Bereshis 46:31

31 And Yosef said unto his achim, and unto Bais Aviv, I will go up, and speak to Pharaoh, and say unto him, My achim and Bais Avi, which were in Eretz Kena’an, are come unto me;

Bereshis 46:31 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 46:31

And Joseph said unto his brethren, and to his father's house,
&c.] To them and their families, after he had paid his filial respects to his father, in honour, reverence, and affection:

I will go up and shew Pharaoh;
acquaint him that his father and all his family were come to Egypt; he says, "I will go up"; which same phrase is used of him, ( Genesis 46:29 ) ; when he came, and carries some difficulty in it how to account for it, that he should be said to go up when he came, and to go up when he returned. Some have thought of upper Egypt, others of the upper part of the Nile, and others, that Pharaoh's palace was situated on an eminence; but then, as it is to be supposed he went the same road he came, it would have been said, that when he came, he came down; what Ben Melech suggests seems most agreeable, I will go up to my chariot, mount that, and return to Pharaoh, and give him an account of his father's arrival, which it was very proper, prudent, and politic to do:

and say unto him, my brethren, and my father's house, which [were] in
the land of Canaan, are come unto me;
not merely to pay him a visit, but to continue there.

Bereshis 46:31 In-Context

29 And Yosef made ready his merkavah, and went up to meet Yisroel Aviv, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a long time.

30 And Yisroel said unto Yosef, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

31 And Yosef said unto his achim, and unto Bais Aviv, I will go up, and speak to Pharaoh, and say unto him, My achim and Bais Avi, which were in Eretz Kena’an, are come unto me;

32 And the anashim are roei tzon (shepherds), keepers of livestock; and they have brought their tzon, and their bakar, and all that they have.

33 And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is ma’aseichem (your occupation)?