Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 41:43

And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him [ruler] over all the land of Egypt.

43. the second chariot ] It has been objected that horses and chariots first appear in Egyptian inscriptions in the 18th Dynasty (1580 1350 b.c.). But they were introduced into use in Egypt under the rule of the Hyksos (13th to 17th Dynasty). The Egyptian word for “chariot,” mrkbt, is borrowed from the Semitic. The “second” would be the next best to Pharaoh’s. Joseph might not ride in Pharaoh’s chariot.

Bow the knee ] Heb. abrech. The meaning of the word has been much disputed. It was omitted by the LXX; but the meaning “bow the knee” appears in the Lat. ut genuflecterent, and in Aquila. Jerome prefers the extraordinary rendering “tender father”: ’b being the Hebrew for “father,” rkh for “tender” or “delicate,” he explains that it is thus signified, how in wisdom Joseph was the father of all, but in age a tender youth.

There seems, at present, to be no solution of the puzzle offered by the word Abrech. Spiegelberg suggests that it is the transliteration of the Egyptian ’b r-k, equivalent to “Attention!,” or the “O yes, O yes,” of the crier. The Egyptian abu-rek, “thy command is our desire,” i.e. “at thy service,” was conjectured by Lepage Renouf.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 43. He made him to ride in the second chariot] That which usually followed the king’s chariot in public ceremonies.

Bow the knee] abrech, which we translate bow the knee, and which we might as well translate any thing else, is probably an Egyptian word, the signification of which is utterly unknown. If we could suppose it to be a Hebrew word, it might be considered as compounded of ab, father, and rach, tender; for Joseph might be denominated a father, because of his care over the people, and the provision he was making for their preservation; and tender because of his youth. Or it may be compounded of ab, father, and barech, blessing, the latter beth being easily lost in the preceding one; and Joseph might have this epithet as well as the other, on account of the care he was taking to turn aside the heavy curse of the seven years of famine, by accumulating the blessings of the seven years of plenty. Besides, father seems to have been a name of office, and probably father of the king or father of Pharaoh might signify the same as the king’s minister among us; see on Ge 45:8. But if it be an Egyptian word, it is vain to look for its signification in Hebrew.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

In the second chariot; in the kings second chariot, that he might be known and owned to be the next person to the king in power and dignity. Compare 2Ch 35:24; Est 6:8; 10:3; Dan 5:29.

Bow the knee: they commanded all that passed by him, or came to him, to show their reverent respect to him in this manner: compare Est 3:2. Others, tender father, to signify that he was to be owned as the father of the country, because by his prudence and care he had provided for them all, and saved them from utter ruin.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

43. they cried before him, Bow thekneeabrech, an Egyptian term, not referring toprostration, but signifying, according to some, “father”(compare Ge 45:8); according toothers, “native prince”that is, proclaimed himnaturalized, in order to remove all popular dislike to him as aforeigner.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had,…. 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, c. being of greater state the one than the other, see 2Ch 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,

Ge 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; appointed him to be governor of the whole land, and invested him with that office, and made him appear to be so, by the grandeur he raised him to.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

He then had him driven in the second chariot, the chariot which followed immediately upon the king’s state-carriage; that is to say, he directed a solemn procession to be made through the city, in which they (heralds) cried before him (i.e., bow down), – an Egyptian word, which has been pointed by the Masorites according to the Hiphil or Aphel of . In Coptic it is abork, projicere, with the signs of the imperative and the second person. Thus he placed him over all Egypt. inf. absol. as a continuation of the finite verb (vid., Exo 8:11; Lev 25:14, etc.).

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

(43) In the second chariot.The object of this procession was to display Joseph to the people as their new governor. The Pharaoh, probably, took the chief part in this parade, riding in the first chariot of state.

Bow the knee.Heb., abrech. Canon Cook explains this as meaning rejoice, be happy. It is in the imperative singular, and is addressed by the people to Joseph; for it is said they cried before him, that is, the multitude, and not a herald. Naturally, therefore, it is in the singular, as the vivat rex of the Middle Ages, or vive le roi now. The similarity of sound with habrech, bow the knee, is a mere chance and as this word also is singular, it must be addressed to Joseph, and not to the people.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

43. Second chariot Probably meaning the chariot second in majesty and splendour to that in which the king himself rode . In royal procession, Joseph would thus ride in the chariot which followed next after the king.

Bow the knee . This seems to be equivalent to , the Hiphil imperative of the Hebrew , but most critics regard it as an Egyptian word . The Sept . renders it by , herald; the Targum makes it equivalent to , tender father; Syriac, father and ruler . Gesenius suggests, that though the word be of Egyptian origin, the Hebrew writer so changed and inflected it that it might have a Hebrew sound to be referred to a Hebrew etymology. Canon Cook, editor of the Speaker’s Commentary, in his essay on Egyptian words found in the Pentateuch, explains it as the emphatic imperative of a verb ab, which is a word specially used in public demonstrations of rejoicing, and to be understood as addressed by the people to Joseph, not as a word of command made to the people. , abrech, would then mean rejoice, or all hail, after the manner and in the spirit of the French, vive le roi, or the English, long live the king . Accordingly we should render: And they (the people) cried before him, Hail to thee!

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments