Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 42:23
And they knew not that Joseph understood [them]; for he spoke unto them by an interpreter.
23. an interpreter ] The services of interpreters would be necessary for the maintenance of intercourse between Egyptian rulers and the inhabitants of Canaan. The Tel el-Amarna tablets shew that between the kings of Canaanite cities and the court of Egypt, communications were carried on in the Assyrian language, as a kind of lingua franca. For other examples in the O.T., illustrating difficulties of communication between nationalities speaking different languages, see 2Ki 18:26; Ezr 4:7.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And they knew not that Joseph understood [them],…. For what is above related they spoke in his presence and hearing; but speaking to one another in the Hebrew language, and he being an Egyptian, as they took him to be, they did not imagine that he could understand them, and therefore were not at all upon their guard in what they said: and what confirmed them in this was,
for he spake unto them by an interpreter; which he the rather chose to do, that they might have no suspicion of him; and which shows, that though there was a likeness between the Hebrew language and the Egyptian in many things, yet in some they differed, and the difference was such that there was need of an interpreter, where the parties did not understand both languages: this interpreter between Joseph and his brethren, according to the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, was Manasseh, the eldest son of Joseph, and so Jarchi; which is very improbable, he being but a child at this time, if not an infant; see
Ge 41:50.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
‘And they did not know that Joseph understood them for there was an interpreter between them.’
Had it not been for this twist in the story we would never have known that Joseph had deliberately been speaking through an interpreter. This reminds us that behind these homely stories is more detail than we are aware of. The ancients were not so much interested in background detail as in the pith of the story. They went to the centre of things and ignored the detail. We have seen this constantly in the stories of the patriarchs.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 42:23. Spake unto them by an interpreter Not only to keep up an air of majesty, and to strike an awe upon his brethren, but to prevent his being discovered.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 42:23 And they knew not that Joseph understood [them]; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
Ver. 23. Understood them. ] Heb., Heard them. See 1Co 14:2 , marg. So Isa 36:11 . So a hearing heart is put for “an understanding heart,” 1Ki 3:9 which many of our common hearers want; and therefore hear to no purpose. Isa 6:9
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
understood. Hebrew was listening.
he spake, &c. = for the interpreter was between them.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
he spake unto them by an interpreter: Heb. an interpreter was between 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 Gen 42:24, that Joseph and his brethren understood each others’ language, as his brethren and Joseph’s steward also did – Gen 43:19, etc; compare Gen 39:1, and Gen 49:1. It seems to denote an officer who is called in Abyssinia, according to Mr. Bruce, Kal Hatze, “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, Joh 16:14, 2Co 5:20
Reciprocal: Gen 11:7 – may Gen 45:12 – your eyes Psa 114:1 – a people Hag 2:17 – with blasting 1Co 14:2 – he that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 42:23. He spake by an interpreter Josephs pretending not to understand their language was a wise piece of art, as by that means he discovered their real sentiments, as it appears they spoke to one another in their own language without reserve before him, probably when the interpreter was gone forth.