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Thursday, July 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

Wycliffe Bible

Joel 2:4

The lokyng of hem schal be as the lokyng of horsis, and as horse men so thei schulen renne.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Israel, Prophecies Concerning;   Joel;   War;   Scofield Reference Index - Armageddon;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Locust, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Locust;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Nahum, Theology of;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Horse;   Locust;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Day of the Lord;   Horse;   Joel;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Joel, Book of;   Locust;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Locust ;   Wing ;   Wisdom of Solomon;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Locusts;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Egypt;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Fasts;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Kingdom of Judah;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Horse;   Joel (2);   Locust;  

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.
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.
Young's Literal Translation
As the appearance of horses [is] its appearance, And as horsemen, so 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 Synge ye with a trumpe in Sion, yelle ye in myn hooli hil. Alle the dwelleris of erthe be disturblid; for the dai of the Lord cometh, 2 for the dai of derknessis and of myist is niy, the dai of cloude and of whirlewynde. As the morewtid spred abrood on hillis, a myche puple and strong. Noon was lijk it fro the bigynnyng, and after it schal not be, til in to yeeris of generacioun and of generacioun. 3 Bifore the face therof schal be fier deuourynge, and after it schal be brennynge flawme; as a gardyn of liking the lond schal be bifor him, and wildirnesse of desert schal be after him, and noon is that schal ascape him. 4 The lokyng of hem schal be as the lokyng of horsis, and as horse men so thei schulen renne. 5 As the sown of cartis on the heedis of hillis thei schulen skippe; as the sowne of the flawme of fier deuourynge stobil, as a strong puple maad redi to batel. 6 Puplis schulen be turmentid of the face therof, alle facis schulen be dryuun in to a pot. 7 As stronge men thei schulen renne, as men werriours thei schulen stie on the wal. Men schulen go in her weies, and thei schulen not bowe awei fro her pathis. 8 Ech man schal not make streyt his brother, ech man schal go in his path; but also thei schulen falle doun bi wyndows, and schulen not be hirt. 9 Thei schulen entre in to the citee, thei schulen renne on the wal; thei schulen stie on housis, thei schulen entre as a niyt theef bi wyndows. 10 The erthe tremblide of his face, heuenys weren mouyd, the sunne and the moone weren maad derk, and sterris withdrowen her schynyng.

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 bigynnyng God made of nouyt heuene and erthe.
Genesis 1:4
And God seiy the liyt, that it was good, and he departide the liyt fro derknessis; and he clepide the liyt,
Genesis 1:28
And God blesside hem, and seide, Encreesse ye, and be ye multiplied, and fille ye the erthe, and make ye it suget, and be ye lordis to fischis of the see, and to volatilis of heuene, and to alle lyuynge beestis that ben moued on erthe.
Genesis 1:31
And God seiy alle thingis whiche he made, and tho weren ful goode. And the euentid and morwetid was maad, the sixte day.
Genesis 2:1
Therfor heuenes and erthe ben maad perfit, and al the ournement of tho.
Genesis 2:2
And God fillide in the seuenthe dai his werk which he made; and he restide in the seuenthe dai fro al his werk which he hadde maad;
Genesis 5:1
This is the book of generacioun of Adam, in the dai wher ynne God made man of nouyt. God made man to the ymage and licnesse of God;
Genesis 10:1
These ben the generaciouns of the sones of Noe, Sem, Cham, and Jafeth. And sones weren borun to hem aftir the greet flood.
Genesis 11:10
These ben the generaciouns of Sem. Sem was of an hundrid yeer whanne he gendride Arfaxath, twey yeer aftir the greet flood.
Genesis 25:12
These ben the generaciouns of Ismael, sone of Abraham, whom Agar Egipcian, seruauntesse of Sare, childide 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.


 
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