Deuteronomy 28:42

28:42 Whirring locusts ¹  will take over every tree and all the produce of your soil.

Deuteronomy 28:1

The Covenant Blessings

28:1 “If you indeed ²  obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving ³  you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth.

Deuteronomy 8:1

The Lord’s Provision in the Desert

8:1 You must keep carefully all these commandments ⁴  I am giving ⁵  you today so that you may live, increase in number, ⁶  and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. ⁷ 

Psalms 78:46

78:46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,

the fruit of their labor to the locust.

Psalms 105:34-35

105:34 He ordered locusts to come, ⁸ 

innumerable grasshoppers.

105:35 They ate all the vegetation in their land,

and devoured the crops of their fields. ⁹ 

Revelation 9:3-7

9:3 Then ¹⁰  out of the smoke came locusts onto the earth, and they were given power ¹¹  like that of the scorpions of the earth. 9:4 They ¹²  were told ¹³  not to damage the grass of the earth, or any green plant or tree, but only those people ¹⁴  who did not have the seal of God on their ¹⁵  forehead. 9:5 The locusts ¹⁶  were not given permission ¹⁷  to kill ¹⁸  them, but only to torture ¹⁹  them ²⁰  for five months, and their torture was like that ²¹  of a scorpion when it stings a person. ²²  9:6 In ²³  those days people ²⁴  will seek death, but ²⁵  will not be able to ²⁶  find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.

9:7 Now ²⁷  the locusts looked like horses equipped for battle. On ²⁸  their heads were something like crowns similar to gold, ²⁹  and their faces looked like men’s ³⁰  faces.

[28:42]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term denotes some sort of buzzing or whirring insect; some have understood this to be a type of locust (KJV, NIV, CEV), but other insects have also been suggested: “buzzing insects” (NAB); “the cricket” (NASB); “the cicada” (NRSV).

[28:1]  ² tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “indeed.”

[28:1]  ³ tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today” (likewise in v. 15).

[8:1]  ⁴ tn The singular term (מִצְוָה, mitsvah) includes the whole corpus of covenant stipulations, certainly the book of Deuteronomy at least (cf. Deut 5:28; 6:1, 25; 7:11; 11:8, 22; 15:5; 17:20; 19:9; 27:1; 30:11; 31:5). The plural (מִצְוֹת, mitsot) refers to individual stipulations (as in vv. 2, 6).

[8:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB). For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation (likewise in v. 11).

[8:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “multiply” (so KJV, NASB, NLT); NIV, NRSV “increase.”

[8:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 16, 18).

[105:34]  ⁸ tn Heb “he spoke and locusts came.”

[105:35]  ⁹ tn Heb “the fruit of their ground.”

[9:3]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[9:3]  ¹¹ tn See BDAG 352 s.v. ἐξουσία 2, “potential or resource to command, control, or govern, capability, might, power.”

[9:4]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:4]  ¹³ tn The dative indirect object (αὐταῖς, autais) was converted into the subject (“they”) as this more closely approximates English usage. The following ἵ῞να (Jina) is taken as substantival, introducing a direct object clause. In this case, because it is reported speech, the ἵνα is similar to the declarative ὅτι (Joti).

[9:4]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “men”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here of both men and women.

[9:4]  ¹⁵ tn The article τῶν (twn) has been translated as a possessive pronoun here (ExSyn 215).

[9:5]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “It was not permitted to them”; the referent (the locusts) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ¹⁷ tn The word “permission” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[9:5]  ¹⁸ tn The two ἵνα (Jina) clauses of 9:5 are understood to be functioning as epexegetical or complementary clauses related to ἐδόθη (edoqh).

[9:5]  ¹⁹ tn On this term BDAG 168 s.v. βασανισμός states, “1. infliction of severe suffering or pain associated with torture or torment, tormenting, torture Rv 9:5b. – 2. the severe pain experienced through torture, torment vs. 5a; 14:11; 18:10, 15; (w. πένθος) vs. 7.”

[9:5]  ²⁰ tn The pronoun “them” is not in the Greek text but is picked up from the previous clause.

[9:5]  ²¹ tn Grk “like the torture,” but this is redundant in contemporary English.

[9:5]  ²² tn Grk “a man”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in an individualized sense without being limited to the male gender.

[9:6]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:6]  ²⁴ tn Grk “men”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here of both men and women.

[9:6]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[9:6]  ²⁶ tn The phrase “not be able to” was used in the translation to emphasize the strong negation (οὐ μή, ou mh) in the Greek text.

[9:7]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of the description of the locusts, which is somewhat parenthetical in the narrative.

[9:7]  ²⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:7]  ²⁹ tn The translation attempts to bring out the double uncertainty in this clause in the Greek text, involving both the form (ὡς στέφανοι, Jw" stefanoi, “like crowns”) and the material (ὅμοιοι χρυσῷ, {omoioi crusw, “similar to gold”).

[9:7]  ³⁰ tn Or “human faces.” The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos) is often used in a generic sense, referring to both men and women. However, because “women’s hair” in the next clause suggests a possible gender distinction here, “men’s” was retained.