A gangrene or mortification which gradually spreads over the “whole body (2 Tim. 2:17). In James 5:3 “cankered” means “rusted” (R.V.) or tarnished.

“(Heb. yelek), “the licking locust,” which licks up the grass of” “the field; probably the locust at a certain stage of its growth,” just as it emerges from the caterpillar state (Joel 1:4; 2:25). “The word is rendered “caterpillar” in Ps. 105:34; Jer. 51:14, 17″ “(but R.V. “canker-worm”). “It spoileth and fleeth away” (Nah.” “3:16), or as some read the passage, “The cankerworm putteth off” “[i.e., the envelope of its wings], and fleeth away.”