Locusts

A locust is a type of large grasshopper that can cause great damage to plants and crops. It is part of the insect family Acridiidae. Unlike regular grasshoppers, locusts gather in huge groups called swarms and travel long distances together.

The Bible uses at least 12 different names for locusts, with each name possibly describing either how the locust looks as it grows or what kind of damage it does to plants. In modern times, locust swarms continue to destroy large areas of farmland and other plants. Unlike regular grasshoppers, locusts gather in large groups and travel long distances together.

The Old Testament mentions several different species of locusts. Leviticus 11:22 seems to refer to the slant-faced (bald) locust and the katydid, or long-horned grasshopper. The reference in Deuteronomy 28:42 may be to the mole cricket.

Joel 1:4 and 2:25 and Nahum 3:16–17 describe the stages of the insect’s development.

The "devouring locust" in the book of Joel (also known as "palmerworm") is likely the earliest stage.

The "swarming locusts" (or simply "locusts") are in the middle stages.

"Young locust" (referred to as "cankerworm") are later stages but not yet adults.

The adult locusts, called "destroying locusts" or "caterpillars," are reddish-brown. Over time, they turn yellow with a brownish pattern on their wings.

Of all the many types of locusts found in Bible lands, only three types can form large swarms. The desert locust (Schistocerca gergaria) is the most common of these three. It is found throughout all the lands mentioned in the Bible and originally came from Sudan in Africa.

The desert locust is about 5 centimeters (two inches) long (about the length of your thumb). When its wings are spread out, they measure about 12.7 centimeters (five inches) across. These locusts can exist in different forms:

a solitary form, where they live alone;

a group form, where they gather and live with other locuts; and

a transition form (called transiens), as they change between these two states.

The locusts look different in each form, with changes in their body color and shape. Young locusts also look different from adult ones.

Rain plays an important role in how locust swarms grow. The locusts need wet soil to lay their eggs and for the eggs to grow properly. Each female locust can lay between 1 and 6 groups of eggs. Each group contains between 28 and 146 eggs. After 15 to 43 days, baby locusts hatch from these eggs.

When locusts reach their second growth stage, they begin to move in large groups. Nothing can stop these groups as they move forward together. They climb over or move around any obstacle in their path (Joel 2:4–9). The locusts will keep moving unless the weather is too hot or too cold. They can fly up to 1,930.8 kilometers (1,200 miles) from where they started. They fly so close together that their swarms can block out sunlight. Natural body chemicals make the locusts want to move, but the wind decides which direction they go.

These swarms eat almost every plant they find. Only a few plants are safe from them, including:

carob trees,

sycamore trees,

castor trees, and

oleander bushes.

In ancient times, a locust plague was one of the worst disasters that could happen to a community (Deuteronomy 28:38). The Bible describes these plagues as so terrible that they became a symbol of God's judgment. The prophet Joel describes a locust plague in vivid detail (Joel 2:1–11). When locust plagues came, people would pray, stop eating for a time (fast), and blow trumpets to ask for God's help (1 Kings 8:37–38; 2 Chronicles 6:28–29; Joel 2:12–17).

In the Bible, writers often used locusts as a symbol for powerful enemies who destroyed everything in their path, like how locusts destroy crops (Judges 6:5; Isaiah 33:4; Jeremiah 46:23; 51:27; Nahum 3:15).

Bedouins (nomadic people) eat locusts raw, roasted, or boiled. They also dry locusts to preserve them. They may crush them for cooking or eat them with bread, honey, and dates. John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey (Mark 1:6). The ancient Greeks also crushed locusts with stone tools to make flour.

In ancient times, people had an interesting way of counting a locust's legs. They counted the four small legs used for walking and the two large back legs used for jumping (which they gave a special name). This counting system helps explain why the Bible talks about insects "going on all fours." This phrase meant walking or crawling, not jumping. It did not mean these insects only had four legs in total.

According to God's law, most insects with six legs were considered ceremonially unclean and could not be eaten. However, locusts were different. Because they had special jumping legs, they were considered clean, and people could eat them (Leviticus 11:20–23).

See also Plagues upon Egypt.