What is the origin and use of "remember me to her/him"?

Solution 1:

Looks like its use is fading fairly quickly. Too bad. Seems a more meaningful way of expressing the sentiment for which we now say tell him I said "hi."

Found reference of remember me to... from 1602:

Remember me to the "most worthy Governor."

Solution 2:

Remember (someone) to means "convey greetings from one person to another." It is not an archaic use.

Remember me to Andrew.

The Corpus of Contemporary American English reports just a sentence where remember is used with that meaning, though.

Remember me to him, if you get that far.

Solution 3:

19th-century literature?

The 3,322-year old Bible (Genesis 40:14) says that Joseph requested of the official in charge of the wine in Pharaoh's palace, "Only, remember me along with you, when he (Pharaoh does good to you, then you shall do kindness with me, and remember me to Pharaoh, that he remove me from this home (Joseph was in jail on trumped-up charges.)" (This is actually my free translation of the original Hebrew text.)

Truthfully, the verb used is 'le-hazkir,' commonly translated as 'to mention,' but in fact 'le-hazkir' is simply the word 'lizkor,' -- 'to remember' -- in the 'hif-il' verb form, which is often used when causing someone else to do something.

So, perhaps this is the source of the English phrase 'remember me to him' -- a mistranslation, of perhaps a too-exact translation, of the phrase in the Bible.