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Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Joel 2:4-6

Joel 2:4-6. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses Bochart and many other writers mention the resemblance which the head of a locust bears to that of a horse; whence the Italians call them cavalette. Like the noise of chariots on the mountains shall they leap Or, as the clause may be better rendered, They shall leap on the tops of mountains with the noise of chariots. The locusts being represented as an army attacking the country, and chariots being anciently a part of... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Joel 2:1-11

An army of locusts (2:1-11)Joel now pictures the approaching swarms of locusts as a person in Jerusalem sees them. He compares them to an enemy army and commands the watchman on the city wall to blow the trumpet to warn the city’s inhabitants of the attack. The swarms are so thick that they look like black clouds as they sweep down over the mountains (2:1-2). They spread over the countryside like an uncontrollable bushfire, turning healthy farmlands into barren wastes (3). People are terrified.... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Joel 2:4

The appearance of them: i.e. the army of Joel 2:20 , symbolized by the locusts of Joel 1:4 . Compare Revelation 9:7 . horsemen = war-horses (Habakkuk 1:8 ). read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Joel 2:4

"The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so do they run.Revelation 9:7-12 has a remarkable elaboration of this same comparison of the locusts to "many horses rushing to war," even the sound of the locust's wings being compared to the noise of a cavalry charge. The impossibility of understanding John's words in Revelation as a reference to any literal locusts greatly enhances the probability that the true interpretation of them in this chapter is that they... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Joel 2:4

4. appearance . . . of horses— (Revelation 9:7). Not literal, but figurative locusts. The fifth trumpet, or first woe, in the parallel passage (Revelation 9:1-11), cannot be literal: for in Revelation 9:11 it is said, "they had a king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit"—in the Hebrew, Abaddon ("destroyer"), but in the Greek, Apollyon—and (Revelation 9:11- :) "on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men." Compare Joel 2:11, "the day of the... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Joel 2:1-11

A. The invading army 2:1-11The Lord revealed that an army of human beings rather than locusts would soon assail Jerusalem. He described this army at length to stress the danger that His people faced and to motivate them to repent. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Joel 2:1-27

III. A NEAR FUTURE DAY OF THE LORD: A HUMAN INVASION 2:1-27Joel had spoken briefly of a coming day of the Lord in Joel 1:15, but now he said more about it.The term "the day of the Lord" seems to have arisen from the popular concept, in the ancient Near East, that a really great warrior king could consummate an entire military campaign in one single day. [Note: See Douglas Stuart, "The Sovereign’s Day of Conquest," Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 220/21 (December 1975,... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Joel 2:4-5

Joel compared this advancing army to warhorses and chariots, the war machines of his day. He heard the familiar sound of chariots in battle, which he likened to the crackling of fire as it rages up a mountainside swiftly consuming everything in its path. The huge army that Joel saw appeared unstoppable.It is interesting that locusts look like tiny armored horses, and they behave like them as well (cf. Job 39:19-20; Revelation 9:7). The Italian word for locust means "little horse," and the... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Joel 2:1-32

Repentance followed by RestorationJoel 2:1-17 are another description of the locust plague. An alarm is sounded as though the Day of Jehovah had come (Joel 2:1-3). The advance of the locusts into the city is described under the figure of an invading army (Joel 2:4-11). A message to the penitent is given from Jehovah (Joel 2:12-14), and a call is issued for a fast of supplication (Joel 2:15-17). Then follow the announcements that Jehovah has had pity on His people, and that He will remove the... read more

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