This verse consists of two lines, the first of which says that the locusts (or, army) look like horses, and the second adds that they run like horses. In some languages it may sound more natural to combine the two lines into one.

Their appearance is like the appearance of horses: Locusts may be thought to “look like horses” (Good News Translation) if you compare the shape of their heads. The heads of both horses and locusts are longer than wide, and the mouth of both is at the lower end of the head. In Hebrew the word for appearance occurs twice, but as Good News Translation shows, most languages need to use the equivalent term only once; for example, New Revised Standard Version says “They have the appearance of horses.”

And like war horses they run: The Hebrew word for war horses can mean any kind of horse that is used for riding or for pulling chariots. However, the context shows that horses used in warfare are the appropriate image. Hebrew poetry often uses a pair of synonyms for emphasis. “Cavalry” (Revised English Bible) and “horsemen” (King James Version) are possible translations, but they do not fit the poetic context. The jumping of locusts is probably the point of comparison with the running, prancing, and leaping of well-trained military horses. For this line New Jerusalem Bible says “like chargers they gallop on.” Cultures that are unfamiliar with horses may have to resort to using a loan word or descriptive phrase, in view of the image of the war chariots referred to in the next verse.

Quoted with permission from de Blois, Kees & Dorn, Louis. A Handbook on Joel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2020. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .