FLY

(Verb; `uph petaomai, or, contracted, ptaomai):

Used in preference to "flee" when great speed is to be indicated. "To fly" is used: (1) Literally, of birds, `uph (Genesis 1:20 Psalm 55:6); da'ah (Deuteronomy 28:49), of sparks (Job 5:7); of the arrow (Psalm 91:5); of the seraphim (Isaiah 6:2, 6); of an angel (Daniel 9:21, ya`aph, "to be caused to fly"); of swift action or movement (Psalm 18:10 Jeremiah 48:40); of people (Isaiah 11:14); of a fleet (Isaiah 60:8 1 Samuel 15:19, 14:32, `asah, "to do," etc.). (2) Figuratively, of a dream (Job 20:8); of man's transitory life (Psalm 90:10); of riches (Proverbs 23:5); of national glory (Hosea 9:11).

For "fly" the Revised Version (British and American) has "soar" (Job 39:26) "fly down" (Isaiah 11:14); for "flying" (Isaiah 31:5) the American Standard Revised Version has "hovering."

W. L. Walker

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