352 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 105. 



have adopted the interpretations of the Father 

 above mentioned, and also a host of others who 

 defend the received exphmation. If they should 

 be within the reach of Bopeas (as most of them are 

 not in mine), he will be able to balance their ar- 

 guments for himself. 2. 

 L Rectory, Somerset. 



Perhaps the following may be useful to your 

 correspondent Bope'as on the word aKpiSes, St. Matt, 

 iii. 4. 



Lev. xi. 22., we have an enumeration of the 

 various kinds of locusts known to the Jews, viz. 

 the locust proper, the bald locust, beetle, grass- 

 hopper ; rendered in the Vulgate respectively, 

 briichus, attacus, ophiomachus, lociista, the latter 

 by the Septuagint, aKpiS^c. The Hebrew n3"lS, the 

 locust propel", from i^^"), to multiply, is used 

 chiefly for the ravaging locust, as Exod. x. 12., 

 probably a larger kind ; while 3jn, which is trans- 

 lated grasshopper in our version above, Vulg. lo- 

 ciista, Sept. aKijio^s, rendered by Fuerstius (Heb. 

 Cone.') locusta gregariu, is mostly used as implying 

 diminutiveness, as Numbers, xiii. 33., and but 

 once as a devouring insect, 2 Chro. vii. 13. It is 

 translated indiscriminately, in our version, locust 

 and grasshopper ; all these were edible and i:)er- 

 mitted to the Jews. Singularly enough, there is 

 one passage in which this word 3Jn is used, viz. 

 Eccl. xii. 5., in which it is doubted by some 

 whether it may not mean a vegetable ; but this is 

 not the opinion of the best authorities. The ob- 

 servation of Grotius, by-the-bye, on the jjlace is 

 extremely curious, difieriug li'om all the other 

 commentators. 



What we learn from the Old Testament, then, 

 is the probability that oKJiSes meant a smaller kind 

 of locust ; and that they were edible and permitted 

 to the Jews. We have abundant evidence, more- 

 over, from other quarters, that these locusts were 

 prized as food by frequenters of the desert. 

 Joh. Leo {Descript. AfriciB, book ix., quoted by 

 Drusius, Crit. Sac.) says : 



" Arabiae desertce et Libyae populi locustarum ad- 

 ventum pro felici habent omine ; nam vel elixas, vel ad 

 solem desiccatas, in farinam tundunt atque edunt." 



Again, Mercurialis, de Morh. Puerorum, i. 3. ap. 

 eun. : 



" Refert Agatharchides, in libro de Mare Rubro, 

 a.Kpi?0!pdyovs, h.e. eos qui vcscuntur locustis, corpora 

 habere maxlme extenuata et macilenta." 



Fit food, therefore, of the ascetic. Theophylact 

 understood by aKpiHes a wild herb or fruit ; but all 

 the most trustworthy commentators besides were of 

 opinion that an animal was intended. 



The modern Greek interpretation of aKploe;, 

 " the young and tender shoots of plants," may 

 perhaps be traced in what Balth. Stolbergius (see 



his essay on this passage, the most copious of any) 

 says ; maintaining it to be an animal, he adds, — 



" Insectum, infirmis pennis alatum, ac proinde altius 

 non evolans, sic dictum ab uredine locorum qus at- 

 tingit ; quasi loca usta. Greece, d/fpis, trapa toj aicpas 

 Tu>v do'Tax'iw*' Koi rav (pvTui' vifieadai." 



The following from Hieron. adv. Jovinian, ii. 6., 

 quoted by Drusius, while it asserts that locusts 

 were esteemed as food in some countries, will, 

 perhaps, account for the unwillingness of the 

 Greek friend of your correspondent Bopeas to re- 

 cognise an animal in the djcplSa of John the 

 Baptist : 



" Apud orientales et Libyae populos, quia per de- 

 sertum et calidam eremi vastitatem locustarum nubes 

 reperiuntur, locustis vesci moris est ; hoc verum esse 

 Johannes quoque Baptista probat. Compejle Phrygem 

 et Ponticum ut locustas comedat, nefas putablt." 



H. C. K. 

 Rectory, Hereford. 



Will you permit me to observe that the proper 

 word is locusts ? For I remember when I was at 

 Constantinople in the year 1809, that passing 

 through the fruit and vegetable bazaar, I observed 

 some dried fruits, resembling; a larjie French bean 

 pod ; they appeared dry, and were of a brown 

 colour. I inquired the name of " the fruit ;" I was 

 told they were " locusts." I was struck with the 

 name, for I remembered the passage in the New 

 Testament, and I could not reconcile my mind to 

 St. John living upon locusts (the insects) and wild 

 honey. I immediately tasted some of the fruit, 

 and found it sweet and good, something similar to 

 the date, but not so good, although nutritious. I 

 was thus instantly convinced of the possibility of 

 St. John living upon " locusts and wild honey " in 

 the desert. I have related to you this fact as it 

 occurred to me. The locust tree must be well 

 known amongst horticulturalists, I do not pretend 

 to enter into the question whether the translation 

 is right or wrong, as I am no " scollard," as the 

 old woman said. J. Bii. 



There is in Malta, the north of Africa, and 

 Syria, a tree called the locust tree ; it bears a pod 

 resembling the bean, and affords in those countries 

 food for both man and horse, which I have no 

 doubt in my own mind is the locust of the New 

 Testament. If your correspondent feels curious 

 on the subject, I would search the bottom of my 

 portmanteau, and perhaps might be able to forward 

 him a specimen. J. W. 



Relative to the meaning of 'Akoi'Ses in Matt, iii., 

 I beg to refer your correspondent Bop^'as to the 

 note in Dr. Burton's Gi: Test, where he will find 

 reference to the authors who have discussed the 

 question. Dx. 



