Genesis 42:23

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

21Speaking among themselves, they said, “Clearly we are being punished because of what we did to Joseph long ago. We saw his anguish when he pleaded for his life, but we wouldn’t listen. That’s why we’re in this trouble.” 22“Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy?” Reuben asked. “But you wouldn’t listen. And now we have to answer for his blood!” Of course, they didn’t know that Joseph understood them, for he had been speaking to them through an interpreter. 24Now he turned away from them and began to weep. When he regained his composure, he spoke to them again. Then he chose Simeon from among them and had him tied up right before their eyes. 25Joseph then ordered his servants to fill the men’s sacks with grain, but he also gave secret instructions to return each brother’s payment at the top of his sack. He also gave them supplies for their journey home.

Genesis 42:23 word by word

וְהֵם֙ לֹ֣א יָֽדְע֔וּ כִּ֥י שֹׁמֵ֖עַ יוֹסֵ֑ף כִּ֥י הַמֵּלִ֖יץ בֵּינֹתָֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And they knewיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• not that Josephיוֹסֵףyôsêph · JosephH3130
• understoodשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: understandH8085
• for he spake unto them by an interpreterלִיץlûts · to mockH3887

Cross-references for Genesis 42:23

• Genesis 42:24Now he turned away from them and began to weep. When he regained his composure, he spoke to them again. Then he chose Simeon from among them and had him tied up right before their eyes.
• Genesis 43:19The brothers approached the manager of Joseph’s household and spoke to him at the entrance to the palace.
• John 16:13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.
• 2 Corinthians 5:20So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

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

• Commerce
• Interpreter

In the dictionaries

• Bereave
• Espy
• Famine
• Fear
• Joseph
• Lade
• Lord
• Nakedness
• Sack
• Traffick

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