1:4 locust. The poetic repetitions in every line emphasize the thoroughness of the locusts’ destruction. The variety in the names of the locusts may refer to their different stages of development, although color differences or differences in type and regional origin may be reflected here and in 2:25. When locusts were understood as an instrument of divine punishment, repentance was the appropriate response (Deut. 28:38; Amos 7:1; Is. 33:4).