Multiples, various: but this is not the meaning of the verb [פשה]; it signifies to range at large, or to spread far and wide. The whole verse may be thus rendered,—
And swifter than leopards shall be its horses,
And more eager than the wolves of the evening;
Spread far and wide shall its horsemen;
Yea, its horsemen from far shall come,
And fly as an eagle hastening to devour.
The horsemen are represented as sweeping the whole country, spreading themselves in all directions; and when espying a prey at a distance, they are said to fly to it like an eagle. The idea of being “numerous” or “abundant,” as Junius and Tremelius render the verb, is derived from the Rabbins, and is not sanctioned by
examples in Scripture. The rendering of the Septuagint is ἐξιππασονται, shall ride forth, and of Jerome, diffundentur, shall spread themselves. There is no occasion to borrow a meaning from Arabic, as Henderson does, and to render it
“spread proudly along.” Newcome follows our common version.—Ed.