Genesis 45:17

Gen 45:17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;

Ver. 17. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph.] Pharaoh is good to Jacob and his house, for Joseph’s sake; so is God to us and ours, for Jesus’ sake. As any man was intimate with Sejanus, so he found favour with Tiberius. As if any were at odds with him, they lived in continual danger and durance, saith Tacitus; {a} so here.

O miserabilis humana conditio, et sine Christo, vanum omne quod vivimus, saith Jerome. - Epitaph. Nep., tom. i. p. 25.

O the misery of those that be without Christ in the world!

{a} Ut quisque Seiano intimus, ita ad Caesaris amicitiam validus: contra, quibus infensus esset, metu ac sordibus conflictabantur. - Tacit.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren--As Joseph might have been prevented by delicacy, the king himself invited the patriarch and all his family to migrate into Egypt; and he made most liberal arrangements for their removal and their subsequent settlement. It displays the character of this Pharaoh to advantage, that he was so kind to the relatives of Joseph; but indeed the greatest liberality he could show could never recompense the services of so great a benefactor of his kingdom.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,.... Who, it is highly probable, waited upon Pharaoh to acquaint him with the coming of his brethren; for it cannot be imagined that Pharaoh should say what follows upon a bare report, without having a further account of things from Joseph, or that he would neglect giving it, but take the first opportunity to inform him, whereupon he gave him the following order:

say unto thy brethren, this do ye; give them directions and instructions to do as follows:

lade your asses: with provisions for the present necessity of their father's household in Canaan, and for their journey back to Egypt:

and go, get you into the land of Canaan; with all the haste they could make.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Vers. 17, 18. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; and take your father and your households, and come unto me. This may have been an independent invitation given by the Egyptian king to Joseph"s relatives; but it is more than likely that Joseph had already told him of the proposal he had made to his brethren, and that he here receives a royal confirmation of the same). And I will give you the good of the land of Egypt,i.e. the best part of the land, viz., Goshen (Rosenm Lange, and others); though the phrase is probably synonymous with that which followsand ye shall eat the fat of the land. The fat of the land meant either the richest and most fertile portion of it (Lunge, Kalisch), or the best and choicest of its productions (Gesenius, Keil). (Cf. Deu_32:14; Psa_147:14.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

טענו את בעירכם LADE YOUR BEASTS — with grain.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

טענו את בעירכם, the word טען is an expression for “loading;” we find it used in this sense in Sanhedrin 32 אחת טעונה ואחת שאינה טעונה, “one which was loaded whereas the other was not loaded.” My grandfather of blessed memory explained the word טען as related to Isaiah 14,19 מטועני חרב, meaning that something had been stabbed, pierced. Accordingly, Joseph urged his brothers to spur on their beasts of burden by means of the דרבן, a spur or goad in order that the good news of his survival should reach his father sooner. Rabbi Saadyah gaon also translated the word in this fashion into Arabic.

בעירכם, a collective term [seeing that surely each brother had an animal of his own to ride on and to carry the grain. Ed.] Other examples of the collective term being used where a plural seemed indicated are Samuel II 10,5 עד יצמח זקנכם “until your beard (sing.) grows back.” [David had addressed several people, each of whose beard had been shaved off on one side of his face. Ed.] Joshua 1,3 is another such construction where we read כף רגלכם, “the sole of your feet,” instead of “the soles of your feet.” There are many other similar examples in Scripture.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.