What Does Genesis 45:23 Mean?

To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. The gifts for Jacob are proportional and specific. Ten male donkeys loaded with "the good things of Egypt": the luxury goods, the luxury goods, the tribute appropriate to the father of the prime minister. Ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provisions: the practical food supplies for the journey from Canaan to Egypt. The two categories mirror the structure of Jacob's own gift to "the man" in Genesis 43:11: luxury goods (balm, honey, gum) and practical goods (pistachios, almonds). Jacob sent gifts to the man; the man sends gifts to Jacob.

The ten-and-ten symmetry of the Donkey gifts: ten going one way, ten going the other: is the reciprocal provision of the son for the father. Jacob sent his sons to Egypt with what Canaan could offer; Joseph sends back to Jacob everything Egypt has to offer. The goods of Egypt flowing back to Canaan through the same donkeys that carried the brothers to Egypt represent the reversal of the resource direction throughout Genesis 42 to 44: previously, the family's resources went to Egypt to purchase grain; now Egypt's resources flow back to Canaan in the prime minister's provision for his father.

"Provision for his father on the journey": the specific designation "for his father on the journey" distinguishes this portion of the gifts as travel food, not household stores. Joseph is provisioning the specific journey from Canaan to Egypt that Jacob must make: the old man who needs to come will have food for every stage of the trip. The care is practical and personal: Jacob is old, the journey is long, and Joseph has thought of the need before it arises. This is the son's care for the father, expressed through the prime minister's resources, sent before the son and father can be in the same place again.