Ride in the second chariot— That is, in the chariot royal, which belonged to the first person in the kingdom, after the monarch himself. Thus Darius made his mother Sysigambis ride in the chariot next himself.
Bow the knee— There have been various opinions concerning the Hebrew word אברךֶ abrac, here rendered bow the knee: but it seems very naturally and easily derived from ברךֶ barec, to bless, in word and deed, spoken of God to man, or of superiors to inferiors. As a noun, berec is the knee, from the strength and firmness of that part of the body: hence, feeble or bending knees are frequently mentioned in Scripture as marks of extreme weakness: and because the posture of kneeling was used on a religious account, hence brec signified to bless, as man doth God, or an inferior his superior; and therefore, to bow the knee, is emblematically to ascribe strength and liability to him, and to do him all homage, and pay him all honour. See Parkhurst.