HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H3218
יֶ֫לֶק
ye.leq — locust
1) young locust (early stage of development) 1a) caterpillar (as devouring)
5 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY
Caterpillar
Original Hebrew / Aramaic / Greek connected to this term
How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.
Historical dictionary entry
The consumer. Used in the Old Testament (1 Kings 8:37; 2 Chr. 6:28; Ps. 78:46; Isa. 33:4) as the translation of a word (hasil) the root of which means “to devour” or “consume,” and which is used also with reference to the locust in Deut. 28:38. It may have been a species of locust, or the name of one of the transformations through which the locust passes, locust-grub. It is also found (Ps. 105:34; Jer. 51:14, 27; R.V., “cankerworm”) as the rendering of a different Hebrew word, yelek, a word elsewhere rendered “cankerworm” (q.v.), Joel 1:4; 2:25. (See LOCUST.)
Scripture references
1 Kings 8:372 Chronicles 6:28Psalms 78:46Isaiah 33:4Deuteronomy 28:38Psalms 105:34Jeremiah 51:14Jeremiah 51:27Joel 1:4Joel 2:25
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.