And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had,
&c.] By which it appeared that he was next to Pharaoh, but not above him; as kings were wont to have more chariots than one, those were distinguished by first, second being of greater state the one than the other, see ( 2 Chronicles 35:24 ) : and they cried before him, bow the knee;
that is, his guard that attended him, when he rode out in his chariot, called to the people, as they passed along, to bow the knee to Joseph, as a token of veneration and respect; or they proclaimed him "Abrech", which Onkelos paraphrases, this is the father of the king; and so Jarchi, who observes, that "Rech" signifies a king in the Syriac language; and this agrees with what Joseph himself says, that God had made him a father to Pharaoh, ( Genesis 45:8 ) . Others render it a tender father; and the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem take in both senses,
``this is the father of the king, (or let the father of the king live, so the Jerusalem,) who is great in wisdom, and tender in years:''though rather he may be so called, because he acted the part of a tender father to the country, in providing corn for them against a time of scarcity: and he made him [ruler] over all the land of Egypt;