Genesis 42:7 - Exposition

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 ( Genesis 42:23 )— 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).