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merekeb
מרכב
'merekeb' (sometimes pronounced “merkebah/merkebot”) 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, the 3 instances in Zechariah 6 appear to have this meaning. 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 roah.
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”3)
Jeremiah likens the 'merekeb' to clouds and a rising whirlwind“ describing them as “swifter than eagles”4). This “whirlwind” motif is echoed by Isaiah5)
Other flying craft are described as aip6) or megel —- LexID 4818