Nahum 3:17 employs this rare locust term in describing the multitude of Assyrian officials: 'like a swarm of locusts.' Hebrew has multiple words for locusts and grasshoppers, each perhaps denoting different species or life stages. This particular term emphasizes the swarming behavior—the massive numbers that characterize locust plagues. The comparison to Assyria's bureaucrats is apt: numerous, consuming, and ultimately transient. When the sun rises, they flee, leaving nothing behind—a prophecy of Nineveh's sudden collapse.