א יָֽדְע֔וּ כִּ֥י שֹׁמֵ֖עַ יוֹסֵ֑ף כִּ֥י הַמֵּלִ֖יץ בֵּינֹתָֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Genesis 42:23
- Genesis 42:24Joseph went away from his brothers and he began to weep. But then he returned to speak to them again. While they watched, Joseph told his men to tie Simeon's hands and take him away.
- Genesis 43:19So the brothers went to Joseph's servant. They spoke to him at the door of Joseph's house before they went in.
- John 16:13But the Spirit will come. He is the one who shows people true things about God. When he comes, he will be a guide to you. He will help you to understand everything that is true. He will not speak on his own authority. He will tell you only what he hears from the Father. He will tell you about things that will happen after this time.
- 2 Corinthians 5:20So we speak to people on behalf of Christ. It is like this: When we speak, God himself is speaking to you. On behalf of Christ, we say to you, ‘Please come back to God, as his friends!’
Commentaries on Genesis 42:23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23For 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.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-38Verses 1-38 - Joseph and Ten of His Brethren 1. שׁבר sheber “fragment, crumb, hence, grain.” בר bar “pure,” “winnowed,” hence, “corn” (grain). 6. שׁליט shallı̂yṭ “ruler, governor, hence,” Sultan. Not elsewhere found in the Pentateuch. 25. כלי kelı̂y “vessel,” here any portable article in which grain may be conveyed. שׂק śaq “sack,” the very word which remains in our language to this day. אמתחת 'amtachath “bag.” Twenty years, the period of Joseph‘s long…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 21-24Verses 21-24 The office of conscience is to bring to mind things long since said and done. When the guilt of this sin of Joseph's brethren was fresh, they made light of it, and sat down to eat bread; but now, long afterward, their consciences accused them of it. See the good of afflictions; they often prove the happy means of awakening conscience, and bringing sin to our remembrance. Also, the evil of guilt as to our brethren. Conscience now reproached…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21-23Surely we are being punished: The brothers believed that God was punishing them. They thought this because they now had to bring Benjamin to Egypt, even though their father did not want this. They connected this trouble with their past sin of selling Joseph to traders. They began to see this as divine punishment (God judging wrong actions). The fear of divine punishment began to cause feelings of guilt that Joseph's cries for mercy and their father's…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 17-2417-24. 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 [Ge 42:21, 22].Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 42:23
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 42
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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