Bible Dictionary
Caterpillar
Caterpillar is a biblical term for a consuming insect, probably a locust or its larval stage, associated with the destruction of crops.
Definition
Caterpillar is a biblical rendering of names for consuming insects associated with locusts. It may refer to a species of locust or to a larval or other stage in the locust’s transformations.
Biblical Usage
The caterpillar is associated with devouring vegetation and destroying crops. Related Hebrew terms are elsewhere translated “cankerworm,” “grasshopper,” or locust-related names.
Historical Background
The term reflects the insect’s consuming action. The exact identification is uncertain, but one entry explicitly identifies it as a larval stage of the locust.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
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.)
Smith's Bible Dictionary
The representative in the Authorized Version of the Hebrew word chasil and yelek .
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>kat'-er-pil-er (chacil (Ps 78:46; Joe 1:4, etc.); yeleq (Ps 105:34 the King James Version, the American Standard Revised Version "grasshopper"; Jer 51:14,27 the King James Version; elsewhere "canker-worm")): A name given to a larval stage of the LOCUST (which see).</p>