Dictionaries :: Worm

Easton's Bible Dictionary

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 (Exd 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 (Deu 28:39; Jon 4:7), and rimmah, the larvae, as bred from putridity (Job 17:14; 21:26; 24:20). In Mic 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; Psa 22:6; Isa. 41:14; Mar 9:44, 46, 48; Isa 66:24.

Nave's Topical Bible

Worm: General Scriptures Concerning

Exd 16:20, 24; Jon 4:7

Worm: Herod Agrippa I Was Eaten By

(Josephus confirmed this),

Act 12:23.

Worm: Figurative:

Job 25:6; Isa 41:14; 66:24

Of remorse,

Mar 9:44, 46, 48.

(vs. 44, 46 omitted in R.V.)

Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

Worm:

"a worm which preys upon dead bodies," is used metaphorically by the Lord in Mar 9:48; in some mss. vv. 44, 46, cp. Isa 66:24. The statement signifies the exclusion of the hope of restoration, the punishment being eternal.

Worm:

denotes "devoured by worms" (skolex, and bibrosko, "to eat"), Act 12:23.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Worm:

the representative in the Authorized Version of several Hebrew words. Sas, which occurs in Isaiah 51:18 probably denotes some particular species of moth, whose larva is injurious to wool. Rimmah (Exodus 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 Deuteronomy 28:39 to some kinds of larvae destructive to the vines. In Job 19:26; 21:26; 24:20, there is an allusion to worms (insect larvae) feeding on the dead bodies of the buried. There is the same allusion in Isaiah 66:24 which words are applied by our Lord (Mark 9:44, 46, 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 (Acts 12:23).