Genesis 42:23
in Genesis 42They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them.
KJV
And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
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This verse in Genesis 42
Commentary
4 notes on this verseFor 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.
This site's exposition
They did not realize that Joseph understood them
on Genesis 42:23-24
The interpreter between them is the wall Joseph keeps up while he listens to a confession meant for no Egyptian. He turns away and weeps, the first of the times he weeps over these men, and then he takes Simeon and has him bound before their eyes. Clarke reports the old rabbinic reading that Simeon bound Joseph.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And they knew not that Joseph understood them,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהֵם֙ | vehem | and they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָֽדְע֔וּ | yadeu | they knew | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| שֹׁמֵ֖עַ | shomea' | [was] hearing | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| יוֹסֵ֑ף | yosef | Joseph | H3130 → | 213 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הַמֵּלִ֖יץ | hamelitz | the interpreter | H3887 → | |
| בֵּינֹתָֽם׃ | beinotam | [was] between them | H996 → | 407 times |
וְהֵם֙and they
vehemH1992 →553 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יָֽדְע֔וּthey knew
yadeuH3045 →945 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
שֹׁמֵ֖עַ[was] hearing
shomea'H8085 →1159 times
יוֹסֵ֑ףJoseph
yosefH3130 →213 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
הַמֵּלִ֖יץthe interpreter
hamelitzH3887 →
בֵּינֹתָֽם׃[was] between them
beinotamH996 →407 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Corinthians 5:20Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.
it leads to
- Ephesians 6:20
for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should.
- Luke 14:23
So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.
- Malachi 2:7
For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.
- Ezekiel 18:31–32
Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?
- Isaiah 55:6–7
Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
- Ephesians 6:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.