9:8a

They had hair like that of women: The Greek is literally “they had hair like women’s hair,” as in the New American Bible, Revised Edition. It makes clear that these locusts had something that normal locusts do not have.

How it was that They had hair like that of women is not explained here. It could mean that their hair was long, surrounded the face, or was thick. You should translate this clause literally without explaining it.

9:8b

teeth like those of lions: The phrase teeth like those of lions describes teeth that are long and sharp so that they can bite deeply into other large animals. In some languages people are not familiar with lions. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Use a general word for the animal. For example:

their teeth were like those of a fierce animal

• Explain the meaning in your translation of what lions’ teeth were like. For example:

their teeth ⌊were long and sharp⌋

• Use the word for a similar, large, meat-eating animal that is better known in your culture. For example:

their teeth were like the teeth of tigers/panthers/leopards

9:9a–b

thoraxes like breastplates of iron: The thoraxes are the chest areas of the bodies. The breastplates are the thin sheets of metal or overlapping plates of metal armor. They are shaped to fit over the chest to protect the wearers. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

Their chests were covered with what looked like iron breastplates (Good News Translation)
-or-
They had body–armour like iron breastplates (New Jerusalem Bible)

The breastplates might be used instead of the other armor, as pictured in the note at 9:7a. Or the breastplates might be added to the other armor.

iron: At the time, iron was the strongest metal known. Today, iron is used to make cars, trucks, and many kinds of tools.

In some languages people are not familiar with iron. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Describe it in your translation. For example:

very strong metal

• Use the major language word and explain it in your translation. For example:

iron, ⌊a very strong metal,⌋

• Use the major language word and explain it in a footnote if people are not familiar with it. An example footnote is:

At the time, iron was the strongest metal known. Today, iron is used to make cars, trucks, and many kinds of tools.

9:9c

the roar of many horses and chariots rushing into battle This clause indicates that the horses were running. Many horses running together make a loud thudding and rumbling noise similar to “rolling” thunder. Chariots have wooden wheels, often with an outer ring of iron. These make much noise as they roll over the ground. The sound of the locusts’ wings was like the noise of the running horses pulling chariots. The sound continued for a long time. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

the loud noise of many horses and chariots running into battle
-or-
the loud rumbling of many horses and chariots going quickly to battle

many horses and chariots: The Greek phrase is literally “of-chariots of-horses of-many.” There are several ways to interpret this phrase. The main ones are:

(1) It refers to horses pulling chariots and that there were many of these horse chariots. For example, the Good News Translation says:

many horse-drawn chariots

(2) It indicates that there were many horses and also there were chariots. For example, the Berean Standard Bible says:

many horses and chariots

(3) It indicates that there were chariots and each chariot had many horses. For example, the New Jerusalem Bible says:

chariots with many horses

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because there seems no reason from the Greek grammar to separate the horses from the chariots, as in interpretation (2). And it seems more likely that, for an example of a loud noise, many connects to chariots with horses and not just to horses (interpretation (3)). Other ways to translate this phrase according to interpretation (1) are:

many horse chariots
-or-
many chariots pulled by horses
-or-
many horses pulling many chariots

chariots: The word chariot refers to a vehicle with two wheels that is pulled by a horse or horses. The soldier stands in the vehicle. The wheels are made of wood and often have a band of iron around each wheel. The wheels make a rumbling noise when they roll.

In some languages people are not familiar with chariots. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:

⌊horse-drawn/pulled⌋ war vehicles

But the word or phrase you use should not refer to modern military trucks or tanks.

• Use the major language word. If people are not familiar with this word, explain it in a footnote. For example:

A chariot is a war vehicle with two wheels. It is pulled by one or two horses. The soldier stands in the vehicle. The wheels are made of wood and often have a band of iron around the wheels. The wheels make a rumbling noise when they roll.

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.