Joel 2:4-6

2:4 They look like horses; ¹ 

they charge ahead like war horses.

2:5 They sound like ²  chariots rumbling ³  over mountain tops,

like the crackling ⁴  of blazing fire consuming stubble,

like the noise of ⁵  a mighty army ⁶  being drawn up for battle. ⁷ 

2:6 People ⁸  writhe in fear when they see them. ⁹ 

All of their faces turn pale with fright. ¹⁰ 

[2:4]  ¹ tn Heb “Like the appearance of horses [is] its appearance.”

[2:5]  ² tn Heb “like the sound of.”

[2:5]  ³ tn Heb “jostling” or “leaping.” There is question whether this pictures chariots rumbling over the mountains (e.g., 2 Sam 6:14,16; 1 Chr 15:29; Nah 3:2) or the locusts flying – or “leaping” – over the mountains (e.g., Job 21:11); see BDB 955 s.v. רָקַד.

[2:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “sound.”

[2:5]  ⁵ tn The phrase “the noise of” does not appear in the Hebrew, but is implied by the parallelism, so it has been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

[2:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “people.”

[2:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “being arrayed of battle.”

[2:6]  ³ tn Or “nations.”

[2:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “before it.”

[2:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “all faces gather beauty”; or “all faces gather a glow.” The Hebrew word פָּארוּר (pa’rur) is found in the OT only here and in Nah 2:11. Its meaning is very uncertain. Some scholars associate it with a root that signifies “glowing”; hence “all faces gather a glow of dread.” Others associate the word with פָּרוּר (parur, “pot”); hence “all faces gather blackness.” Still others take the root to signify “beauty”; hence “all faces gather in their beauty” in the sense of growing pale due to fear. This is the view assumed here.