Thou shall carry much seed into the field,.... And sow it plentifully; this and what is said in some following verses plainly refer to them while in their own land, before carried captive, and not to their present case and circumstances:
and shall gather [but] little in at harvest; little springing up, or not coming to perfection, being blighted and blasted, and so yielded but a small crop; see Haggai 1:9; and chiefly for the following reason:
for the locust shall consume it; which is a great destroyer of the fruits of the earth; see Joel 1:4.