Locust
lo'-kust: The translation of a large number of Hebrew and
Greek words:
1. Names:
(1) 'arbeh from the root rabhah, "to increase" (compare
Arabic raba', "to increase"). (2) sal`am, from obsolete [?]
cal`am, "to swallow down," "to consume." (3) chargol
(compare Arabic charjal, "to run to the right or left,"
charjalat, "a company of horses" or "a swarm of locusts,"
charjawan, a kind of locust). (4) chaghabh (compare Arabic
chajab, "to hide," "to cover"). (5) gazam (compare Arabic
jazum, " to cut off") (6) yeleq, from the root laqaq "to
lick" (compare Arabic laqlaq, "to dart out the tongue" (used
of a serpent)). (7) chacil, from the root chacal, "to
devour" (compare Arabic chaucal, "crop" (of a bird)). (8)
gobh, from the obsolete root gabhah (compare Arabic jabi,
"locust," from the root jaba', "to come out of a hole"). (9)
gebh, from same root. (10) tselatsal from [?] tsalal
(onomatopoetic), "to tinkle," "to ring" (compare Arabic
call, "to give a ringing sound" (used of a horse's bit);
compare also Arabic Tann, used of the sound of a drum or
piece of metal, also of the humming of flies). (11) akris
(genitive akridos; diminutive akridion, whence Acridium, a
genus of locusts)...
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-Authorized as food
Le 11:22
-Used as food
Mt 3:4; Mr 1:6
-Plague of
Ex 10:1-19; Ps 105:34,35
-Devastation by
De 28:38; 1Ki 8:37; 2Ch 7:13; Isa 33:4; Joe 1:4-7;
Re
9:7-10
-Sun obscured by
Joe 2:2,10
-Instincts of
Pr 30:27
-In A. V. often inaccurately translated "grasshopper," as in
Jud 6:5; 7:12; Job 39:20; Jer 46:23
-See GRASSHOPPER
-FIGURATIVE
Jer 46:23
-SYMBOLICAL
Re 9:3-10
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a well-known insect, of the grasshopper family, which
commits terrible ravages on vegetation in the countries
which it visits. "The common brown locust is about three
inches in length, and the general form is that of a
grasshopper." The most destructive of the locust tribe that
occur in the Bible lands are the (Edipoda migratoria and the
Acridium peregrinum; and as both these species occur in
Syria and Arabia, etc., it is most probable that one or
other is denoted in those passages which speak of the
dreadful devastations committed by these insects. Locusts
occur in great numbers, and sometimes obscure the sun. Ex
10:15; Jud 6:5; Jer 46:23 Their voracity is alluded to in Ex
10:12,15; Joe 1:4,7 They make a fearful noise in their
flight. Joe 2:5; Re 9:9 Their irresistible progress is
referred to in Joe 2:8,9 They enter dwellings, and devour
even the woodwork of houses. Ex 10:6; Joe 2:9,10 They do not
fly in the night. Na 3:17 The sea destroys the greater
number. Ex 10:19; Joe 2:20 The flight of locusts is thus
described by M. Olivier (Voyage dans l' Empire Othoman, ii.
424): "With the burning south winds (of Syria) there come
from the interior of Arabia and from the most southern parts
of Persia clouds of locusts (Acridium peregrinum), whose
ravages to these countries are as grievous and nearly as
sudden as those of the heaviest hail in Europe. We witnessed
them twice. It is difficult to express the effect produced
on us by the sight of the whole atmosphere filled on all
sides and to a great height by an innumerable quantity of
these insects, whose flight was slow and uniform, and whose
noise resembled that of rain: the sky was darkened, and the
light of the sun considerably weakened. In a moment the
terraces of the houses, the streets, and all the fields were
covered by these insects, and in two days they had nearly
devoured all the leaves of the plants. Happily they lived
but a short time, and seemed to have migrated only to
reproduce themselves and die; in fact, nearly all those we
saw the next day had paired, and the day following the
fields were covered with their dead bodies." "Locusts have
been used as food from the earliest times. Herodotus speaks
of a Libyan nation who dried their locusts in the sun and
ate them with milk. The more common method, however, was to
pull off the legs and wings and roast them in an iron dish.
Then they thrown into a bag, and eaten like parched corn,
each one taking a handful when he chose." --Biblical
Treasury. Sometimes the insects are ground and pounded, and
then mixed with flour and water and made into cakes, or they
are salted and then eaten; sometimes smoked; sometimes
boiled or roasted; again, stewed, or fried in butter.
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There are ten Hebrew words used in Scripture to signify
locust.
In the New Testament locusts are mentioned as
forming part of
the food of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:4; Mark 1:6).
By the
Mosaic law they were reckoned "clean," so that he
could lawfully
eat them. The name also occurs in Rev. 9:3, 7, in
allusion to
this Oriental devastating insect.
Locusts belong to the class of Orthoptera, i.e.,
straight-winged. They are of many species. The
ordinary Syrian
locust resembles the grasshopper, but is larger and
more
destructive. "The legs and thighs of these insects
are so
powerful that they can leap to a height of two
hundred times the
length of their bodies. When so raised they spread
their wings
and fly so close together as to appear like one
compact moving
mass." Locusts are prepared as food in various ways.
Sometimes
they are pounded, and then mixed with flour and
water, and baked
into cakes; "sometimes boiled, roasted, or stewed in
butter, and
then eaten." They were eaten in a preserved state by
the ancient
Assyrians...
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If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence,
blasting, mildew, locust, [or] if there be caterpiller; if
their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities;
whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness [there be];
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Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt
gather [but] little in; for the locust shall consume it.
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And the LORD turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away
the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained
not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.
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Locust. - One of the worst scourges of the East, very often referred to in Bible. As many as nine Hebrew words signify either the locust in general or some species:
(1) 'árbéh, probably the locusta migratoria;
(2) gãzãm, possibly the locust in its larva state, the palmerworm;
(3) Gôbh, the locust in general;
(4) chagab, most likely the grasshopper;
(5) hãsîl, "the destroyer", perhaps the locust in its hopper state, in which it is most destructive;
(6) hárgõl, translated in the D.V. ophiomachus;
(7) yéléq, the stinging locust;
(8) çelãçâl possibly the cricket; and
(9) sôl'ãm, rendered by attacus, or bald locust (probably the truxalis).
Unlike other insects, locusts are most voracious in every stage of their existence.
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Grasshopper, is probably the best rendering for the Hebrew, hãgãb [Lev., xi, 22; Num., xiii, 34 (Hebrews 13:33); Is., xl, 22; Eccles., xii, 5, etc.], as in the A.V., if the Hebrew word be interpreted "hopper" as Credner suggests; the D.V. uses the word locust. The grasshopper is one of the smaller species of the locust tribe.
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