And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter. 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.
Related Commentaries of Genesis 42:23
Genesis 42:23
23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.