Joel 2:7

They ¹  charge ²  like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. ³  Each one proceeds on his course; they do not alter ⁴  their path.

They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course.

They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like soldiers; And they each march in line, Nor do they deviate from their paths.

The attackers march like warriors and scale city walls like trained soldiers. Straight forward they march, never breaking rank.

The invaders charge. They climb barricades. Nothing stops them. Each soldier does what he's told, so disciplined, so determined.

They are running like strong men, they go over the wall like men of war; every man goes straight on his way, their lines are not broken.

Like warriors they charge, like soldiers they scale the wall. Each keeps to its own course, they do not swerve from their paths.

They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like men of war; Every one marches in formation, And they do not break ranks.

They ¹  charge ²  like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. ³  Each one proceeds on his course; they do not alter ⁴  their path.

¹ sn Since the invaders are compared to warriors, this suggests that they are not actually human, but instead an army of locusts.

² tn Heb “run.”

³ tn Heb “men of battle.”

⁴ tc The translation reads יְעַבְּתוּן (yÿ’abbÿtun) for MT יְעַבְּטוּן (yÿ’abbÿtun). The verb found in MT (עָבַט, ’avat) means “take or give a pledge” (cf. Deut 15:6, 8; 24:10) and does not fit the context. Some scholars have proposed various emendations: (1) יְעָוְּתוּן (yÿ’avvÿtun, “they make crooked”); (2) יָטּוּן (yattun, “they turn aside”); (3) יָעַוּוּן (ya’avvun, “they err”); and (4) יְעָבְּתוּן (adopted in the present translation) from the root I עָבַת (’avat, “to twist, pervert”) or II עָבַת (’avat, “to change, abandon”). KBL adopt the latter option, but the only biblical evidence for this is the problematic reference in Joel 2:7. Another option is to view it as a variant of the root חבט (khavat, “turn aside from”), a meaning attested for the Arabic cognate. The difference in spelling would be due to the interchange of the guttural letters khet (ח) and ayin (ע). This may lay behind LXX rendering ἐκκλίνωσιν (ekklinwsin; cf. Syriac Peshitta nstwn and Vg declinabunt). See S. F. Whitley, “‘bt in Joel 2, 7,” Bib 65 (1984): 101-2.