The Meaning of Psalms 78:46 Explained

Psalms 78:46

KJV: He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust.

YLT: And giveth to the caterpillar their increase, And their labour to the locust.

Darby: And he gave their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust;

ASV: He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, And their labor unto the locust.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

He gave  also their increase  unto the caterpiller,  and their labour  unto the locust. 

What does Psalms 78:46 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalm 78:38-48 - "signs In Egypt"
God takes into account the frailty and infirmity of our natures. The Spirit"¦ helpeth our infirmities, Romans 8:26. In the words of Hosea, God teaches us "to go;" that is, He puts His hands under our armpits, that we may learn how to walk. In the process there are many failures, but He distinguishes between the willful breach of His commands, and the blunders that are due to the frailty of our natures. Being full of compassion, He forgives; He remembers that we are but flesh.
Let us not limit the Holy One, Psalms 78:41. He waits to do marvelous things for us and by us; but how often we confine His power within the narrow channel of our own little faith. We do not like to trouble Him too often. We say in effect that as He has done this, we can hardly expect Him to do the other. We bring a limited number of vessels to be filled with the sacred oil. We strike but three times on the ground, and not until the seventh time of perfection. He cannot do many mighty things for us because our unbelief. Let us quicken our souls to larger thoughts of God, by recounting, as in this paragraph, His wonders of old. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalm 78

1  An exhortation both to learn and to preach, the law of God
9  The story of God's wrath against the incredulous and disobedient
67  The Israelites being rejected, God chose Judah, Zion, and David

What do the individual words in Psalms 78:46 mean?

And He gave to the caterpillar their crops and their labor to the locust
וַיִּתֵּ֣ן לֶחָסִ֣יל יְבוּלָ֑ם וִֽ֝יגִיעָ֗ם לָאַרְבֶּֽה

וַיִּתֵּ֣ן  And  He  gave 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
לֶחָסִ֣יל  to  the  caterpillar 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: חָסִיל  
Sense: locust.
יְבוּלָ֑ם  their  crops 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: יְבוּל  
Sense: produce, fruit, produce (of the soil).
וִֽ֝יגִיעָ֗ם  and  their  labor 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: יְגִיעַ  
Sense: toil, work.
לָאַרְבֶּֽה  to  the  locust 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אַרְבֶּה  
Sense: a kind of locust, locust swarm (coll).