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Genesis 42:8

in Genesis 42

Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.

KJV

And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.

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This verse in Genesis 42

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

Joseph was the ruler of the land

on Genesis 42:6-8

His brothers bow to the ground, and the sheaves of his first dream are standing up. He spoke harshly to them, and he treated them as strangers, and now the brother they sold speaks to them through an Egyptian face. Spurgeon read the harsh speech as kindness at work.

This site's exposition

they did not recognize him

Joseph was seventeen when they sold him at 37:2 and is now close to forty. He is shaved in the Egyptian way of 41:14 and speaks to them through an interpreter. They last saw a boy in a robe.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.

The words behind it

7 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיַּכֵּ֥רand he recognized

    vaiyakerH5234 →49 times

  • יוֹסֵ֖ףJoseph

    yosefH3130 →213 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אֶחָ֑יוbrothers his

    ʾechavH251 →630 times

  • וְהֵ֖םand they

    vehemH1992 →553 times

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • הִכִּרֻֽהוּ׃they recognized him

    hikiruhuH5234 →49 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Luke 24:16

    But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.

    it leads to

    • John 20:14

      When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there; but she did not recognize that it was Jesus.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • John 21:4

      Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not recognize that it was Jesus.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Luke 24:31

      Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus—and He disappeared from their sight.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Mark 16:12

      After this, Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them as they walked along in the country.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Genesis 37:2

    This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father…

    it leads to

  • Through

    John 20:14

    When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there; but she did not recognize that it was Jesus.

    it leads to

    • Luke 24:16

      But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.

    • Song of Solomon 3:3–4

      I encountered the watchmen on their rounds of the city: “Have you seen the one I love?”

    • Matthew 28:9

      Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came to Him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him.

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 42 →

This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, sermon 'Rough, But Friendly'; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Genesis 42 →