used to represent innumerableness.—Judg. 6:5; 7:12; Jer. 46:23; Nah. 3:15, 17.

A “CLEAN” FOOD

The Law designated locusts as clean for food. (Lev. 11:21, 22) John the Baptist, in fact, subsisted on insect locusts and honey. (Matt. 3:4) These insects are said to taste something like shrimp or crab, and are rich in protein, desert locusts, according to an analysis made at Jerusalem, consisting of 75 percent protein. When used for food today, the head, legs, wings and abdomen are removed. The remaining portion, the thorax, is cooked or eaten raw.

LOCUST PLAGUES

In Bible times a locust plague was a severe calamity and, on occasion, an expression of Jehovah’s judgment, as, for instance, in ancient Egypt. (Ex. 10:4-6, 12-19; Deut. 28:38; 1 Ki. 8:37; 2 Chron. 6:28; Ps. 78:46; 105:34) Locusts, brought by the wind, arrive suddenly, but the sound of their coming, compared in Scripture to that of chariots and a fire consuming stubble (Joel 1:4; 2:5, 25), can, it is said, be heard at a distance of about six miles (10 kilometers). Their flight is largely dependent on the wind, which, when favorable, enables them to cover many miles. Locust swarms have even been seen by persons at sea more than a thousand miles (1,600 kilometers) from land. Unfavorable winds, though, can drive them into the water to their death. (Ex. 10:13, 19) The effect of a large swarm in flight (one in the Red Sea area was reported as having covered 2,000 square miles [c. 5,000 square kilometers]) is comparable to a cloud that intercepts the light of the sun.—Joel 2:10.

An invasion of locusts can transform a land from a paradise-like state into a wilderness, for their appetite is voracious. (Joel 2:3) They eat not only greenery but also linen, wool, silk and leather, not even sparing the varnish on the furniture as they penetrate the houses. The daily food consumption of a large swarm has been estimated as equaling that of a million and a half men.

A swarm of locusts progresses like a well-organized, disciplined fighting force, but without king or leader, this testifying to their instinctive wisdom. (Prov. 30:24, 27) Even though many perish, the onslaught continues. Fires built to check their advance are extinguished by the bodies of the dead locusts. Water-filled ditches are of no avail in impeding their progress, for these likewise become filled with their dead bodies. (Joel 2:7-9) “There is no known natural enemy that can keep their devastating migration in check,” wrote a zoology professor. (“The Locust War,” New York Times Magazine, May 12, 1960) Research indicates that the life-span of the locust is between four and six months. Appropriately, therefore, the symbolic locusts of Revelation 9:5 are said to torment men for five months or what would commonly be their full life-span.

Describing a locust plague occurring in the nineteenth century, Louis Figuier states: “It was in the month of April, 1866, that the vanguard of these destructive insects appeared. Debouching through the mountain gorges and through the valleys, into the fertile plains near the coast, they alighted first on the plain of Mitidja and on the Sahel of Algiers. Their mass, at certain points, intercepted the light of the sun, and resembled those whirlwinds of snow which, during the storms of winter, hide the nearest objects from our view. Very soon the cabbages, the oats, the barley, the late wheat, and the market-gardeners’ plants, were partly destroyed. In some places the locusts penetrated into the interiors of the houses.”—The Insect World, p. 308.

FIGURATIVE USE

At Nahum 3:16 mention is made of the locust’s stripping off its skin. The locust, unlike other insects such as the butterfly, does not pass through the pupa stage of metamorphosis. Instead, it sheds its skin five times to reach adult size. At Nahum 3:17 the Assyrian guardsmen and recruiting officers are compared to locusts that camp in stone pens during a cold day but flee when the sun shines forth. The allusion here may be to the fact that cold weather makes the insects numb, causing them to hide in the crevices of walls until such time as they are warmed by the sun’s rays, after which they fly away. It is reported that not until their bodies reach about 70° Fahrenheit (21° Centigrade) can locusts fly.

LOD

A city with dependent towns built either by the Benjamite Elpaal or his “son” Shemed. (1 Chron. 8:1, 12) After the Jews returned from Babylonian exile Lod was one of their most westerly settlements. (Ezra 2:33; Neh. 7:37; 11:35) It is thought to be the same as Lydda, where Peter healed Aeneas. (Acts 9:32-38) Situated in a fertile valley at the southern edge of the Plain of Sharon, modern Lydda is about eleven miles (18 kilometers) SE of Joppa. Its location anciently placed the city at the intersection of what is considered to have been the principal route between Egypt and Babylon and the main road from Joppa to Jerusalem. During the Common Era this strategic position exposed Lydda to ravages by the armies of the Romans, Saracens, Crusaders and Mongols.

LO-DEBAR

(Lo-deʹbar) [possibly, without pasture].

The site where Machir, a contemporary of King David, had his home. (2 Sam. 9:4, 5; 17:27) Lo-debar is usually considered to be the same as Debir in Gad.—Josh. 13:24, 26; see DEBIR No. 4.

LOG

[Heb., logh; hollow, basin].

The smallest liquid measure mentioned in the Bible. One log measure of oil was part of the prescribed offering by a cleansed leper. (Lev. 14:2, 10, 12, 15, 21, 24) Talmudic evidence indicates the log to be one-twelfth of a hin (or, .014 bath). If the bath is correctly estimated at 5.81 gallons (22 liters) on the basis of archaeological findings, this would give the log measure a capacity of about two-thirds of a liquid pint (.3 liter).

LOINS

[Heb., hhala·tsaʹyim; Gr., o·sphysʹ].

The Bible uses these words similarly to the Hebrew word math·naʹyim, which is also translated “loins” or “hips.” O·sphysʹ applies in the ordinary sense in describing John the Baptist as clothed about the loins with a leather girdle.—Matt. 3:4; see the use of math·naʹyim in this way at 2 Kings 4:29; 9:1, and hhala·tsaʹyim at Isaiah 5:27; 32:11.

The section of the body designated by the word “loins” contains the reproductive organs; therefore offspring are said to ‘come out of the loins.’ (Gen. 35:11; 1 Ki. 8:19; Acts 2:30) Paul uses this fact when showing that Jesus’ priesthood according to the manner of Melchizedek is superior to Aaron’s, in that Levi, Aaron’s forefather, was in the loins of Abraham, and in that sense paid tithes to Melchizedek. (Heb. 7:5-10; Gen. 14:18-20) Paul also argued similarly at Romans 7:9, saying: “I [Paul the Jew, in his forefathers’ loins before the Law was given] was once alive apart from law; but when the commandment arrived, sin came to life again, but I died.”

To “gird up the loins” meant to gather up the ends of the robes into the sash to facilitate physical activity, and came to be used as an expression denoting the gathering of strength or preparing for vigorous mental or spiritual activity.—Luke 12:35; compare 1 Peter 1:13, “Brace up your minds [literally, ‘Gird up the loins of your mind’] for activity.”

At Ephesians 6:14, Christians are told to have their “loins girded about with truth,” that is, strengthened with God’s Word of truth as an essential support, just as a tight girding of the physical loins protects them against damage due to extreme stress.

Jehovah foretold the pain and distress of Jerusalem by the figure “every able-bodied man with his