Genesis 42 · Verse 23

Genesis 42:23

And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
Genesis 42:23, King James Version

Genesis 42:23 in other translations

BSBThey did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.
WEBThey didn’t know that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them.
ASVAnd they knew not that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them.
YLTAnd they have not known that Joseph understandeth, for the interpreter is between them;
DARBYAnd they did not know that Joseph understood, for the interpreter was between them.
BBEThey were not conscious that the sense of their words was clear to Joseph, for he had been talking to them through one who had knowledge of their language.
WebsterAnd they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spoke to them by an interpreter.

What does Genesis 42:23 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 42:17-24

17-24. 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 full comment on Genesis 42:17-24 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 23 For 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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 42:21-24

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…

Read the full comment on Genesis 42:21-24 →

Genesis 42:23 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְהֵם֙ve.Hemand theyH1992
לֹ֣אlo'notH3808
יָֽדְע֔וּya.de.'Uthey knewH3045
כִּ֥יkithatH3588
שֹׁמֵ֖עַsho.Me.a'[was] hearingH8085
יוֹסֵ֑ףyo.SefJosephH3130
כִּ֥יkiforH3588
הַמֵּלִ֖יץha.me.Litzthe interpreterH3887
בֵּינֹתָֽם\׃bei.no.Tam[was] between themH996

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 42:23

  • 2 Corinthians 5:20

    Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

  • John 16:13-14

    Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
he spake unto them by a interpreter. Heb. an interpreter wasbetween them. The {mailitz} does not seem to have been an interpreter in our sense of the term; as we have many evidences in this book that the Egyptians, Hebrews, Canaanites, and Syrians, could understand each other in a general way; and it appears from several passages in this very chapter, (particularly ver. 24,) that Joseph and his brethren understood each others' language, as his brethren and Joseph's steward also did (ch. 43:19, etc; compare ch. 39; 49.) It seems to denote an officer who is called in Abyssinia, according to Mr. Bruce, {Kal Hatzé,} "the voice or word of the king," who always stands at the side of a lattice window of a balcony, within which the king sits; who is never seen, but who speaks through a hole in the side of it, covered in the inside with a curtain, to this officer, by whom he speaks to the persons present.
Joh 16:13,14; 2Co 5:20

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 42:22

    And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.

  • Genesis 42:23

    And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.

  • Genesis 42:24

    And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.

Read all of Genesis 42

Genesis 42:23 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y ellos no sabían que los entendía José, porque había intérprete entre ellos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et ils ne savaient pas que Joseph comprenait, car il y avait entre eux un interprète.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Sie aber wußten nicht, daß Joseph es verstand, denn ein Dolmetscher war zwischen ihnen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Nesciebant autem quod intelligeret Joseph, eo quod per interpretem loqueretur ad eos.