Joel 2:4

Young's Literal Translation

As the appearance of horses [is] its appearance, And as horsemen, so they run.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Their appearance is like that of horses,and they gallop like war horses.

Hebrew Names Version
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, And as horsemen, so do they run.

King James Version
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.

English Standard Version
Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run.

New American Standard Bible
Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run.

New Century Version
They look like horses, and they run like war horses.

Amplified Bible
Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, And they run like war horses.

Geneva Bible (1587)
The beholding of him is like the sight of horses, & like the horsemen, so shal they runne.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run.

Legacy Standard Bible
Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;And like war horses, so they run.

Berean Standard Bible
Their appearance is like that of horses, and they gallop like swift steeds.

Contemporary English Version
They look like horses and charge like cavalry.

Complete Jewish Bible
They look like horses, and like cavalry they charge.

Darby Translation
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so they run.

Easy-to-Read Version
They look like horses. They run like war horses.

George Lamsa Translation
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and like horsemen so they run;

Good News Translation
They look like horses; they run like war-horses.

Lexham English Bible
Like the appearance of horses is their appearance, and like horsemen they run;

Literal Translation
Their appearance is like horses; and as horsemen, so they run.

American Standard Version
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so do they run.

Bible in Basic English
Their form is like the form of horses, and they are running like war-horses.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so do they run.

King James Version (1611)
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horse men, so shall they runne.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
The shewe of him is as the shewe of horses, and like horsemen, so shall they runne.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Their appearance is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they pursue.

English Revised Version
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so do they run.

World English Bible
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, And as horsemen, so do they run.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The lokyng of hem schal be as the lokyng of horsis, and as horse men so thei schulen renne.

Update Bible Version
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so they run.

Webster's Bible Translation
The appearance of them [is] as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.

New English Translation
They look like horses; they charge ahead like war horses.

New King James Version
Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like swift steeds, so they run.

New Living Translation
They look like horses; they charge forward like warhorses.

New Life Bible
They look like horses. They run like war horses.

New Revised Standard
They have the appearance of horses, and like war-horses they charge.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
As the appearance of horses, is his appearance, and, as war-horses, so, shall they run:

Douay-Rheims Bible
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, and they shall run like horsemen.

Revised Standard Version
Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
They are to loke vpon like bayrded horses, & runne like horse men.

THE MESSAGE
The locust army seems all horses— galloping horses, an army of horses. It sounds like thunder leaping on mountain ridges, Or like the roar of wildfire through grass and brush, Or like an invincible army shouting for blood, ready to fight, straining at the bit. At the sight of this army, the people panic, faces white with terror.

Contextual Overview

¹ Blow ye a trumpet in Zion, And shout ye in My holy hill, Tremble do all inhabitants of the earth, For coming is the day of Jehovah, for [it is] near! ² A day of darkness and thick darkness, A day of cloud and thick darkness, As darkness spread on the mountains, A people numerous and mighty, Like it there hath not been from of old, And after it there is not again -- till the years of generation and generation. ³ Before it consumed hath fire, And after it burn doth a flame, As the garden of Eden [is] the land before it, And after it a wilderness -- a desolation! And also an escape there hath not been to it, ⁴ As the appearance of horses [is] its appearance, And as horsemen, so they run. ⁵ As the noise of chariots, on the tops of the mountains they skip, As the noise of a flame of fire devouring stubble, As a mighty people set in array for battle. ⁶ From its face pained are peoples, All faces have gathered paleness. ⁷ As mighty ones they run, As men of war they go up a wall, And each in his own ways they do go, And they embarrass not their paths. ⁸ And each his brother they press not, Each in his way they go on, If by the missile they fall, they are not cut off. ⁹ In the city they run to and fro, On the wall they run, Into houses they go up by the windows, They go in as a thief. ¹⁰ At their face trembled hath the earth, Shaken have the heavens, Sun and moon have been black, And stars have gathered up their shining.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Revelation 9:7

Reciprocal: Isaiah 13:4 - like as Jeremiah 51:14 - as with

Cross-References

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning of God's preparing the heavens and the earth --

Genesis 1:4
And God seeth the light that [it is] good, and God separateth between the light and the darkness,

Genesis 1:28
And God blesseth them, and God saith to them, `Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the heavens, and over every living thing that is creeping upon the earth.'

Genesis 1:31
And God seeth all that He hath done, and lo, very good; and there is an evening, and there is a morning -- day the sixth.

Genesis 2:1
And the heavens and the earth are completed, and all their host;

Genesis 2:2
and God completeth by the seventh day His work which He hath made, and ceaseth by the seventh day from all His work which He hath made.

Genesis 5:1
This [is] an account of the births of Adam: In the day of God's preparing man, in the likeness of God He hath made him;

Genesis 10:1
And these [are] births of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and born to them are sons after the deluge.

Genesis 11:10
These [are] births of Shem: Shem [is] a son of an hundred years, and begetteth Arphaxad two years after the deluge.

Genesis 25:12
And these [are] births of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, hath borne to Abraham;

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The appearance of them [is] as the appearance of horses,.... in their running, as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it; they came with, as much swiftness and eagerness, with as much fierceness and courage, as horses rush into the battle. Bochart h has shown, from various writers, that the head of a locust is in shape like that of a horse; and Theodoret on the text observes, that whoever thoroughly examines the head of a locust will easily perceive that it is very like the head of a horse; see Revelation 9:7. The Chaldeans are often represented as strong and mighty, fierce and furious, and riding on horses exceeding swift, Jeremiah 4:13;

and as horsemen, so shall they run; with great agility and swiftness. The particle "as" is observed by some, against those interpreters that apply this wholly to the enemies of the Jews, and not the locusts; and it seems indeed best to favour them; but Theodoret observes, that the "as" here may be taken, not as a note of similitude, but as used for the increase and vehemency of the expression.

h Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 5. p. 474, 475.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The appearance of them, is as the appearance of horses - “If you carefully consider the head of the locust,” says Theodoret, a Bishop in Syria, “you will find it exceedingly like that of a horse.” Whence the Arabs, of old and to this day , say; “In the locust, slight as it is, is the nature of ten of the larger animals, the face of a horse, the eyes of an elephant, the neck of abull, the horns of a deer, the chest of a lion, the belly of a scorpion, the wings of an eagle, the thighs of a camel, the feet of an ostrich, the tail of a serpent.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 4. The appearance of horses — The head of the locust is remarkably like that of the horse; and so Ray on Insects describes them: Caput oblongum, equi instar, prona spectans - "They have an oblong head, like to that of a horse, bending downward." On this account the Italians call them cavaletta, cavalry. Bochart remarks, from an Arabic writer, that the locusts resemble ten different kinds of animals:

1. The HORSE in its head.

2. The ELEPHANT in its eyes.

3. The BULL in its neck.

4. The STAG in its horns.

5. The LION in its breast.

6. The SCORPION in its belly.

7. The EAGLE in its wings.

8. The CAMEL in its thighs.

9. The OSTRICH in its feet. And

10. The SERPENT in its tail.

Vid. Hieroz., vol. ii., p. 475, edit. 1692.

But its most prominent resemblance is to the horse, which the prophet mentions; and which the Arabic writer puts in the first place, as being the chief.