Joel 2:4 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

Bible Comments

The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. The appearance of horses - The head of the locust is remarkably like that of the horse; and so Ray on Insects describes them: Caput oblongum, equi instar, prona spectans - "They have an oblong head, like to that of a horse, bending downward." On this account the Italians call them cavaletta, cavalry. Bochart remarks, from an Arabic writer, that the locusts resemble ten different kinds of animals:

1. The Horse in its head.

2. The Elephant in its eyes.

3. The Bull in its neck.

4. The Stag in its horns.

5. The Lion in its breast.

6. The Scorpion in its belly.

7. The Eagle in its wings.

8. The Camel in its thighs.

9. The Ostrich in its feet. And

10. The Serpent in its tail.

Vid. Hieroz., vol. ii., p. 475, edit. 1692.

But its most prominent resemblance is to the horse, which the prophet mentions; and which the Arabic writer puts in the first place, as being the chief.

Joel 2:4

4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.