ood; [Hebrew: ilq], the young locust in the last stage of
its transformation, or between the third and fourth casting of the
skin; [Hebrew: Hsil], the perfect locust, proceeding from the last
transformation, and, hence, as the brood proceeded from the [Hebrew:
gzM], [Hebrew: Hsil] would be the same [Hebrew: gzM].

[Pg 305]

It forms a general argument against this hypothesis, that,
according to it, the prophet should enter so deeply and minutely into
the natural history of locusts, that a Professor of that science might
learn from him. There is nothing analogous to this, either in Scripture
generally, or in the Prophets particularly. The difficulty, moreover,
increases, when we assume--what has been already proved--that the
description refers to the future. The religious impression which the
prophet has, after all, solely in view, would not gain, but suffer
by such a minute detail in the description of a future natural
event,--especially such as a devastation by locusts.

A closer examination proves that the whole explanation of the names of
the locusts, upon which the hypothesis is built, is untenable. It
appears, then, that the prophet knows of only one kind of locusts,
which he divides into four hosts; and that, with the exception of
[Hebrew: arbh] the names are not those of natural history, but
poetical, and taken from the qualities of the locusts.

Let us first demonstrate that the interpretation of [Hebrew: ilq], upon
which _Credner_ founds that of the other names, is inadmissible. This
interpretation, he maintains (S. 295), is put beyond all doubt by the
passage, Nah. iii. 16: "The [Hebrew: ilq] casts its skin and flies
away." The merchants, who constituted the principal part of the
population of Nineveh, are, according to him, compared to a [Hebrew:
ilq] which flies away, after having cast his skin for the third or last
time. But this passage of Nahum, when minutely examined and correctly
interpreted, is by itself sufficient to refute that opinion concerning
the [Hebrew: ilq]. In ver. 15, it is said concerning Nineveh: "There
shall the fire devour thee, the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat
thee up, as the _licker_ ([Hebrew: kilq]): make thyself many as the
_lickers_, make thyself many as the locusts. Ver. 16: Thou hast
multiplied thy merchants like the stars of heaven; _lickers broke
through and flew away_. Ver. 17: Thy princes are like locusts, and thy
captains are as a host of grasshoppers, which c