They didn’t know that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them.
Parallel translations
- KJV And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
- BSB They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them.
- NKJV But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter.
- NASB They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them.
- NLT Of course, they didn’t know that Joseph understood them, for he had been speaking to them through an interpreter.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The brothers did not realize Joseph understood them, since he spoke through an interpreter. Their candid confession was made in his hearing without their knowing.
Overview
The interpreter sustained Joseph's disguise and let the brothers speak freely, unaware their words reached him directly. Joseph thus overhears their confession of guilt, the very repentance he had hoped to find. The detail underscores how God arranges circumstances so that hidden truth comes to the surface at the right moment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- 2 Cor 5:20We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
- John 16:13–14However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 42:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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