It will be seen from this list that the RV regards all these creatures as lizards. In our opinion, 1, 3, 4 are pretty certainly lizards, 2 probably so, 5 dubious, and 6 perhaps the mole-rat, but possibly the chameleon. RVm says of 2, 3, 4, 5, ‘words of uncertain meaning, but probably denoting four kinds of lizards.’ What species of lizard is in- tended by /étd’ah we have no means of determining. The commonest species are Lacerta viridis, L., the green lizard ; Lacerta agilis, L., the sand lizard (R equivalent of AV snail, Heb. hémet); Zootica muralis, Laur.; Ophiops elegans, Menetr.; Gongylus ocellatus, Forsk.
In Pr 30%, where AV has ‘ the spider taketh hold with her hands,’ RV gives ‘the lizard taketh,’ etc., RVm ‘the lizard thou canst seize with thy hands.’ The Heb. word is πεν. The tr® ‘lizard’ is supported by the LXX xadaSdrns, Vulg. stellio, and is adopted by Reuss, Kamphausen, ete., although Delitzsch and some others still defend ‘spider.’ See further, Bochart, Hieroz. ii. 1084.
G. E. Post.
LOAF.—See BREAD, vol. i. p. 318°.
LO-AMMI (‘23785 ‘not my people,’ LXX οὐ λαός yov).—The second son and third child of Gomer, the wife of the prophet Hosea. Whether or not we infer from Hos 1% that Lo-ammi was the off- spring of an unlawful union, he was recognized by Hosea as his child, and from him received his name. He was born three or four years after his sister Lo-ruhamah, as we may infer from the reference to the weaning of the latter (Hos 15), and the fact that weaning took place at two or three years from birth (2 Mac 7%, cf. Gn 218, 15 1%). The detail is of importance against the purely allegorical interpretation of the chapter, since it is to the point only in a narrative of fact. The name is symbolical, embodying Hosea’s conviction that Israel had forfeited its claim to J”s protec- tion: ‘call his name Lo-ammi; for ye (the Israel ites) are /d-‘ammi’ (i.e. ‘not my people,’ ef. Hos 1" RV), Hos 1°. For symbolical names given to other actual children, cf. MAHER - SHALAL - HASH - BAZ, SHEAP-JASHUB. Nothing further is known of the person Lo-ammi. The name occurs again in Hos 25 (Heb. 5] RVm, and also in the Hebrew in
130 LOAN
LOCUST
2' (Eng. 1°}, but in both these cases the name or phrase refers to the people of Israel. Thus 2! [Eng. 17°] may be translated, ‘And instead of that which was said to them, Ye are Lo-ammi (i.e. ‘not my people’), it shall be said unto them (ye are) sons of the living God’; and similarly 2” (Eng. 23) ‘And I will say unto Lo-amimi, Thou art Ammi (i.e. ‘my people’).’ Both these passages in which the name of Hosea’s son is actually applied to the people of Israel have been regarded by certain writers as later additions to the Bk. of Hosea; on 1-2! [Heb. 291-35] cf. Wellh., Nowack, ad loc., and Cheyne in W. R. Smith’s Prophets", p. xviii; and on 2!8-23 (Heb. 229-29) Nowack, ad loc. Zec 13° is an interesting and suggestive parallel passage. G. B. GRAY. LOAN.—See Dest, vol. i. p. 579.
LOCK.—See KEY, vol. ii. p. 836.
LOCUST. — The following words in the Heb. refer to various species of the Orthoptera, viz.:—
1. a298’arbeh. This is usually the generic name for locusts, and the one most frequently used in the OT (Ex 10*" etc.). It is probably derived from 737 rabah, signifying to multiply, and is highly descriptive of the fecundity of these insects. It is limited by the description (Lv 11"), which makes it one of the ‘flying creeping things that xo upon all four, which have legs above their eet, to leap withal upon the earth.’ It shares these characteristics with the συ sol‘dm, bald locust, 531 hargél, AV beetle (impossible, as the beetle does not leap; it may be, as in RV, ‘ericket’), and 2345 hdgdb, grasshopper. In four
laces only AV tr. it ‘grasshopper’ (Jg 65 713,
ob 39”, Jer 46%). In all these RV has ‘locust.’ Wherever ‘arbeh is used, reference is made either to its numbers or its destructiveness. It is evident that the word refers to the migratory species, which are such a terrible plague in the East. The two which do the greatest damage are Gdipoda migratoria and Acridium peregrinum. hese species are endemic in the deserts south-east and south of Palestine, and at irregular intervals spread northward and eastward.
2. pydp sol'dm, ἀττάκης, attacus (Lv 1133. This is one of the edible leapers defined in the previous verse. The obsolete root signifies to swallow or devour. The Talmud, which is the authority for the EV bald locust, says that it has a smooth head. Tristram suggests the species of Truxalis, which are common in Palestine.
3. 9390 hargél, perhaps ‘ galloper,’ ὀφιομάχης, ophio- machus (Ly 1135), tr. AV ‘beetle’ [quite inedible], RV ‘cricket,’ is another of the edible species, dis- tinguishable from the others in the list. But, as there is no hint of the qualities of this kind, we must be content to confess our ignorance. The LXX guess of a serpent killer has no foundation.
4. 2315 hagdb, perh. ‘concealer (sc. of the sun),’ ἀκρίς, locusta. It is evidently one of the devouring species, and is tr. in one place AV and RV ‘locust’ (2 Ch 713), while in the others (Ly 11%, Nu 13%, Ee 125, Is 40”) it is translated ‘grasshopper.’ What species it is we have no means of knowing. Its occurrence in the list with ’arbeh, sol‘dm, and hargél makes it sure that it was known to the Israelites, and distinguishable from the other edible insects mentioned.