What Does Genesis 45:17 Mean in the King James?
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew holds three movements together, load the beasts, go, then come into Canaan, so arrival is already inside the journey’s beginning.
THE MEANING
Your movement forward is pictured concretely: the beasts are loaded, then the road turns toward a named land. What you carry and where you are going sit together here; readiness does not mean arriving empty.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that you must put down everything you carry before you can move forward.
THE ROOT
טַעֲנוּ
ta'anu
GROWS FROM
טען
ṭāʿan
to load, to place a burden on
“lade” in this verse is ta'anu. טַעֲנוּ (ta’anu, “load”) grows from the root for loading and cargo. The animals are prepared to bear what travels before the brothers set out.
ALSO GROWS
maṭʿan: cargo, load
מַטְעָן
This word names the load prepared for travel, echoing the beasts made ready to carry.
teʿinah: loading
טְעִינָה
This word names the act of loading; the verse places that act before the road.
לְכוּ
lekhu
GROWS FROM
הלך
hālak
to walk, go, travel
“go” in this verse is lekhu. This is the embodied verb of walking or traveling. The same root also describes walking in a way, so the road and a way of moving through life share one seed.
ALSO GROWS
hōlēkh: one going or walking
הֹלֵךְ
This form keeps the root’s sense of movement active, echoing the brothers who are told to go.
hithallēkh: walk about; walk in a manner
הִתְהַלֵּךְ
This form extends the root from travel to conduct, showing how “walking” can describe a lived path.
בֹאוּ
bo'u
GROWS FROM
בוא
bōʾ
to come, enter, arrive
“get you unto” in this verse is bo'u. After לְכוּ (lekhu, “go”), בֹאוּ (bo’u, “come, enter”) names the arrival as well as the departure. Canaan is not a vague direction; it is the place the travelers are to enter.
ALSO GROWS
bāʾ: came, entered
בָּא
This form carries the arrival sense present in the command to come into Canaan.
māvoʾ: entrance, entry
מָבוֹא
This noun names a way in, echoing the verse’s movement toward a place to enter.
THE PATTERN
A movement into a new place includes what travels with the people and the journey.
And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.Who also honoured us with many honours; and when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary.THE THREAD
And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said.The command “go” in both verses comes from הלך (hālak, “walk, go”). Here the brothers turn toward Canaan; in Exodus 12:31, the same verb stands in Pharaoh’s command for Israel to leave Egypt, widening this journey into a movement out of constriction.
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