Genesis 42:7
New International Version
As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.”

New Living Translation
Joseph recognized his brothers instantly, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where are you from?” he demanded. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We have come to buy food.”

English Standard Version
Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

Berean Standard Bible
And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”

King James Bible
And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

New King James Version
Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, “Where do you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”

New American Standard Bible
When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke to them harshly. He said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

NASB 1995
When Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke to them harshly. And he said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

NASB 1977
When Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke to them harshly. And he said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

Legacy Standard Bible
And Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and spoke to them harshly. And he said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

Amplified Bible
When Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them, but [hiding his identity] he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. He said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

Christian Standard Bible
When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from? ” he asked. “From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they replied.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them.” Where do you come from?” he asked.” From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they replied.

American Standard Version
And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly with them; and he said unto them. Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Yoseph saw his brothers and he recognized them, and he acted deceitfully toward them and he spoke with them harshly and said to them, “From where are you?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan; we come to buy grain.”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And when Joseph saw his brethren, he knew them, and estranged himself from them, and spoke hard words to them; and said to them, Whence are ye come? And they said, Out of the land of Chanaan, to buy food.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he knew them, he spoke as it were to strangers somewhat roughly, asking them: Whence came you? They answered: From the land of Chanaan, to buy necessaries of life.

English Revised Version
And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly with them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them. But he acted as if he didn't know them and spoke harshly to them. "Where did you come from?" he asked them. "From Canaan, to buy food," they answered.

Good News Translation
When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he acted as if he did not know them. He asked them harshly, "Where do you come from?" "We have come from Canaan to buy food," they answered.

International Standard Version
As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he knew who they were, but he remained disguised and asked them gruffly, "Where are you from?" "From the land of Canaan," they replied. "We're here to buy food."

JPS Tanakh 1917
And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spoke roughly with them; and he said unto them: 'Whence come ye?' And they said: 'From the land of Canaan to buy food.'

Literal Standard Version
And Joseph sees his brothers, and discerns them, and makes himself strange to them, and speaks sharp things with them, and says to them, “From where have you come?” And they say, “From the land of Canaan—to buy food.”

Majority Standard Bible
And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”

New American Bible
He recognized them as soon as he saw them. But he concealed his own identity from them and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked them. They answered, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

NET Bible
When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, "Where do you come from?" They answered, "From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food."

New Revised Standard Version
When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

New Heart English Bible
Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but he acted like he did not know them, and spoke harshly with them. And he said to them, "Where do you come from?" And they said, "From the land of Canaan to buy food."

Webster's Bible Translation
And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange to them, and spoke roughly to them; and he said to them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

World English Bible
Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He said to them, “Where did you come from?” They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

Young's Literal Translation
And Joseph seeth his brethren, and discerneth them, and maketh himself strange unto them, and speaketh with them sharp things, and saith unto them, 'From whence have ye come?' and they say, 'From the land of Canaan -- to buy food.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Joseph's Brothers Sent to Egypt
6Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground. 7And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.” 8Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.…

Cross References
Genesis 42:30
"The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country.

Genesis 43:33
They were seated before Joseph in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.


Treasury of Scripture

And Joseph saw his brothers, and he knew them, but made himself strange to them, and spoke roughly to them; and he said to them, From where come you? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

roughly unto them.

Genesis 42:9-12,14-17,19,20
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come…

Matthew 15:23-26
But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us…

Jump to Previous
Acted Buy Canaan Clear Discerneth Disguised Food Harshly Joseph Maketh Pretended Recognized Roughly Soon Speaketh Strange Stranger Strangers Talking Whence
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Acted Buy Canaan Clear Discerneth Disguised Food Harshly Joseph Maketh Pretended Recognized Roughly Soon Speaketh Strange Stranger Strangers Talking Whence
Genesis 42
1. Jacob sends his ten sons to buy grain in Egypt.
16. They are imprisoned by Joseph as spies.
18. They are set at liberty, on condition to bring Benjamin.
21. They have remorse for Joseph.
24. Simeon is kept for a pledge.
25. They return with grain, and their money.
29. Their relation to Jacob.
36. Jacob refuses to send Benjamin.














(7) Joseph . . . spake roughly unto them.--Joseph has been accused of harshness in his treatment of his brethren, and still more so of his father in forcing him to send away Benjamin. The latter was, no doubt, the result of his great longing to see his only brother, and he may not have known how dear he was to Jacob, or have reflected upon the pain which his father would feel in parting with him. Still it was but a temporary separation, to prepare for a happy re-union. As regards his half-brethren, Joseph was obliged to prove them, and he did nothing to them which they did not richly deserve. From the first he probably wished to have his father and Benjamin to dwell with him, and share his good fortune; but if his brethren were still the cruel and heartless wretches which they had shown themselves to have been in their conduct to him twenty years before, we may well suppose that he would justly have left them to their fate. Possibly his first emotion towards them was one of indignation, but it melted away, when, even in but one of them, he saw proof that they were not entirely destitute of better feeling (see Genesis 42:22; Genesis 42:24).

Verse 7. - And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but (literally, and) made himself strange unto them. The root נָכַר, to be marked, signed, by indentation, hence to be foreign (Furst), or simply to be strange (Gesenius), in the Hiphil signifies to press strongly into a thing (Furst), to look at a thing as strange (Gesenius), or to recognize, and in the Hithpael has the sense of representing one's self as strange, i.e. of feigning one's self to be a foreigner. And spake roughly unto them - literally, spake hard things unto them; not from a feeling of revenge which still struggled in his breast with his brotherly affection (Kurtz), or in a spirit of duplicity (Kaliseh), but in order to get at their hearts, and discover the exact state of mind in which they then were with regard to himself and Benjamin, whose absence it is apparent had arrested his attention, and perhaps roused his suspicions (Keil, Murphy, Wordsworth, 'Speaker's Commentary' And he said unto them, - speaking through an interpreter (ver. 23) - Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan (adding, as if they feared Joseph's suspicions, and wished to deprecate his anger) to buy food (i.e. corn for food).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
When Joseph
יוֹסֵ֛ף (yō·w·sêp̄)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3130: Joseph -- 'he increases', a son of Jacob, also the name of several Israelites

saw
וַיַּ֥רְא (way·yar)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7200: To see

his brothers,
אֶחָ֖יו (’e·ḥāw)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 251: A brother, )

he recognized them,
וַיַּכִּרֵ֑ם (way·yak·ki·rêm)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular | third person masculine plural
Strong's 5234: To regard, recognize

but he treated them as strangers
וַיִּתְנַכֵּ֨ר (way·yiṯ·nak·kêr)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hitpael - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5234: To regard, recognize

and spoke
וַיְדַבֵּ֧ר (way·ḏab·bêr)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1696: To arrange, to speak, to subdue

harshly
קָשׁ֗וֹת (qā·šō·wṯ)
Adjective - feminine plural
Strong's 7186: Hard, severe

to them.
אִתָּ֣ם (’it·tām)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's 854: Nearness, near, with, by, at, among

“Where
מֵאַ֣יִן (mê·’a·yin)
Preposition-m | Adverb
Strong's 370: Whence?

have you come from?”
בָּאתֶ֔ם (bā·ṯem)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

he asked.
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“From the land
מֵאֶ֥רֶץ (mê·’e·reṣ)
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 776: Earth, land

of Canaan,”
כְּנַ֖עַן (kə·na·‘an)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3667: Canaan -- a son of Ham, also his descendants and their land West of the Jordan

they replied.
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ (way·yō·mə·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“[We are here] to buy
לִשְׁבָּר־ (liš·bār-)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 7666: To deal in grain

food.”
אֹֽכֶל׃ (’ō·ḵel)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 400: Food


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OT Law: Genesis 42:7 Joseph saw his brothers and he recognized (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 42:6
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