OF the LOCUSTS there are several species in Palestine, two of which are represented in the accompanying plate. Those on the ground are the common Migratory Locusts (Œdipoda migratoria), while those on the wing, which have long heads, are a species of Truocalis.
At least four species of Locust are mentioned in the Scriptures, one of them being the beetle of the Authorized Version; and it is probable that one or two words which are differently rendered in the Authorized Version are either names of different species of Locusts, or are synonyms for the same species.
We will first take the different Hebrew words which are translated as "Locust," and then proceed to the description of the insects themselves.
The first of those words is arbeh, about the rendering of which there is no doubt whatever. It occurs many times in the Scriptures, and, even if its signification were doubtful, the context would be sufficient to denote the proper rendering of the word. Take, for example, the account in Ex. 10 of the threatened plague of Locusts. Nothing can be more terse and graphic than the description of the Arbeh, its vast multitudes, its sudden arrival, and its destructive power.
In Judg. 6:55For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. (Judges 6:5) the word is translated as "grasshopper." “For they carne up with their cattle and their tents, and they carne as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it." Translating the word rightly as “Locust," we see the real force of this passage. Grasshoppers may inhabit a spot, and do no great harm, but the Locusts invade whole districts, coming like destructive armies upon it, and causing utter destruction as long as they remain.
In 1 Kings 8:3737If 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; (1 Kings 8:37), Solomon speaks of the presence of the Arbeh among the most terrible calamities that can befall a country, and classes it with famine, drought, pestilence, and siege. In Prov. 30:2727The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; (Proverbs 30:27) the same writer remarks on the curious fact that these creatures are gregarious and migratory, and yet have no leader, as is mostly the case with gregarious animals. “The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands.”
Allusion is made to the vast number of the Arbeh in Jer. 46 “They shall cut down her forest, saith the Lord, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable." The voracity of the Arbeh is mentioned in Joel 1:44That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. (Joel 1:4) and 2:25. These are but a few passages selected out of the many in which the Arbeh is mentioned, in order to show how completely the word corresponds with the character of the Locust. The word is derived from a Hebrew root signifying multitudes, and is therefore appropriately used for these insects, which singly are so feeble, and collectively are so terrible.
Next comes the word chagab, which evidently signifies some migratory and gregarious Locust, though we cannot say precisely to which species it refers. The word is mostly translated as "grasshopper," and, from the context of several passages, it seems to have been less in size than the Arbeh, inasmuch as it is used as a metaphor to express smallness. See; for example, Num. 13:31-3331But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. (Numbers 13:31‑33), where is recorded the false report of the spies whom Moses sent to inspect the land. “The men that went up said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
“And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
“And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers" (chagabim),"and so we were in their sight.”
Now the two principal species of Locust which travel in bands and devastate the country are the common Migratory Locust (Œdipoda migratoria) and the Acridium pereginum. If, therefore, the word arbeh expresses one of these insects, it is probable that the word chagab signifies the other.
The Bald Locust of Lev. 11:2222Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind. (Leviticus 11:22) is probably some species of Truxalis, the insects belonging to this genus having long and smooth heads. The Hebrew word is sallom, and the Jewish Bible leaves it untranslated. The 'word chargol which also occurs in the same passage, and is translated in the Authorized Version as "beetle," is in all probability a species of Locust, as it is classed with those insects which have "legs above their feet to leap withal.”
Besides these words, we find that others translated as “caterpillar," "palmerworm," and “cankerworm" may be synonyms for the Locust, either different species, or as expressing the same species in its various stages of development. (See Lepidoptera, page 632.)
We will now pass on to the insect and its habits, taking the Migratory Locust as the type of its family. The Locust belongs to the great order of Orthoptera, or straight-winged insects. They have, when fully developed, four wings, the two front being thick and membranous, while the two hinder wings are large, delicate, translucent, and folded longitudinally under the front pair of wings when the insect is at rest. In the Locusts these characteristics are admirably shown. The appearance of a Locust when at rest and when flying is so different that the creature is at first sight scarcely recognizable as the same creature. When at rest, it is a compact and tolerably stout insect, with a dull though delicately colored body; but when it takes flight it appears to attain twice its previous dimensions.
The front pair of wings, which alone were seen before they were expanded, became comparatively insignificant, while the hinder pair, which were before invisible, became the most prominent part of the insect, their translucent folds being colored with the most brilliant hues, according to the species. The body seems to have shrunk as the wings have increased, and to have diminished to half its previous size, while, the long legs that previously were so conspicuous are stretched out like the legs of a flying heron.
All the Locusts are vegetable-feeders, and do great harm wherever they happen to be plentiful, their powerful jaws severing even the thick grass stems as if cut by scissors. But it is only when they invade a country that their real Power is felt. They come flying with the wind in such vast multitudes that the sky is darkened as if by thunder-clouds; and when they settle, every vestige of green disappears off the face of the earth.
Mr. Gordon Cumming once saw a flight of these Locusts. They flew about three hundred feet from the ground, and carne on in thick, solid masses, forming one unbroken cloud. On sides nothing was to be seen but Locusts. The air was full of them, and the plain was covered with them, and for more than an hour the insect array flew past him. When the Locusts settle, they eat with such voracity that the sound caused by their jaws cutting the leaves and grass can be heard at a great distance; and oven the young Locusts, which have no wings, and are graphically termed by the Dutch colonists of Southern Africa "voet- gangers," or foot-goers, are little inferior in Power of jaw to the fully-developed insect.
As long as they have a favorable wind, nothing stops the progress of the Locusts. They press forward just like the vast herds of antelopes that cover the plains of Africa, or the bisons that blacken the prairies of America, and the progress of oven the wingless young is as irresistible as that of the adult insects. Regiments of soldiers have in vain attempted to stop them. Trenches have been dug across their path, only to be filled up in a few minutes with the advancing hosts, over whose bodies the millions of survivors continued their march. When the trenches were filled with water, the result was the same; and oven when fire was substituted for water, the flames were quenched by the masses of Locusts that fell into them. When they come to a tree, they climb up it in swarms, and devour every particle of foliage, not even sparing the bark of the smaller branches. They ascend the walls of houses that come in the line of their march, swarming in at the windows, and gnawing in their hunger the very woodwork of the furniture.
We shall now see how true to nature is the terrible prophecy of Joel. “A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
“A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the Barden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
“The appearance of there is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
“Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array....
“They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: " Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
“They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
“The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
"And the Lord shall utter His voice before His army: for His amp is very great” (Joel 2:2-112A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 3A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 4The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. 5Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. 7They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: 8Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. 9They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. 10The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: 11And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? (Joel 2:2‑11)).
Nothing can be more vividly accurate than this splendid description of the Locust armies. First we have the darkness caused by them as they fly like black clouds between the sun and the earth. Then comes the contrast between the blooming and fertile aspect of the land before they settle on it, and its utter desolation when they leave it. Then the poet-prophet alludes to the rushing noise of their flight, which he compares to the sound of chariots upon the mountains, and to the compact masses in which they pass over the ground like soldiers on the march. The impossibility of checking them is shown in verse 8, and their climbing the walls of houses and entering the chambers in verse 9.
There is one passage in the Scriptures which at first sight seems rather obscure, but is clear enough when we understand the character of the insect to which it refers: "I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust" (Psa. 109:2323I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. (Psalm 109:23)).
Although the Locusts have sufficient strength of flight to remain on the wing for a considerable period, and to pass over great distances, they have little or no command over the direction of their flight, and always travel with the wind, just as has been mentioned regarding the quail. So entirely are they at the mercy of the wind, that if a sudden gust crises the Locusts are tossed about in the most helpless manner; and if they should happen to come across one of the circular air-currents that are so frequently found in the countries which they inhabit, they are whirled round and round without the least power of extricating themselves.
The course then of the Locust-swarms depends entirely on the direction of the wind. They are brought by the wind, and they are taken away by the wind, as is mentioned in the sacred narrative. In the account of the great plague of Locusts, the wind is mentioned as the proximate cause both of their arrival and their departure. See, for example, Ex. 10:12, 1312And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left. 13And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. (Exodus 10:12‑13): " And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.
“And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.”
Afterward, when Moses was brought before Pharaoh, and entreated to remove the plague which had been brought upon the land, the west wind was employed to take the Locusts away, just as the east wind had brought them.
“He went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the Lord.
Modern travelers have given accounts of these Locust armies, which exactly correspond with the sacred narrative. One traveler mentions that, after a severe storm, the Locusts were destroyed in such multitudes, that they were heaped in a sort of wall, varying from three to four feet in height, fifty miles in length, and almost unapproachable, on account of the odor of their decomposing bodies.
WE now come to the use of Locusts as food.
Very few insects have been recognized as fit for human food, even among uncivilized nations, and it is rather singular that the Israelites, whose dietary was so scrupulously limited, should have been permitted the use of the Locust. These insects are, however, eaten in all parts of the world which they frequent, and in some places form an important article of diet, thus compensating in some way for the amount of vegetable food which they consume.
Herodotus, for example, when describing the various tribes of Libyans, mentions the use of the Locust as an article of diet. “The Nasamones, a very numerous people, adjoin these Auschisæ westward.... When they have caught locusts, they dry them in the sun, reduce them to powder, and, sprinkling them in milk, drink them." (Melpomene, ch. 172.)
This is precisely the plan which is followed at the present day by the Bosjesmans of Southern Africa.
To them the Locusts are a blessing, and not a plague. They till no ground, so that they tare nothing for crops, and they breed no cattle, so that they are indifferent about pasture land.
When they see a cloud of Locusts in the distance they light great fires, and heap plenty of green boughs upon them, so as to create a thick smoke. The Locusts have no idea of avoiding these smoke columns, but fly over the fires, and, stifled by the vapor, fall to the ground, where they are caught in vast numbers by the Bosjesmans.
When their captors have roasted and eaten as many as they can manage to devour, they dry the rest over the fires, pulverize them Between two stones, and keep the meal for future use, mixing it with water, or, if they can get it, with milk.
We will now take a few accounts given by travelers of the present day, selecting one or two from many. Mr. W. G. Palgrave, in his “Central and Eastern Arabia," gives a description of the custom of eating Locusts. “On a sloping bank, at a short distance in front, we discerned certain large black patches, in strong contrast with the white glisten of the soil around, and at the same time our attention was attracted by a strange whizzing, like that of a flight of hornets, close along the ground, while our dromedaries capered and started as though struck with sudden insanity.
“The cause of all this was a vast swarm of locusts, here alighted in their northerly wanderings from their birthplace in the Dahna; their camp extended far and wide, and we had already disturbed their outposts. These insects are wont to settle on the ground after sunset, and there, half-stupefied by the night chill, await the morning rays, which warm them once more into life and movement.
“This time, the dromedaries did the work of the sun, and it would be hard to say which of the two were the most frightened, they or the locusts. It was truly laughable to see so huge a beast lose his wits for fear at the flight of a harmless, stingless insect, for, of all timid creatures, none equal this ship of the desert' for cowardice.
“But, if the beasts were frightened, not so their masters. I really thought they would have Bone mad for joy. Locusts are here an article of food, nay, a dainty, and a good swarm of them is begged of Heaven in Arabia....
“The locust, when boiled or fried, is said to be delicious, and boiled and fried accordingly they are to an incredible extent. However, I never could persuade myself to taste them, whatever invitations the inhabitants of the land, smacking their lips over large dishes full of entomological delicacies, would make me to join them. Barakat ventured on one for a trial. He pronounced it oily and disgusting, nor added a second to the first: it is caviar to unaccustomed palates.
“The swarm now before us was a thorough godsend for our Arabs, on no account to be neglected. Thirst, weariness, alt were forgotten, and down the riders leaped from their starting camels. This one spread out a cloak, that one a saddle-bag, a third his shirt, over the unlucky creatures, destined for the morning meal. Some flew away, whizzing across our feet; others were caught, and tied up in sacks.”
Mr. Mansfield Parkyns, in his “Life in Abyssinia," mentions that the true Abyssinian will not eat the Locust, but that the negroes and Arabs do so. He describes the flavor as being something between the burnt end of a quill and a crumb of linseed cake. The flavor, however, depends much on the mode of cooking, and, as some say, on the nature of the Locusts' food.
Signor Pierotti states, in his “Customs and Traditions of Palestine," that Locusts are really excellent food, and that he was accustomed to eat them, not from necessity, but from choice, and compares their flavor to that of shrimps.
Dr. Livingstone makes a similar comparison. In Palestine, Locusts are eaten either roasted or boiled in salt and water, but, when preserved for future use, they are dried in the sun, their heads, wings, and legs picked off, and their bodies ground into dust. This dust has naturally a rather bitter flavor, which is corrected by mixing it with camel's milk or honey, the latter being the favorite substance.
We may now see that the food of John the Baptist was, like his dress, that of a people who lived at a distance from towns, and that there was no more hardship in the one than in the other. Some commentators have tried to prove that John fed on the fruit of the locust or carob tree—the same that is used so much in this country for feeding cattle; but there is not the least ground for such an explanation. The account of his life, indeed, requires no explanation; Locust-dust, with honey, being an ordinary article of food even at the pre sent day.