Caterpillar
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 >> T0002309.
