What Does Genesis 43:11 Mean?

Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little balm and a little honey, gum, Myrrh, Pistachio nuts, and almonds." Jacob's "if it must be so" is the reluctant acknowledgment that the argument is correct: it must be so, because there is no alternative. He has been persuaded not by the emotional arguments but by the logical impasse: no Benjamin, no grain, no survival. "Then do this": the patriarch who was refusing now begins to organize and direct. Once the decision is made, Jacob's resourceful nature activates: he begins planning how to make the trip as successful as possible.

The gift he prescribes is specific and thoughtful: balm, honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, almonds: the luxury goods of Canaan. These are not staple foods but luxury goods, the kind that Egypt's officials and wealthy classes valued as tribute or trade items. The Canaan-to-Egypt gift is diplomatically appropriate: Jacob is packaging the trip as a diplomatic mission rather than merely a desperate food run. The gifts are an attempt to restore goodwill with a hostile official, to approach "the man" in a way that acknowledges his status and offers something of value beyond mere compliance with his conditions.

The gesture is very much in character for Jacob: the patriarch who sent gifts ahead to Esau in Genesis 32:13 to 21 to soften what might be a vengeful reunion. The strategy of gifts before a potentially hostile encounter is Jacob's instinctive diplomatic repertoire. He once sent gifts to the brother who wanted to kill him; now he sends gifts to the Egyptian official who holds his son and controls his family's food supply. The specific Canaanite luxury goods: honey, balm, myrrh: are the best that the land of Canaan can offer to the land of Egypt, sent as a family's attempt to approach power with respect and offering.