Aantekeningen bij de Bijbel:

Onderwerp

Sprinkhaan ('arbeh)

Literatuur

Diverse Auteurs , NetBible, , [2007], Joel 1.4, tn The four Hebrew terms used in this verse are of uncertain meaning. English translations show a great deal of variation in dealing with these: (1) For גּזָם (gazam) KJV has "palmerworm," NEB "locust," NAB "cutter", NASB "gnawing locust," NIV "locust swarm," NKJV "chewing locust," NRSV, NLT "cutting locust(s)," NIrV "giant locusts"; (2) for אַרְבֶּה ('arbeh) KJV has "locust," NEB "swarm," NAB "locust swarm," NASB, NKJV, NRSV, NLT "swarming locust(s)," NIV "great locusts," NIrV "common locusts"; (3) for יֶלֶק (yeleq) KJV has "cankerworm," NEB "hopper," NAB "grasshopper," NASB "creeping locust," NIV, NIrV "young locusts," NKJV "crawling locust," NRSV, NLT "hopping locust(s)"; (4) for חָסִיל (khasil) KJV has "caterpillar," NEB "grub," NAB "devourer," NASB, NLT "stripping locust(s)," NIV, NIrV "other locusts," NKJV "consuming locust," NRSV "destroying locust." It is debated whether the Hebrew terms describe different species of locusts or similar insects or different developmental stages of the same species, or are virtual synonyms. While the last seems more likely, given the uncertainty over their exact meaning, the present translation has transliterated the Hebrew terms in combination with the word "locust."
sn Four different words for "locust" are used in this verse. Whether these words represent different life-stages of the locusts, or whether virtual synonyms are being used to underscore the severity of damage caused by the relentless waves of locust invasion, is not entirely certain. The latter seems more likely. Many interpreters have understood the locust plagues described here to be symbolic of invading armies that will devastate the land, but the symbolism could also work the other way, with real plagues of locusts described in the following verses as an invading army.
J.P. van de Giessen , Blog Aantekeningen bij de Bijbel, August 4, 2011,
Sprinkhanen
Tijdschrift , Met Andere Woorden, Journal, [0], juni 2007, p. 43ev, Jaap van Dorp, "De NBV vergeleken met vroegere vertalingen (14), Wat stond er eigenlijk"
Tijdschrift , Phytoparasitica, 24(1):7-32, David Nevo, "The Desert Locust, Schistocerca gregaria, and Its Control in the Land of Israel and the Near East in Antiquity, with Some Reflections on Its Appearance in Israel in Modern Times" (1996)