Hebrew word · H2625

חָסִיל

chasil

locust

A kind of locust, or a stage of its life, connected to chasal 'to finish off, devour' (Deut 28:38: 'the locust will consume it'). In Joel 1:4 it is one of four locust words (gazam, arbeh, yeleq, chasil), each finishing what the last one left. Its exact zoological meaning is uncertain.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

locust

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Kings 8:37

Range of meaning

A kind of locust, or a stage of its life, connected to chasal 'to finish off, devour' (Deut 28:38: 'the locust will consume it'). In Joel 1:4 it is one of four locust words (gazam, arbeh, yeleq, chasil), each finishing what the last one left. Its exact zoological meaning is uncertain.

Against the English

KJV, WEB: 'caterpillar'. BSB: 'grasshoppers'. The Greek has broukhos (a wingless locust).

How it drifted

In 1611 'caterpillar' could mean any crawling pest that ravages crops. Today it means the larva of a butterfly or moth, which is not what the Hebrew describes.

Used elsewhere in the period

Joel 1:4; 2:25; Ps 78:46 (paired with arbeh for the Egyptian plague); Isa 33:4; the verb in Deut 28:38.

From the study of Joel 1:4

Range of meaning

A locust term, probably from ḥsl, 'to finish off, consume', so 'the finisher' or 'the consumer'. It occurs 6 times: Joel 1:4 and 2:25; 1 Kings 8:37 and 2 Chronicles 6:28; Psalm 78:46; Isaiah 33:4.

Against the English

KJV and WEB have 'caterpiller/caterpillar'. BSB and ESV have 'destroying locust', and NASB 'stripping locust'. The Greek and Latin translators went further and turned it into a plant disease ('blight', 'rust').

How it drifted

The Septuagint's erysibē and the Vulgate's rubigo both mean 'rust/blight' on grain, a fungus rather than an insect. English translators then settled on 'caterpillar', which keeps the idea of a crawling pest but loses the locust.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deuteronomy 28:38 uses the related verb: 'the locust will consume it (yaḥselennu)'. Solomon's prayer pairs 'arbeh and ḥasil' among the disasters Israel may pray about at the temple (1 Kings 8:37). Psalm 78:46 says 'He gave their crops to the ḥasil, their labour to the arbeh'.

Where it appears

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 8:37 חָסִיל֙ locust[s]

    When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemy besieges them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,

    Here: A second locust word, linked to the verb 'to finish off, consume' (Deut 28:38). It may be a particular kind or a stage of the locust's growth, perhaps the wingless young that crawl and eat. Together with arbeh it means locusts in every form.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 6:28 וְחָסִיל֙ and locust[s]

    When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemies besiege them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,

    Here: Probably named from a verb meaning 'to finish off, consume'. Likely a locust species or growth stage (Joel 1:4 lists four locust words). KJV's 'caterpillar' and BSB's 'grasshoppers' are guesses at which insect is meant.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 78:46 לֶחָסִ֣יל to the locust

    He gave their crops to the grasshopper, the fruit of their labor to the locust.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 33:4 הֶֽחָסִ֑יל <the> locust[s]

    Your spoil, O nations, is gathered as by locusts; like a swarm of locusts men sweep over it.

Joel · 2

  1. Joel 1:4 הֶחָסִֽיל׃ the locust[s]

    What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.

    Here: Probably from a root meaning 'to finish off, consume' (used of locusts in Deuteronomy 28:38). Ending on this word is fitting: the last swarm is the one that finishes everything off.

  2. Joel 2:25 וְהֶחָסִ֣יל and the locust[s]

    I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.

    Here: Probably connected to the verb chasal, 'to finish off, consume' (Deut 28:38: 'the locust will consume it'). It is the locust that leaves nothing behind.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.