Gen. 50:16-17 antecedent of "ye"?

What is the antecedent of "ye" in Genesis 50:17 in the KJV?

Genesis 50:16-17
And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying.
So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil; and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.

Does the "ye" [plural] refer to "a messenger" [singular] as its antecedent?

 

Actually, the "ye" in the context was being told by Joseph's brothers what to tell Joseph. The "they" in Genesis 50:16 was Joseph's brethren, and they are indicated to be saying to the "ye" [the messenger or messengers] in verse 17 as to what to say to Joseph.

The 1638 Cambridge edition of the KJV with two KJV translators among its editors puts "messengers" plural at Genesis 50:16 perhaps in order to make it agree with the plural pronoun.


Genesis 50:16 [consider “so shall ye say” & “they spake”--Gen. 50:17]
sent messengers (1768 Oxford) {1760, 1763, 1764, 1772 London}
sent messengers (1679, 1715, 1728, 1747, 1754, 1758, 1765 Oxford) [1638, 1683, 1756, 1762, 1763B, 1769 Cambridge] {1705, 1711, 1747, 1750, 1767 London} (1722, 1764, 1766, 1769, 1787 Edinburgh) (1762 Dublin) (1782 Aitken) (1791 Collins) (1802 Carey) (1815 Walpole) (1833 WEB)
sent a messenger [1769 Oxford, SRB) [1629, 1743, 1760 Cambridge, DKJB]