Bible Encyclopedia: Flies

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

FLY; FLIES

fli fliz `arobh (Exodus 8:21 Psalm 78:45; Psalm 105:31; Septuagint kunomuia; "dog-fly"), zebhubh (Ecclesiastes 10:1 Isaiah 7:18; Septuagint muiai, "flies"); compare ba`al-zebhubh, "Baal-zebub" (2 Kings 1:2), and beelzeboul, "Beelzebul," or beelzeboub, "Beelzebub" (Matthew 10:25; Matthew 12:24, 27 Luke 11:15, 18, 19); compare Arabic dhubab, "fly" or "bee"; (Note: "dh" for Arabic dhal, pronounced like "d" or "z" or like th in "the"):

The references in Psalms as well as in Exodus are to the plague of flies, and the word `arobh is rendered "swarm of flies" throughout, except in Psalm 78:45; Psalm 105:31 the King James Version, where we find "divers sorts of flies" (compare Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) omne genus muscarum). In Exodus 8:21 we read, "I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are"; in Exodus 8:24,. "the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies"; in Psalm 78:45, "He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them." There has been much speculation as to what the insects were, but all the texts cited, including even Psalm 78:45, may apply perfectly well to the common house fly (Musca domestica). Some species of blue-bottle fly (Calliphora) might also suit.

The other word, zebhubh, occurs in Ecclesiastes 10:1, "Dead flies cause the oil of the perfumer to send forth an evil odor; so doth a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor"; and Isaiah 7:18, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that Yahweh will hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria:" The house fly would fit perfectly the reference in each, but that in Isaiah would seem to suggest rather one of the horse flies (Tabanidae) or gad flies (Oestridae). Whatever fly may be meant, it is used as a symbol for the military power of Egypt, as the bee for that of Assyria.

Owing to deficiencies in public and private hygiene, and also for other reasons, house flies and others are unusually abundant in Palestine and Egypt and are agents in the transmission of cholera, typhoid fever, ophthalmia and anthrax. Glossina morsitans, the tsetse fly, which is fatal to many domestic animals, and Glossina palpalis which transmits the sleeping sickness, are abundant in tropical Africa, but do not reach Egypt proper.

See PLAGUE.

Alfred Ely Day

SAND FLIES

sand'-fliz (kinnim (Exodus 8:16 margin; Wis 19:10 margin)): English Versions of the Bible "lice."

See FLEA; GNAT; INSECTS; LICE.

FLIES

fliz.

See FLY.

Greek

954. Beelzeboul -- Beelzebul, a name of Satan
... 954 (translaterated from OT 1176, "the lord of flies" or "fly-god," cf.
2 Ki 1:2) -- Beelzebul, a title of Satan which stresses ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/954.htm - 7k

4422. ptoeo -- to terrify
... with panic. 4422 (from the root meaning, "fly") -- properly, ; (figuratively) ,
like when someone "flies off" into , behavior. 4422 ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4422.htm - 7k

Strong's Hebrew

1176. Baal Zebub -- "Baal of flies," a Philistine god
... Baal Zebub. 1177 . "Baal of flies," a Philistine god. Transliteration: Baal Zebub
Phonetic Spelling: (bah'-al zeb-oob') Short Definition: Baal-zebub. ...
/hebrew/1176.htm - 6k

6157. arob -- probably a swarm
... Word Origin from the same as ereb Definition probably a swarm NASB Word Usage swarm
of flies (1), swarms (7), swarms of flies (1). divers sorts of flies, swarm. ...
/hebrew/6157.htm - 6k

5774a. uph -- to fly
... root Definition to fly NASB Word Usage brandish (1), flew (4), flies (3), flies
away (2), fly (4), fly away (3), flying (6), set (1), swoop down (1). ...
/hebrew/5774a.htm - 5k

2070. zebub -- a fly
... 2069, 2070. zebub. 2071 . a fly. Transliteration: zebub Phonetic Spelling:
(zeb-oob') Short Definition: flies. Word Origin from ...
/hebrew/2070.htm - 5k

Library

Moreover, Flies Falling into Myrrh, and Suffocated Therein, Make ...
... Chapter X. Moreover, flies falling into myrrh, and suffocated therein,
make both the appearance of that pleasant� Moreover, flies ...
/.../a metaphrase of the book of ecclesiastes/chapter x moreover flies falling.htm

The Surrender of Gischala; While John Flies Away from it to ...
... CHAPTER 2. The Surrender Of Gischala; While John Flies Away From It To
Jerusalem. 1. Now no place of Galilee remained to be taken ...
/.../chapter 2 the surrender of.htm

Evil Thoughts.
... They are only little thoughts. Each is very small, but altogether they are a great
host. They are like flies. Pharaoh, King of Egypt, was plagued with flies. ...
/.../the village pulpit volume ii trinity to advent/lvi evil thoughts.htm

The Cost of Being Cruel and Stubborn
... If you will not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies upon you, upon your
servants, and upon your people and into your palaces, so that the houses of ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/sherman/the childrens bible/the cost of being cruel.htm

At the Dedication of a Church
... A Parable of the three kinds of Wings on which God flies and hovers over us; and
of the wish to see God in the most noble way, both in time and in Eternity. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/tauler/the inner way/sermon xxxv at the dedication.htm

Whether Grace is Bound to be Given to one who Prepares Himself for ...
... is manifested," says: "God receives him who flies to him, since otherwise he would
be unjust." It is impossible that God should be unjust, and consequently ...
/.../aquinas/nature and grace/article three whether grace is 3.htm

In the Next Place, Forgetting that his Object is to Accuse Both ...
... that The Sun and Night are to mortals slaves,' [4003]. why should they be
so in a greater degree to us than to ants and flies? For ...
/.../origen/origen against celsus/chapter lxxvii in the next.htm

Whether Temperance is Only About Desires and Pleasures?
... 2]), when we were treating of the passions: the one, whereby the sensitive appetite
pursues sensible and bodily goods, the other whereby it flies from sensible ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether temperance is only about.htm

Of the Navigation of King Agrippa to Rome, to Tiberius Caesar; and ...
... He gave them an example to show his meaning: A great number of flies came about
the sore places of a man that had been wounded; upon which one of the standers ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 6 of the navigation.htm

John Chapter i. 5-Jan
... whatever was made in the natural manner, whatever belongs to the creature, everything
that is fixed in the sky, that shines from above, that flies under the ...
/.../augustine/homilies on the gospel of john/tractate i john chapter i.htm

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

(n.) Plural of Fly.

Thesaurus

Flies (16 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary (n.) Plural of Fly. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
FLY; FLIES. fli fliz `arobh (Exodus 8:21 Psalm 78:45 ...
/f/flies.htm - 15k

Dog-flies (6 Occurrences)
Dog-flies. Dog, Dog-flies. Dog-fly . Multi-Version Concordance
Dog-flies (6 Occurrences). Exodus 8:21 For, if thou do ...
/d/dog-flies.htm - 8k

Swarms (18 Occurrences)
... Exodus 8:21 Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of
flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses ...
/s/swarms.htm - 12k

Fly (33 Occurrences)
... called by the Lord. Poisonous flies exist in many parts of Africa, for instance,
the different kinds of tsetse. Hebrews `arob, the ...
/f/fly.htm - 26k

Officials (229 Occurrences)
... Exodus 8:21 Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of
flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses ...
/o/officials.htm - 36k

Insects (17 Occurrences)
... Exodus 8:22 I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people
dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end you may know that I ...
/i/insects.htm - 14k

Clouds (99 Occurrences)
... Exodus 8:21 For if you do not let my people go, see, I will send clouds of flies
on you and on your servants and on your people and into their houses; and the ...
/c/clouds.htm - 35k

Baalzebub (4 Occurrences)
... This name was given to the god because he was supposed to be able to avert
the plague of flies which in that region was to be feared. ...
/b/baalzebub.htm - 9k

Swarm (26 Occurrences)
... Exodus 8:24 Yahweh did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house
of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses: and in all the land of Egypt the ...
/s/swarm.htm - 15k

Bondmen (117 Occurrences)
... Exodus 8:21 For, if thou do not let my people go, behold, I will send dog-flies
upon thee, and upon thy bondmen, and upon thy people, and into thy houses; and ...
/b/bondmen.htm - 35k

Bible Concordance

Flies (16 Occurrences)

Exodus 8:21 Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Exodus 8:22 I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end you may know that I am Yahweh in the midst of the earth.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Exodus 8:24 Yahweh did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses: and in all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Exodus 8:29 Moses said, "Behold, I go out from you, and I will pray to Yahweh that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only don't let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Yahweh."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Exodus 8:31 Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 4:17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,
(WEB NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 28:49 Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you shall not understand;
(WEB RSV)

Job 20:8 He is gone like a dream, and is not seen again; he goes in flight like a vision of the night.
(See NAS NIV)

Psalms 78:45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 91:5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day;
(WEB NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 105:31 He spoke, and swarms of flies came, and lice in all their borders.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Proverbs 23:5 Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.
(WEB NAS)

Ecclesiastes 10:1 Dead flies cause the oil of the perfumer to send forth an evil odor; so does a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 7:18 And it will be in that day that the Lord will make a piping sound for the fly which is in the end of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee which is in the land of Assyria.
(See NIV)

Isaiah 51:6 Let your eyes be lifted up to the heavens, and turned to the earth which is under them: for the heavens will go in flight like smoke, and the earth will become old like a coat, and its people will come to destruction like insects: but my salvation will be for ever, and my righteousness will not come to an end.
(See NIV)

Nahum 3:16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven; the canker-worm spreadeth itself, and flieth away.
(See NAS RSV)

Subtopics

Flies

Flies Fly

Flies: Figurative

Flies: General Scriptures Concerning

Flies: Plague of

Related Terms

Dog-flies (6 Occurrences)

Swarms (18 Occurrences)

Fly (33 Occurrences)

Officials (229 Occurrences)