Worm
Worm
Worm. Worms have no backbone, legs, or eyes, although their bodies are sensitive to light and temperature. But they do play a useful role. They improve the soil by working decaying vegetation into the earth and aerating it with their tunnels.
The Bible speaks both literally and figuratively of worms. The word worm also refers to a worm-like creature, such as insect larva. For instance, the palmerworm, cankerworm, and caterpillar of (Joe 1:4) are all caterpillars, which is the larval stage of various moths. (The NKJV, however, translates these as various kinds of locusts.) Grub is another word used for worm in various translations (Isa 51:8), (NEB, NASB). (Job 7:5) and other passages, which refer to infestation of worms, probably mean maggots, the larvae of flies. Decaying matter often teems with tiny worm-like maggots.
Some worms, such as tapeworms and pinworms, are parasites which invade the human body. Thus Herod could be described as “eaten by worms” (Act 12:23).
The common earthworm also appears in the Bible. (Mic 7:17) refers to worms (snakes, NKJV) coming out of their holes. Perhaps it was an earthworm also that God appointed to strike at the root of Jonah’s shade (Jon 4:7). The psalmist lamented: “I am a worm… and despised” (Psa 22:6). Job claimed kinship with the lowly worm (Job 17:14). (Isa 41:14) uses “you worm Jacob” as a metaphor of weakness. The Jews associated worms and fire with the place reserved for the ungodly dead Isa 66:24; Mar 9:44; Mar 9:48.
Fuente: Plants Animals Of Bible
Worm
is the rendering, in the A.V., of several Hebrew and one Greek word.
1. Sas (, from its leaping; Sept. ; Vulg. tinea) occurs only in Isa 51:8, “For the ash (, ‘moth’) shall eat them up like a garment, and the sas shall eat them like wool.” The word probably denotes some particular species of moth, whose larva is injurious to wool, while perhaps the former name is the more general one for any of the destructive tineas, or “clothesmoths.” SEE MOTH.
2. Rimmduh (, of uncertain etymology; Sept. , , ; Vulg. vermis, putredo, tineas) occurs Exo 16:24; Job 6:5; Job 17:14; Job 21:26; Job 24:20; Job 25:6; Isa 14:11, and seems to denote worms in putrid substances, or putridity itself. The Hebrew word points evidently to various kinds of maggots, and the larvae of insects which feed on putrefying animal matter, rather than to earth-worms. Job, under his heavy affliction, exclaims, “My flesh is clothed with rinmah” (Job 7:5; see also 17:14). There is no reason to doubt that the expression is to be understood literally; a person in Job’s condition would very probably suffer from entozoa of some kind. In Job 21:26; Job 24:20, there is an allusion to worms (insect larvae) feeding on the dead bodies of the buried (comp. Sir 10:11; Sir 19:3; 1Ma 2:62).
Our translators, in the well-known passage (Job 19:26) “And though after my skin worms destroy this body” have over-interpreted the words of the original, “My skin shall have been consumed,” for there is no mention of worms whatever in the original. These passages, and especially the last, have contributed to the popular impression that the human body, when buried in the grave, is consumed by worms. The Oriental method of burial in wrappers, and of depositing the corpse in caves, etc., would no doubt often afford the spectacle of the human body devoured by the larvae of different insects; but the allusions in Scripture to such sights do not apply to burial elsewhere, except where the body is buried in a wooden coffin only, in vaults which have communications with the external air, when swarms of a species of fly, of a cimex aspect, insinuate themselves between the lid and lower part of the coffin, and their larvae batten in the corpse within, while the adult insect sports in the lurid atmosphere of the vault.
3. The distinctive term is told (, Exo 16:20; Isa 1:18; Lam 4:5), or (fem.) toledh, or toldath (, or , Deu 28:39; Job 25:6; Psa 22:6; Isa 14:11; Isa 41:14; Isa 66:24; Jon 4:7; besides the use of the latter in connection with , together rendered “scarlet” [q.v.]), yet it often stands in parallelism with the preceding term. The manna that the disobedient Israelites kept till the morning of a week-day “bred worms” (), and stank (Exo 16:20); while of that kept over the Sabbath and gathered the night before, it is said that “it did not stink, neither was there any worm () therein.” The patriarch uses both terms in Job 25:6, where he compares the estate of man to a rimmah, and the son of man to a toleah. Homer also compares a man of inferior consequence to a worm, v (Iliad, 13:654). is applied to that which preys on human flesh (Job 14:11); on vegetables, as on the gourd of Jonah (Jon 4:7), and on vines (Deu 28:39). The ancient Hebrews applied such words as indeterminately as the common people now do the words “worm,” “fly,” etc. Similar indeterminateness attends the Sept. and Vulg. renderings. Aristotle also applies the word to the larva of any insect , all insects produce a worm” (Hist. Anim. 5:19). The insect which the manna is said to have “bred, when kept till the morning” (Exo 16:20; Exo 16:24), whatever it was, must be considered as miraculously produced as a punishment for disobedience, since the substance now understood to be the same keeps good for weeks and months, nor did the specimen laid up in the ark breed worms. SEE MANNA.
An insect is alluded to as injuring vines and grapes (Deu 28:39; , , vermis). The Greeks had a distinct name for this insect. and probably as early as the Sept. translation of Exodus was made, and (Theophrastus, De Causis, 3:27). It was called by the Latins involvolus, convolvulus, and volvox (Plautus, Cistell: Acts 4. sc. 2; Pliny, Hist. Nat. 17:28). Rosenmuller thinks it was the Scarubaeus hirtellus, or the Scarabcaus muticus hirtus testaceo-nigricans of Linnaeus (Syst. Nat. I, 4:1577) Forskal calls it the Pyralis vitanal, or Pyralis fasciana. Various kinds of insects attack the vine, among which one of the most destructive is the Tortrix vitisana, the little caterpillar of which eats off the inner parts of the blossoms, the clusters of which it binds together by spinning a web around them. A species of beetle, Lethrus cephalotes, is injurious to the vines of Hungary; other species of beetles do similar mischief (rynchites, bacchus, eumolpus). Vine-leaves in France are frequently destroyed by the larva of a moth, Tortrix vitana. In Germany another species does great injury to the young branches, preventing their expansion by the webs in which it involves them; and a third species, Totrix-fasciana, makes the grapes themselves its food (Kirby and Spence, Introd. to Entomology [Lond. 1828], 1:205). It may serve as an illustration of the looseness of popular diction. respecting insects to remark that what the farmers call “the fly” in the turnip is in reality a small species of jumping beetle, for which turnip-flea would be a more appropriate name.
The gourd” of Jonah is said to have been destroyed by “a worm” (Jon 4:7; , veranis). The identity of the gourd with the Ricinus communis has been thought to be well established, SEE GOURD, and Rumphius (Herbar. Amboinens. 4:95) testifies to the ravages of a species of black caterpillar upon it. These are produced, he says, in great quantities in the summer-time, during a gentle rain, and eat up the leaves of the Palma Christi, and gnaw its branches to the pith in a single night (Michaelis, Suppl. ad Lex. Hebraic. page 2187). Allusions to the worm in wood occur in the Sept. of Pro 12:4; Pro 25:20 : ; Vulg. vermis ligno, which words have nothing corresponding to them in the present Hebrew text (see Vulg. of 2Ki 23:8).
It is possible that the word was also given as a proper name; thus “Tola ” occurs among the descendants of Issachar (Gen 46:13), and was also the name of a person of the same tribe (Jdg 10:1). Bochart conjectures that the name was given to these children by their parents because the tribe of Issachar was one of the meanest, and they were themselves in needy circumstances, or that these were very sickly children when born. He remarks, however, that the first Tola became a great man, the head of the Tolaites (Num 26:23), who, in the days of David, amounted to 22,600 (1Ch 7:2), and that the latter judged Israel twenty years (Jdg 10:1-2).
4. In Mich 7:17 the words like worms of the earth” represent the Heb.
, lit. “creepers in the dust,” “serpents;” Vulg. Reptila terrae (comp. Deu 32:24).
5. The usual Greek word for worm is . In 1Ma 2:62, “Fear not the words of a sinful man, for his glory shall be dung and worms,” instead of , “dung,” should be read , “rottenness,” as in the Sept. of Job 7:5; Job 25:6. So also in Sir 19:3, “Moths and worms shall have him that cleaveth to harlots,” instead of , moths,” read , ” rottenness.”
“Worm” occurs in the New. Test. in a figurative sense only ( Mar 9:44; Mar 9:46; Mar 9:48), Their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched;” words borrowed from Isa 66:24, Which originally relate to a temporal state of things, but which had also become, in our Lord’s time, the popular representation of future punishment (Jdg 16:17; Sir 7:17). SEE TOPHET. Origen here understands “worm in a metaphorical sense, as denoting the accusation of conscience; but Austin, Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria, Theophylact, etc., contend that the word should be understood literally.
The death of Herod Agrippa I was caused by worms (, Act 12:23); according to Josephus (Ant. 19:8, 2), his death took place five days after his departure from the theatre. It is curious that the Jewish historian makes no mention of worms in the case of Agrippa, though he expressly notes it in that of Herod the Great (Ant. 17:6, 5; War, 1:33, 5). A similar death was that of Antiochus Epiphanes (2Ma 9:9; see also Euseusebius, Eccles. Hist. 8:16; Lucian, Pseudomant, 1:904; comp. Wetstein on Act 12:23). Whether the worms were the cause or the result of the disease is an immaterial question. The “angel of the Lord struck Herod” with some disease, the issue of which was fatal, and the loathsome spectacle of which could not fail to have had a marked humiliating effect on his proud heart. It has been attempted to explain all these instances as cases of phthiriasis, or the lousy disease, but the conjecture is inconsistent with the words employed in the several narratives; and since they are instances of persons being devoured by worms while alive, contrary to the order of nature, we are compelled to ascribe the phenomenon to divine agency. At all events, the larvae in Herod’s case were internal. On the other hand, the cruel Pheretima, the wife of Battus, whose horrible vengeance is detailed by Herodotus (Hist. 4:202-204), is described by him as dying under a disease which, from the terms he uses, must have been peculiarly terrible. “She died miserably; for even while alive she swarmed with maggots. So odious to the gods are the excesses of human vengeance.” The word , which the father of history employs in this passage, is generally considered as synonymous with , inasmuch as it signifies the maggots or larvae produced by the carrion-eating flies; but the two terms are not equivalent, since the Greek has a wider meaning, including all insect larvae without an exception (Arist. Hist. Anim. 2:1). For the account of insects infesting the human frame, from disease, see Kirby and Spence, Introd. to Entomology, 1:84; Bartholin, Morb. Bibl. c. 23; Mead, Bibl. Diseases, c. 15.
There are several species of earth-worms (lambricus) in Palestine similar to our own, but by far the most abundant of the so-called worms there are the myriapoda, or mellipedes, especially the scolopendra, which appear to perform the functions of the earth-worm in nature, though belonging to a very different order of animal life, and which supply food to many of the birds of the country (Tristram, Nat. Hist. of the Bible, page 301). On the general subject, see Bochart, Hieroz. (ed. Rosenmuller, Leipsic, 1793-96), 3:519 sq.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Worm
(1.) Heb. sas (Isa. 51:8), denotes the caterpillar of the clothes-moth.
(2.) The manna bred worms (tola’im), but on the Sabbath there was not any worm (rimmah) therein (Ex. 16:20, 24). Here these words refer to caterpillars or larvae, which feed on corrupting matter.
These two Hebrew words appear to be interchangeable (Job 25:6; Isa. 14:11). Tola’im in some places denotes the caterpillar (Deut. 28:39; Jonah 4:7), and rimmah, the larvae, as bred from putridity (Job 17:14; 21:26; 24:20). In Micah 7:17, where it is said, “They shall move out of their holes like worms,” perhaps serpents or “creeping things,” or as in the Revised Version, “crawling things,” are meant.
The word is used figuratively in Job 25:6; Ps. 22:6; Isa. 41:14; Mark 9:44, 46, 48; Isa. 66:24.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Worm
Not the earth worm (Lumbricus terrestris). Isa 51:8; “the moth (‘ash) shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm (sas) shall eat them like wool.” The sas is a species of (See MOTH . Rimmah synonymous with toleah; applied to the worm bred in the manna when kept more than a day (Exo 16:26), tolaim, answering to rimmah (Exo 16:24); so in Job 25:6; maggots and larvae of insects which feed on putrefying matter (Job 21:26; Job 24:20; Job 7:5; Job 17:4); maggots were bred in Job’s sores produced by elephantiasis. “Herod was eaten of worms” (Act 12:23). Josephus tells the same of Herod the Great (Act 19:8), and 2Ma 9:9 of Antiochus Epiphanes.
In Job 19:26; Hebrew “though after my skin (is destroyed) this (body) is destroyed,” Job omits “body” because it was so wasted as not to deserve the name. The tolath was to eat the grapes of apostate Israel (Deu 28:39); also Jonah’s gourd (Jon 4:7). Hell is associated with the “worm that dieth not,” an image from maggots preying on putrid carcass (Isa 66:24). (See HELL.) Mar 9:44; Mar 9:46; Mar 9:48, “THEIR worm” is the gnawing self reproach of conscience, ever continuing and unavailing remorse. The Lord Jesus represents here both the worm and those on whom it preys as never dying. Symbolizing at once decay and loathsome humiliation, and this everlasting.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Worm
WORM.See Animals in vol. i. p. 67a.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Worm
WORM.1. ss, Isa 51:6 (cf. Arab [Note: Arabic.] , ss, a moth or a worm), the larva of a clothes-moth. See Moth. 2. rimmh (Exo 16:24, Job 25:6, Isa 14:11). 3. tl, tlh or tlaath (Exo 16:20, Job 25:6, Isa 14:11; Isa 66:24, Jon 4:7 etc.). Both 2 and 3 are used to describe the same kind of worms (cf. Exo 16:20; Exo 16:24), and most references are to maggots and other insect larv which breed on putrid organic matter. These are very common in Palestine, occurring even on neglected sores and, of course, on dead bodies (Job 19:26; Job 21:26; Job 24:20). Jonahs worm (tlh) was probably some larva which attacks the roots, or perhaps a centipede. The worms of Deu 28:39 were probably caterpillars. 4. rqb (Hos 5:12 AVm [Note: Authorized Version margin.] ). In Pro 12:4 where the same word is also tr. [Note: translate or translation.] rottenness, it is rendered in LXX [Note: Septuagint.] sklx, wood-worm, which seems appropriate to the context. 5. zchlrets, worms of the earth (Mic 7:17), may possibly refer to true earthworms (which are comparatively rare in Palestine), but more probably to serpents. See Serpent (10). 6. sklx, Mar 9:44 etc. The expression eaten of worms, used (Act 12:23) in describing the death of Herod Agrippa i., would seem to refer to a death accompanied by violent abdominal pains, such symptoms being commonly ascribed in the Holy Land to-day to abdominal worms (Lumbricoides)a belief often revived by the evacuation of such worms near the time of death (cf. p. 600a).
E. W. G. Masterman.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Worm
This is sometimes figuratively used. The Lord Jesus calls himself a worm and no man, (Psa 22:6) to intimate the unparalleled humility of his person. Hence, JEHOVAH speaking to Christ,under the character of Jacob, saith, Fear not, thou worm Jacob! (Isa 41:14) Sometimes the word is also used by way of figure, to represent the torments of the damned. “Their worm, (said Jesus,) dieth not, and the fire is not quenched,” Mar 9:44-48. Some of the old writers have contended, however, that this worm, here spoken of by Christ, is not in figure, but in reality. Of this opinion was Austin.
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Worm
General references
Exo 16:20; Exo 16:24; Jon 4:7
Herod eaten of
Act 12:23
Figurative:
– General references
Job 25:6; Isa 41:14; Isa 66:24
– Of remorse
Mar 9:44; Mar 9:46; Mar 9:48
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Worm
Worm. The representative in the Authorized Version of several Hebrew words.
Sas, which occurs in Isa 51:18 probably denotes some particular species of moth, whose larva is injurious to wool.
Rimmah, Exo 16:20, points evidently to various kinds of maggots and the larvae of insects which feed on putrefying animal matter, rather than to earthworms.
Toleah is applied in Deu 28:39 to some kinds of larvae destructive to the vines.
In Job 19:26; Job_ 21:26; Job 24:20, there is an allusion to worms (insect larvae) feeding on the dead bodies of the buried. There is the same allusion in Isa 66:24 which words are applied by our Lord, Mar 9:44; Mar 9:46; Mar 9:48, metaphorically to the torments of the guilty in the world of departed spirits.
The valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem, where the filth of the city was cast, was alive with worms. The death of Herod Agrippa I, was caused by worms. Act 12:23.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Worm
“a worm which preys upon dead bodies,” is used metaphorically by the Lord in Mar 9:48; in some mss. Mar 9:44,Mar 9:46, cp. Isa 66:24. The statement signifies the exclusion of the hope of restoration, the punishment being eternal.
denotes “devored by worms” (skolex, and bibrosko, “to eat”), Act 12:23.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Worm
the general name in Scripture for little creeping insects. Several kinds are spoken of:
1. Those that breed in putrefied bodies, , Exo 16:20; Exo 16:24; Job 7:5; Job 17:14; Job 21:26; Job 24:20; Job 25:6; Isa 14:11; , Sir 7:17; Sir 10:11; 1Ma 2:62; 2Ma 9:9; Jdt 16:17; Mar 9:44; Mar 9:46; Mar 9:48; Act 12:23.
2. That which eats woollen garments, , Isa 51:8; , Mat 6:19-20; Luk 12:33.
3. That which, perforating the leaves and bark of trees, causes the little excrescences called kermes, whence is made a crimson dye, , Deu 28:39; Job 25:6; Psa 22:6; Isa 14:11; Isa 41:14; Isa 66:24; Exo 16:20; Jon 4:7.
4. The worm destructive of the vines, referred to in Deu 28:39; which was the pyralis vitanae, or pyralis fasciana, of Forskal, the vine weevil, a small insect extremely hurtful to the vines.
Fuente: Biblical and Theological Dictionary
Worm
Psa 22:6 (a) This type represents the utter degradation and worthlessness of human beings in GOD’s sight. When JESUS took the sinner’s place, He called Himself a worm because the one for whom He died was considered by GOD as a worm. (See also Isa 41:14).
Isa 66:24, (b) No doubt this is an emblem of the gnawing pains of conscience which must be endured constantly and forever by those who are lost, and are in the lake of fire. (See also Mar 9:43)).