Topical Encyclopedia
In the context of the Bible, the term "beetle" is not explicitly mentioned in most modern translations, including the Berean Standard Bible . However, the beetle is often associated with the broader category of insects that are considered unclean according to the dietary laws given to the Israelites.
Biblical ContextThe primary scriptural reference that might encompass beetles is found in the dietary laws outlined in the Book of Leviticus.
Leviticus 11 provides a detailed list of clean and unclean animals, including various insects. While the BSB does not specifically mention beetles, it does refer to "winged insects that walk on all fours" (
Leviticus 11:20-23). These verses categorize most winged insects as unclean, with the exception of those that have jointed legs for hopping, such as locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers.
Levitical Law and InsectsLeviticus 11:20-23 states: "All flying insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you. However, you may eat the following kinds of winged creatures that walk on all fours: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket, or grasshopper. But all other winged creatures that have four legs are detestable to you."
In this context, beetles, which do not have jointed legs for hopping, would be classified among the unclean insects. The distinction made in Leviticus emphasizes the importance of ritual purity and obedience to God's commandments for the Israelites.
Symbolism and Cultural SignificanceWhile beetles are not directly mentioned in the Bible, they have held various symbolic meanings in different cultures throughout history. In ancient Egypt, for example, the scarab beetle was a symbol of regeneration and transformation. However, such cultural associations are not reflected in the biblical text and should not be conflated with biblical teachings.
Conservative Christian PerspectiveFrom a conservative Christian viewpoint, the dietary laws, including those concerning insects, are seen as part of the Old Covenant given specifically to the nation of Israel. With the coming of Christ and the establishment of the New Covenant, these ceremonial laws are understood to be fulfilled and no longer binding on Christians. This perspective is supported by passages such as
Acts 10:9-16, where Peter receives a vision declaring all foods clean, symbolizing the inclusion of Gentiles into the faith.
In summary, while beetles are not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, they fall under the broader category of unclean insects according to Levitical law. The focus on ritual purity in the Old Testament highlights the Israelites' call to holiness and separation from surrounding nations.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Beetle[LOCUST]
ATS Bible Dictionary
BeetleIn Le 11:22, a species of locust.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
(Hebrews hargol, meaning "leaper"). Mention of it is made only in
Leviticus 11:22, where it is obvious the word cannot mean properly the beetle. It denotes some winged creeper with at least four feet, "which has legs above its feet, to leap withal." The description plainly points to the locust (q.v.). This has been an article of food from the earliest times in the East to the present day. The word is rendered "cricket" in the Revised Version.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (
n.) A heavy mallet, used to drive wedges, beat pavements, etc.
2. (n.) A machine in which fabrics are subjected to a hammering process while passing over rollers, as in cotton mills; -- called also beetling machine.
3. (v. t.) To beat with a heavy mallet.
4. (v. t.) To finish by subjecting to a hammering process in a beetle or beetling machine; as, to beetle cotton goods.
5. (v. t.) Any insect of the order Coleoptera, having four wings, the outer pair being stiff cases for covering the others when they are folded up. See Coleoptera.
6. (v. i.) To extend over and beyond the base or support; to overhang; to jut.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
BEETLEbe'-t'-l (the Revised Version (British and American) CRICKET; chargol; SeeLOCUST): This name occurs only inLeviticus 11:22 as one of four winged Jumping insects (sherets ha-`oph) which may be eaten. It certainly is not a beetle and is probably not a cricket. Probably all four are names of locusts, of which more than 30 species have been described from Syria and Palestine, and for which there are at least 8 Arabic names in use, though with little distinction of species. Closely allied to chargol are the Arabic charjalet, a troop of horses or a flight of locusts, from charjal, "to gallop," and harjawan, "a wingless locust."
Alfred Ely Day
Strong's Hebrew
2728. chargol -- (a kind of) locust...beetle. From charag; the leaping insect, ie A locust --
beetle. see HEBREW
charag. 2727, 2728. chargol. 2729 . Strong's Numbers.
Library
Antipathies
... We cannot help it. You cannot expect us to like people who do not suit us:
any more than you can expect us to like abeetle or a spider....
Egypt.
... They thought that the great God lived among them in the shape of a bull with one
spot on his back like an eagle, and one on his tongue like abeetle; and this...
Divine Things Wrapped up in Figures Both in the Sacred and in...
... For the rest of the stars, on account of their oblique course, they have figured
like the bodies of serpents; but the sun, like that of abeetle, because it...
Elucidations.
... Philo. But this of itself appears decisive as to Clement's Hebrew scholarship.
II. (TheBeetle, cap. iv. p.449, [102]note 6.). Cicero...
On the Animals
... [Is.2:20]. Thebeetle in the prophet: and thebeetle will cry from the wood, so
I think, this means from the wood of the Lord {the cross}. [Hab.2:11]....
The Martyr-Bishop, 1548-1560.
... Next, he must be strapped to a shutter, with his head hanging over one end; he must
have vinegar rubbed into his nostrils; he must have abeetle fastened on to...
On Mr. Mccabe and a Divine Frivolity
... If, you feel it to be reasonable that onebeetle should be the only study of one
man, and that one man the only student of that onebeetle, it is surely a very...
Clement of Alexandria.
... Beauty, true and false, 271. "Because of the angels," interpreted, 578.Beetle,
fable concerning, 449, 484. Birth and death, law of, 584....
The Immutability of God
... He may be a naturalist, boasting of his ability to dissect abeetle, anatomize a
fly, or arrange insects and animals in classes with well nigh unutterable names...
Three Afternoons Off the Track
... and betel. Betel (pronouncedbeetle) is the leaf of a climbing plant, into
which they roll a morsel of areca nut and lime. The whole...
Thesaurus
Beetle (7 Occurrences)... (Hebrews hargol, meaning "leaper"). Mention of it is made only in Leviticus 11:22,
where it is obvious the word cannot mean properly the
beetle.
...BEETLE.
...Insects (17 Occurrences)
... the Bible, including the marginal notes, we find at least 23 names of insects or
words referring to them: ant, bald locust, bee,beetle, cankerworm, caterpillar...
Locust (25 Occurrences)
... Chargol (3), the King James Version "beetle," the Revised Version (British and American)
"cricket," being one of the leaping insects, cannot be abeetle....
Entereth (40 Occurrences)
... Exodus 8:24 And Jehovah doth so, and the grievousbeetle entereth the house of Pharaoh,
and the house of his servants, and in all the land of Egypt the land is...
Beeves (6 Occurrences)
Cricket (2 Occurrences)
... CRICKET. krik'-et (chargol): This occurs in Leviticus 11:22 (the King James Version
"beetle"), and doubtless refers to some kind of locust or grasshopper....
Sending (188 Occurrences)
... art not sending My people away, lo, I am sending against thee, and against thy servants,
and against thy people, and against thy houses, thebeetle, and the...
Unicorn (6 Occurrences)
... Scriptures. 3. (n.) Any largebeetle having a hornlike prominence on the
head or prothorax. 4. (n.) The larva of a unicorn moth....
Gaal (10 Occurrences)
... ga'-al (ga`al, "rejection," or "loathing"; according to Wellhausen, "beetle," HPN,
110): A man of whose antecedents nothing is known, except that his father's...
Grub (2 Occurrences)
... 4. (vt) To supply with food. 5. (n.) The larva of an insect, especially of abeetle; --
called also grubworm. 6. (n.) A short, thick man; a dwarf....
Resources
Beetle: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
Bible Dictionary •
Bible Encyclopedia •
Topical Bible •
Bible Thesuarus
