What Does Genesis 45:17 Mean?

And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Say to your brothers, 'Do this: load your animals and go back to the land of Canaan.'" Pharaoh directly endorses the plan and gives his own instructions to convey to the brothers. The phrase "say to your brothers": addressed to Joseph: shows Pharaoh routing the invitation through the prime minister rather than directly to the foreign visitors. Joseph is the intermediary; Pharaoh's authority flows through Joseph's relationship with his brothers. "Load your animals": practical instruction; "go back to the land of Canaan": the immediate next step. Pharaoh's instruction begins the official process of the family relocation.

The royal endorsement of the brothers' departure to fetch Jacob transforms what was Joseph's personal request into a state-level initiative. Joseph told his brothers "hurry and go" (v.9); Pharaoh tells Joseph to tell his brothers the same. The double sending: Joseph's heart and Pharaoh's authority both behind the return trip: is the full weight of the plan. The brothers are not leaving Egypt with a brother's personal invitation; they are leaving with the blessing and instruction of Pharaoh himself, which is the maximum available authorization for the family's relocation to Egypt.

Pharaoh taking an active interest in Joseph's family relocation reflects the depth of the working relationship between them. Pharaoh said to Joseph in Genesis 41:40: "Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you." The man who is greater than Joseph only as regards the throne is now directly involved in arranging Joseph's family's move to Egypt. The throne's authority is being applied to Joseph's family reunion: the personal and the official are completely intertwined in the Egyptian court's response to the brothers' arrival.