Locust

In the eighth plague of Egypt, locusts turn the surviving vegetation into a landscape of total loss. Their arrival follows Pharaoh’s refusal to release the Israelites, and their departure brings no lasting change: after relief, Pharaoh again refuses to let them go.

Warning and Refusal

The LORD tells Moses that the locusts will cover the land and consume what escaped the hail, including the trees and the remaining crops. The threat is framed as a consequence of Pharaoh’s refusal to humble himself and release the Israelites so they may serve the LORD.

Pharaoh’s servants urge him to let the people go, warning that Egypt has been devastated. Pharaoh instead offers to let only the men depart, excluding the children; Moses insists that the entire community, young and old, must go with its flocks and herds to hold a feast.

The Locust Plague

Moses stretches his rod over Egypt, and an east wind blows through the day and night. By morning it has brought the locusts, which spread across the country in an unprecedented swarm. They cover the land until it is darkened and consume every herb and all the fruit left on the trees after the hail; no green thing remains in the fields throughout Egypt.

Relief and Aftermath

Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron in haste, acknowledges sin, and asks them to seek relief from what he calls this death. Moses entreats the LORD, who turns an exceedingly strong west wind against the locusts and drives them into the Red Sea; not one remains within Egypt’s borders.

The relief does not secure the Israelites’ release. The LORD hardens Pharaoh’s heart, and he continues to refuse. The locusts’ role in the narrative is therefore both material and political: they complete the destruction of Egypt’s remaining vegetation, yet their removal only renews the confrontation.