Bible Strands
Joel 2:5
With 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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses Judah during a locust invasion, describing the approaching swarm in Joel 2:5 before the surrounding nations react with terror in Joel 2:6.
The words — מַרְכָּב֗וֹת (mar.kavot) = chariots and יְרַקֵּד֔וּ (ye.rakdu) = they leap appear in the verse to describe the swarm's movement and noise over the mountains.
The thread — The text's imagery of army sounds and fire consuming stubble recurs in Isaiah 5:24, Revelation 9:9, and Isaiah 30:30.
Why it lands — The passage demands recognition of the swarm's terrifying, inevitable advance, forcing the reader to confront the reality of divine judgment before panic sets in.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 5:24 Therefore, 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 the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
- Revelation 9:9 They also had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the roar of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.
- Isaiah 30:30 And 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.
- Nahum 2:3 The shields of his mighty men are red; the valiant warriors are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariots flash like fire on the day they are prepared, and the spears of cypress have been brandished.
- Matthew 3:12 His 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.”
- Nahum 3:2 The crack of the whip, the rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot!