מרכב

'merekeb' (commonly pronounced “merkebah”) is the Hebrew name for a “chariot”. King Solomon is said to have had a fleet of 4000 chariots¹⁾ which were probably financed in part from a trade deal whereby Israel would purchase merekeb from Egypt and sell them to the Hittites.²⁾

The word appears 41 times in the ancient Hebrew texts. However, at least some of these instances appear to refer to a flying vehicle, rather than a horse-drawn land vehicle.

Notably, several instances in Zechariah appear to use 'merekeb' metaphorically while seeming to describe an unusual flying vehicle of some kind. Zechariah “lifts his eyes” and sees the 'merekeb' approaching very quickly from between two distant mountains. The 'merekeb' are also described in this passage as four roeh. In the previous chapter, Zechariah describes the object as a 10 meter long flying cylinder whose shape he compares to a megel, a tube used for storing scrolls. He also metaphorically calls the object it an aipeh³⁾, but not an ordinary 'aipeh', because “a woman” climbs out of it. Clearly, this object defied a simple description.

The book of Joel also describes numerous 'merekeb' flying “Over the tops mountaintops” with “a fire flaming that devours the stubble Like a mighty army set in battle array”⁴⁾

Jeremiah likens the 'merekeb' to clouds and “a rising whirlwind” describing them as “swifter than eagles”⁵⁾. This “whirlwind” motif is echoed by Isaiah⁶⁾ and in the story of Elijah's departure from Earth.

It is quite likely that the kebed is the same object and the two words are related.

See also gelegel

LexID 4818