יֶלֶקyeleq
a devourer; specifically, the young locust
Pronunciation: yeh'-lek · Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) · H3218
Meanings
a kind of locust, always collective
a. as devouring (Joel 1:4; Joel 2:25; Psalms 105:34)
b. in simile of multitude of men (Nahum 3:15; Jeremiah 51:14; Jeremiah 51:27)
c. in simile of scattering and disappearing (Nahum 3:16)
Where it appears
Appears 9 times in the Bible.
- Psalms 105:34 He spoke, and hordes of locusts came— young locusts beyond number.
- Jeremiah 51:14 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has taken this vow and has sworn to it by his own name: “Your cities will be filled with enemies, like fields swarming with locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.”
- Jeremiah 51:27 Raise a signal flag to the nations. Sound the battle cry! Mobilize them all against Babylon. Prepare them to fight against her! Bring out the armies of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander, and bring a multitude of horses like swarming locusts!
- Joel 1:4 After the cutting locusts finished eating the crops, the swarming locusts took what was left! After them came the hopping locusts, and then the stripping locusts, too!
- Joel 2:25 The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you.
- Nahum 3:15 But the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down. The enemy will consume you like locusts, devouring everything they see. There will be no escape, even if you multiply like swarming locusts.
Source: Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain; markup by unfoldingWord, CC BY (github.com/unfoldingWord/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Enhanced).