Psalms 105:34-35

105:34 He ordered locusts to come, ¹ 

innumerable grasshoppers.

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

and devoured the crops of their fields. ² 

Exodus 10:12-15

10:12 The Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand over the land of Egypt for ³  the locusts, that they may come up over the land of Egypt and eat everything that grows ⁴  in the ground, everything that the hail has left.” 10:13 So Moses extended his staff over the land of Egypt, and then the Lord ⁵  brought ⁶  an east wind on the land all that day and all night. ⁷  The morning came, ⁸  and the east wind had brought up ⁹  the locusts! 10:14 The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in all the territory ¹⁰  of Egypt. It was very severe; ¹¹  there had been no locusts like them before, nor will there be such ever again. ¹²  10:15 They covered ¹³  the surface ¹⁴  of all the ground, so that the ground became dark with them, ¹⁵  and they ate all the vegetation of the ground and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green remained on the trees or on anything that grew in the fields throughout the whole land of Egypt.

Joel 1:4-7

1:4 What the gazam-locust left the ‘arbeh-locust consumed, ¹⁶ 

what the ‘arbeh-locust left the yeleq-locust consumed,

and what the yeleq-locust left the hasil-locust consumed! ¹⁷ 

1:5 Wake up, you drunkards, ¹⁸  and weep!

Wail, all you wine drinkers, ¹⁹ 

because the sweet wine ²⁰  has been taken away ²¹  from you. ²² 

1:6 For a nation ²³  has invaded ²⁴  our ²⁵  land.

There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. ²⁶ 

Their teeth are like those ²⁷  of a lion;

they tear apart their prey like a lioness. ²⁸ 

1:7 They ²⁹  have destroyed our ³⁰  vines; ³¹ 

they have turned our ³²  fig trees into mere splinters.

They have completely stripped off the bark ³³  and thrown them aside;

the ³⁴  twigs are stripped bare. ³⁵ 

Joel 2:25

2:25 I will make up for the years ³⁶ 

that the ‘arbeh-locust ³⁷  consumed your crops ³⁸  –

the yeleq-locust, the hasil-locust, and the gazam-locust –

my great army ³⁹  that I sent against you.

Amos 7:1-2

Symbolic Visions of Judgment

7:1 The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw ⁴⁰  him making locusts just as the crops planted late ⁴¹  were beginning to sprout. (The crops planted late sprout after the royal harvest. ⁴² ) 7:2 When they had completely consumed the earth’s vegetation, I said,

“Sovereign Lord, forgive Israel! ⁴³ 

How can Jacob survive? ⁴⁴ 

He is too weak!” ⁴⁵ 

Revelation 9:2-11

9:2 He ⁴⁶  opened the shaft of the abyss and smoke rose out of it ⁴⁷  like smoke from a giant furnace. The ⁴⁸  sun and the air were darkened with smoke from the shaft. 9:3 Then ⁴⁹  out of the smoke came locusts onto the earth, and they were given power ⁵⁰  like that of the scorpions of the earth. 9:4 They ⁵¹  were told ⁵²  not to damage the grass of the earth, or any green plant or tree, but only those people ⁵³  who did not have the seal of God on their ⁵⁴  forehead. 9:5 The locusts ⁵⁵  were not given permission ⁵⁶  to kill ⁵⁷  them, but only to torture ⁵⁸  them ⁵⁹  for five months, and their torture was like that ⁶⁰  of a scorpion when it stings a person. ⁶¹  9:6 In ⁶²  those days people ⁶³  will seek death, but ⁶⁴  will not be able to ⁶⁵  find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.

9:7 Now ⁶⁶  the locusts looked like horses equipped for battle. On ⁶⁷  their heads were something like crowns similar to gold, ⁶⁸  and their faces looked like men’s ⁶⁹  faces. 9:8 They ⁷⁰  had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9:9 They had breastplates ⁷¹  like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many horse-drawn chariots charging into battle. 9:10 They have ⁷²  tails and stingers like scorpions, and their ability ⁷³  to injure people for five months is in their tails. 9:11 They have as king over them the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon. ⁷⁴ 

[105:34]  ¹ tn Heb “he spoke and locusts came.”

[105:35]  ² tn Heb “the fruit of their ground.”

[10:12]  ³ tn The preposition בְּ (bet) is unexpected here. BDB 91 s.v. (the note at the end of the entry) says that in this case it can only be read as “with the locusts,” meaning that the locusts were thought to be implicit in Moses’ lifting up of his hand. However, BDB prefers to change the preposition to לְ (lamed).

[10:12]  ⁴ tn The noun עֵשֶּׂב (’esev) normally would indicate cultivated grains, but in this context seems to indicate plants in general.

[10:13]  ⁵ tn The clause begins וַיהוָה (va’adonay [vayhvah], “Now Yahweh….”). In contrast to a normal sequence, this beginning focuses attention on Yahweh as the subject of the verb.

[10:13]  ⁶ tn The verb נָהַג (nahag) means “drive, conduct.” It is elsewhere used for driving sheep, leading armies, or leading in processions.

[10:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “and all the night.”

[10:13]  ⁸ tn The text does not here use ordinary circumstantial clause constructions; rather, Heb “the morning was, and the east wind carried the locusts.” It clearly means “when it was morning,” but the style chosen gives a more abrupt beginning to the plague, as if the reader is in the experience – and at morning, the locusts are there!

[10:13]  ⁹ tn The verb here is a past perfect, indicting that the locusts had arrived before the day came.

[10:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “border.”

[10:14]  ¹¹ tn This is an interpretive translation. The clause simply has כָּבֵד מְאֹד (kaved mÿ’od), the stative verb with the adverb – “it was very heavy.” The description prepares for the following statement about the uniqueness of this locust infestation.

[10:14]  ¹² tn Heb “after them.”

[10:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “and they covered.”

[10:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “eye,” an unusual expression (see v. 5; Num 22:5, 11).

[10:15]  ¹⁵ tn The verb is וַתֶּחְשַׁךְ (vattekhshakh, “and it became dark”). The idea is that the ground had the color of the swarms of locusts that covered it.

[1:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “eaten.” This verb is repeated three times in v. 4 to emphasize the total devastation of the crops by this locust invasion.

[1:4]  ¹⁷ tn The four Hebrew terms used in this verse are of uncertain meaning. English translations show a great deal of variation in dealing with these: (1) For ָגּזָם (gazam) KJV has “palmerworm,” NEB “locust,” NAB “cutter”, NASB “gnawing locust,” NIV “locust swarm,” NKJV “chewing locust,” NRSV, NLT “cutting locust(s),” NIrV “giant locusts”; (2) for אַרְבֶּה (’arbeh) KJV has “locust,” NEB “swarm,” NAB “locust swarm,” NASB, NKJV, NRSV, NLT “swarming locust(s),” NIV “great locusts,” NIrV “common locusts”; (3) for יֶלֶק (yeleq) KJV has “cankerworm,” NEB “hopper,” NAB “grasshopper,” NASB “creeping locust,” NIV, NIrV “young locusts,” NKJV “crawling locust,” NRSV, NLT “hopping locust(s)”; (4) for חָסִיל (khasil) KJV has “caterpillar,” NEB “grub,” NAB “devourer,” NASB, NLT “stripping locust(s),” NIV, NIrV “other locusts,” NKJV “consuming locust,” NRSV “destroying locust.” It is debated whether the Hebrew terms describe different species of locusts or similar insects or different developmental stages of the same species, or are virtual synonyms. While the last seems more likely, given the uncertainty over their exact meaning, the present translation has transliterated the Hebrew terms in combination with the word “locust.”

[1:5]  ¹⁸ sn The word drunkards has a double edge here. Those accustomed to drinking too much must now lament the unavailability of wine. It also may hint that the people in general have become religiously inebriated and are unresponsive to the Lord. They are, as it were, drunkards from a spiritual standpoint.

[1:5]  ¹⁹ sn Joel addresses the first of three groups particularly affected by the locust plague. In v. 5 he describes the effects on the drunkards, who no longer have a ready supply of intoxicating wine; in vv. 11-12 he describes the effects on the farmers, who have watched their labors come to naught because of the insect infestation; and in vv. 13-14 he describes the effects on the priests, who are no longer able to offer grain sacrifices and libations in the temple.

[1:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “over the sweet wine, because it.” Cf. KJV, NIV, TEV, NLT “new wine.”

[1:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “cut off” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV); NAB “will be withheld.”

[1:5]  ²² tn Heb “your mouth.” This is a synecdoche of part (the mouth) for whole (the person).

[1:6]  ²³ sn As becomes increasingly clear in what follows, this nation is to be understood figuratively. It refers to the locust invasion as viewed from the standpoint of its methodical, destructive advance across the land (BDB 156 s.v. גּוֹי 2). This term is used figuratively to refer to animals one other time (Zeph 2:14).

[1:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “has come up against.”

[1:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “my.”

[1:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “[It] is huge and there is not number.”

[1:6]  ²⁷ tn Heb “its teeth are the teeth of a lion.”

[1:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “its incisors are those of a lioness.” The sharp, cutting teeth are metonymical for the action of tearing apart and eating prey. The language is clearly hyperbolic. Neither locusts nor human invaders literally have teeth of this size. The prophet is using exaggerated and picturesque language to portray in vivid terms the enormity of the calamity. English versions vary greatly on the specifics: KJV “cheek teeth”; ASV “jaw-teeth”; NAB “molars”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “fangs.”

[1:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “it.” Throughout vv. 6-7 the Hebrew uses singular forms to describe the locust swarm, but the translation uses plural forms because several details of the text make more sense in English as if they are describing the appearance and effects of individual locusts.

[1:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “my.”

[1:7]  ³¹ tn Both “vines” and “fig trees” are singular in the Hebrew text, but are regarded as collective singulars.

[1:7]  ³² tn Heb “my.”

[1:7]  ³³ tn Heb “it has completely stripped her.”

[1:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “her.”

[1:7]  ³⁵ tn Heb “grow white.”

[2:25]  ³⁶ tn Heb “I will restore to you the years.”

[2:25]  ³⁷ sn The same four terms for locust are used here as in 1:4, but in a different order. This fact creates some difficulty for the notion that the four words refer to four distinct stages of locust development.

[2:25]  ³⁸ tn The term “your crops” does not appear in the Hebrew, but has been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[2:25]  ³⁹ sn Here Joel employs military language to describe the locusts. In the prophet’s thinking this invasion was far from being a freak accident. Rather, the Lord is pictured here as a divine warrior who leads his army into the land as a punishment for past sin and as a means of bringing about spiritual renewal on the part of the people.

[7:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[7:1]  ⁴¹ sn The crops planted late (consisting of vegetables) were planted in late January-early March and sprouted in conjunction with the spring rains of March-April. For a discussion of the ancient Israelite agricultural calendar, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 31-44.

[7:1]  ⁴² tn Or “the mowings of the king.”

[7:2]  ⁴³ tn “Israel” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:2]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “stand” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[7:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “small.”

[9:2]  ⁴⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “the shaft,” but since this would be somewhat redundant in English, the pronoun “it” is used here.

[9:2]  ⁴⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:3]  ⁴⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[9:3]  ⁵⁰ tn See BDAG 352 s.v. ἐξουσία 2, “potential or resource to command, control, or govern, capability, might, power.”

[9:4]  ⁵¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:4]  ⁵² 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]  ⁵³ tn Grk “men”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here of both men and women.

[9:4]  ⁵⁴ tn The article τῶν (twn) has been translated as a possessive pronoun here (ExSyn 215).

[9:5]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “It was not permitted to them”; the referent (the locusts) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ⁵⁶ tn The word “permission” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[9:5]  ⁵⁷ 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]  ⁵⁸ 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]  ⁵⁹ tn The pronoun “them” is not in the Greek text but is picked up from the previous clause.

[9:5]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “like the torture,” but this is redundant in contemporary English.

[9:5]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “a man”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in an individualized sense without being limited to the male gender.

[9:6]  ⁶² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:6]  ⁶³ tn Grk “men”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here of both men and women.

[9:6]  ⁶⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[9:6]  ⁶⁵ 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]  ⁶⁶ 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]  ⁶⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:7]  ⁶⁸ 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]  ⁶⁹ 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.

[9:8]  ⁷⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:9]  ⁷¹ tn Or perhaps, “scales like iron breastplates” (RSV, NRSV) although the Greek term θώραξ (qwrax) would have to shift its meaning within the clause, and elsewhere in biblical usage (e.g., Eph 6:14; 1 Thess 5:8) it normally means “breastplate.” See also L&N 8.38.

[9:10]  ⁷² tn In the Greek text there is a shift to the present tense here; the previous verbs translated “had” are imperfects.

[9:10]  ⁷³ tn See BDAG 352 s.v. ἐξουσία 2, “potential or resource to command, control, or govern, capability, might, power.”

[9:11]  ⁷⁴ sn Both the Hebrew Abaddon and the Greek Apollyon mean “Destroyer.”