Locusts

Concise Bible Dictionary:

There are several species of locusts which visit Palestine; they are brought by the wind, and carried away by the same. Five Hebrew words are translated “locusts,” but they cannot now be definitely distinguished. Some of the Hebrew words are also translated GRASSHOPPERS. They formed one of the plagues of Egypt (Ex. 10:4-194Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast: 5And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field: 6And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh. 7And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? 8And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go? 9And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord. 10And he said unto them, Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you. 11Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. 12And 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. 14And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. 15For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt. 16Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. 17Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and entreat the Lord your God, that he may take away from me this death only. 18And he went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the Lord. 19And 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. (Exodus 10:4‑19)). They are remarkable for the immense numbers that suddenly swarm upon a district, and for the vast devastation they accomplish in vegetation in a little while, as the prophet says, before them the land may be as the garden of Eden, and behind them a desolate wilderness: nothing escapes them (Joel 2:33A 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. (Joel 2:3)).
Locust Swarm
They were classed among the clean things that might be eaten by the Israelites (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)); they were the food of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:44And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. (Matthew 3:4)); and are eaten at the present time. They are boiled, roasted, and fried, or salted, or pounded into cakes with salt. The Œdipoda migratoria is a species that commonly visits Palestine.
THE BALD LOCUSTS, salam. These are mentioned only in Leviticus 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); as distinct from the common locusts (arbeh). The bald locust is supposed to be a species of Truxalis, which have smooth heads.
In Revelation 9:3,73And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. (Revelation 9:3)
7And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. (Revelation 9:7) the locust is symbolical of some destructive power that will issue from “the smoke,” or influence, of the bottomless pit, to sting and torment the men that have not the seal of God in their foreheads. These locusts have stings like scorpions, are in shape or appearance like horses, with faces of men, and with crowns of gold on their heads, implying imperial power, with pretended subjection to God; but withal cruel, pitiless and false.

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

1. The “raiment of camel’s hair” was a coarse, rough outer garment, such as is still worn by the Arabs. It is made of the thin coarse hair of the camel. Some think, because Elijah is called “a hairy man” in 2 Kings 1:88And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite. (2 Kings 1:8), that he wore a garment of this sort. A rough garment seems to have been characteristic of a prophet. See Zechariah 13:44And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive: (Zechariah 13:4).
2. For a description of the girdle, see note on 1 Kings 18:4646And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. (1 Kings 18:46) (#314).
3. With many of the Bedouin on the frontiers locusts are still an article of food, though none but the poorest eat them. They are considered a very inferior sort of food. They are salted and dried, and eaten with butter or with wild honey. The fact that John ate this kind of food illustrates the extreme poverty or the forerunner of Christ, and shows the destitution he suffered by living in the wilderness far away from the haunts of men.

Related Books and Articles:

632. Rough Garments - Locust Food
Narrator: Chris Genthree