Isaiah 30:16

30:16 You say, ‘No, we will flee on horses,’

so you will indeed flee.

You say, ‘We will ride on fast horses,’

so your pursuers will be fast.

Jeremiah 4:13

4:13 Look! The enemy is approaching like gathering clouds. ¹ 

The roar of his chariots is like that of a whirlwind. ² 

His horses move more swiftly than eagles.”

I cry out, ³  “We are doomed, ⁴  for we will be destroyed!”

Lamentations 4:19

ק (Qof)

4:19 Those who pursued us were swifter

than eagles ⁵  in the sky. ⁶ 

They chased us over the mountains;

they ambushed us in the wilderness.

Joel 2:7

2:7 They ⁷  charge ⁸  like warriors;

they scale walls like soldiers. ⁹ 

Each one proceeds on his course;

they do not alter ¹⁰  their path.

Habakkuk 1:8

1:8 Their horses are faster than leopards

and more alert ¹¹  than wolves in the desert. ¹² 

Their horses ¹³  gallop, ¹⁴ 

their horses come a great distance;

like a vulture ¹⁵  they swoop down quickly to devour their prey. ¹⁶ 

[4:13]  ¹ tn Heb “he is coming up like clouds.” The words “The enemy” are supplied in the translation to identify the referent and the word “gathering” is supplied to try to convey the significance of the simile, i.e., that of quantity and of an approaching storm.

[4:13]  ² tn Heb “his chariots [are] like a whirlwind.” The words “roar” and “sound” are supplied in the translation to clarify the significance of the simile.

[4:13]  ³ tn The words “I cry out” are not in the text, but the words that follow are obviously not the Lord’s. They are either those of the people or of Jeremiah. Taking them as Jeremiah’s parallels the interjection of Jeremiah’s response in 4:10 which is formally introduced.

[4:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “Woe to us!” The words “woe to” are common in funeral laments and at the beginning of oracles of judgment. In many contexts they carry the connotation of hopelessness or apprehensiveness of inevitable doom.

[4:19]  ⁵ tn The bird referred to here could be one of several species of eagles, but more likely is the griffin-vulture (cf. NEB “vultures”). However, because eagles are more commonly associated with swiftness than vultures in contemporary English, “eagles” was used in the translation.

[4:19]  ⁶ tn Or “in the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[2:7]  ⁷ sn Since the invaders are compared to warriors, this suggests that they are not actually human, but instead an army of locusts.

[2:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “run.”

[2:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “men of battle.”

[2:7]  ¹⁰ tc The translation reads יְעַבְּתוּן (yÿ’abbÿtun) for MT יְעַבְּטוּן (yÿ’abbÿtun). The verb found in MT (עָבַט, ’avat) means “take or give a pledge” (cf. Deut 15:6, 8; 24:10) and does not fit the context. Some scholars have proposed various emendations: (1) יְעָוְּתוּן (yÿ’avvÿtun, “they make crooked”); (2) יָטּוּן (yattun, “they turn aside”); (3) יָעַוּוּן (ya’avvun, “they err”); and (4) יְעָבְּתוּן (adopted in the present translation) from the root I עָבַת (’avat, “to twist, pervert”) or II עָבַת (’avat, “to change, abandon”). KBL adopt the latter option, but the only biblical evidence for this is the problematic reference in Joel 2:7. Another option is to view it as a variant of the root חבט (khavat, “turn aside from”), a meaning attested for the Arabic cognate. The difference in spelling would be due to the interchange of the guttural letters khet (ח) and ayin (ע). This may lay behind LXX rendering ἐκκλίνωσιν (ekklinwsin; cf. Syriac Peshitta nstwn and Vg declinabunt). See S. F. Whitley, “‘bt in Joel 2, 7,” Bib 65 (1984): 101-2.

[1:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “sharper,” in the sense of “keener” or “more alert.” Some translate “quicker” on the basis of the parallelism with the first line (see HALOT 291 s.v. חדד).

[1:8]  ¹² tn Heb “wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The present translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “desert”). On this phrase see also Zeph 3:3.

[1:8]  ¹³ tn Or “horsemen,” “cavalry.”

[1:8]  ¹⁴ tn The precise nuance of the rare verb פָּוַשׁ (parash) is unclear here. Elsewhere it is used of animals jumping or leaping (see Jer 50:11; Mal 4:2).

[1:8]  ¹⁵ tn Or “eagle” (so NASB, NRSV). The term can refer to either eagles or vultures, but in this context of gruesome destruction and death “vulture” is preferred.

[1:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they fly like a vulture/an eagle quickly to devour.” The direct object “their prey” is not included in the Hebrew text but is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.