Joel 2:5
in Joel 2With a sound like that of chariots they bound over the mountaintops, like the crackling of fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army deployed for battle.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
KJV
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
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This verse in Joel 2
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains shall they leap - The amazing noise of the flight of locusts is likened by those who have heard them, to all sorts of deep sharp rushing sounds. One says , “their noise may be heard six miles off.” Others , “within a hundred paces I heard the rushing noise occasioned by the flight of so many million of insects.
This site's exposition
A fire devoureth before them
on Joel 2:3-5
A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth pictures the swarm's approach and its wake, the land as the garden of Eden before them and a desolate wilderness behind, Eden and its ruin separated only by the locusts' own passing. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses draws a comparison ancient and modern observers of locust swarms have both made independently, the insect's head resembling a horse's in shape, which the older commentators offer as evidence the description still runs on a real plague rather than a coded reference to cavalry. The noise of chariots on the tops of mountains gives the swarm's sound its own simile, a dry rushing roar the verse itself compares to fire crackling in stubble.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 2 — Verses 1 onwards) Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like the dawn spreading over the mountains, a large and strong people appears, such as has never been before and will never be again in generations to come. Before them, a devouring fire; behind them, a blazing flame.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
An earnest call to repentance, ver. 12-17. A promise of all good things to the penitent, ver. 18-27. A prophecy of the Messiah's kingdom, ver. 28-32.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-18/28-anchored-1-11
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of that mountains shall they leap,....
The noise is likewise compared to that of a roaring fire; it is like the noise of a flame that devours the stubble, which noise is the more terrible because that which it is the indication of is devouring. Note, When God's judgments are abroad they make a great noise; and it is necessary for the awakening of a secure and stupid world that they should do so.
A serious call to the people, when they are under this sore judgment, to return and repent, to fast and pray, and to seek unto God for mercy, with directions how to do this aright,
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Like the noise of chariots--referring to the loud sound caused by their wings in motion, or else the movement of their hind legs. on the tops of mountains--MAURER connects this with "they," that is, the locusts, which first occupy the higher places, and thence descend to the lower places.
Like the noise of chariots - Bochart also remarks: - “The locusts fly with a great noise, so as to be heard six miles off, and while they are eating the fruits of the earth, the sound of them is like that of a flame driven by the wind.” Ibid., p. 478.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כְּק֣וֹל | kekol | like [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| מַרְכָּב֗וֹת | markavot | chariots | H4818 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| רָאשֵׁ֤י | rashei | [the] tops of | H7218 → | 599 times |
| הֶֽהָרִים֙ | heharim | the mountains | H2022 → | 546 times |
| יְרַקֵּד֔וּן | yerakedun | they leap ! | H7540 → | |
| כְּקוֹל֙ | kekol | like [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| לַ֣הַב | lahav | a flame of | H3851 → | |
| אֵ֔שׁ | ʾesh | fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| אֹכְלָ֖ה | ʾokhelah | consuming | H398 → | 810 times |
| קָ֑שׁ | kash | stubble | H7179 → | |
| כְּעַ֣ם | keam | like a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| עָצ֔וּם | ʾatzum | mighty | H6099 → | 31 times |
| עֱר֖וּךְ | ʾerukh | deployed of | H6186 → | |
| מִלְחָמָֽה׃ | milchamah | battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
כְּק֣וֹלlike [the] sound of
kekolH6963 →506 times
מַרְכָּב֗וֹתchariots
markavotH4818 →
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
רָאשֵׁ֤י[the] tops of
rasheiH7218 →599 times
הֶֽהָרִים֙the mountains
heharimH2022 →546 times
יְרַקֵּד֔וּןthey leap !
yerakedunH7540 →
כְּקוֹל֙like [the] sound of
kekolH6963 →506 times
לַ֣הַבa flame of
lahavH3851 →
אֵ֔שׁfire
ʾeshH784 →378 times
אֹכְלָ֖הconsuming
ʾokhelahH398 →810 times
קָ֑שׁstubble
kashH7179 →
כְּעַ֣םlike a people
keamH5971 →1873 times
עָצ֔וּםmighty
ʾatzumH6099 →31 times
עֱר֖וּךְdeployed of
ʾerukhH6186 →
מִלְחָמָֽה׃battle
milchamahH4421 →320 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 3:12His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
it leads to
- Luke 3:17
His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Malachi 4:1
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of…
- Matthew 13:30
Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat into my barn.’”
- Isaiah 41:16
You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD; you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.
- Jeremiah 51:2
I will send strangers to Babylon to winnow her and empty her land; for they will come against her from every side in her day of disaster.
- Luke 3:17
Through
Isaiah 30:30And the LORD will cause His majestic voice to be heard and His mighty arm to be revealed, striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire, and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones.
it leads to
- Psalms 18:13–14
The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded— hailstones and coals of fire.
- Isaiah 29:6
you will be visited by the LORD of Hosts with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with windstorm and tempest and consuming flame of fire.
- Psalms 18:13–14
Through
Isaiah 5:24Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected…
it leads to
- Isaiah 30:12
Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message, trusting in oppression and relying on deceit,
- Isaiah 30:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
About Joel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Joel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.