Fly: Heb. zebub,
(Ecclesiastes 10:1; Isaiah 7:18) This fly was so grievous a pest that the
Phoenicians invoked against it the aid of their god Baal-zebub
(q.v.). The prophet Isaiah
(Isaiah 7:18) alludes to some poisonous fly
which was believed to be found on the confines of Egypt, and which
would be called by the Lord. Poisonous flies exist in many parts of
Africa, for instance, the different kinds of tsetse. Heb. 'arob, the
name given to the insects sent as a plague on the land of Egypt
(Exodus 8:21-31; Psalms 78:45; 105:31) The LXX. render this by a word which
means the "dog-fly," the cynomuia. The Jewish commentators regarded
the Hebrew word here as connected with the word 'arab, which means
"mingled;" and they accordingly supposed the plague to consist of a
mixed multitude of animals, beasts, reptiles, and insects. But there
is no doubt that "the 'arab" denotes a single definite species.
Some interpreters regard it as the Blatta orientalis, the cockroach,
a species of beetle. These insects "inflict very painful bites with
their jaws; gnaw and destroy clothes, household furniture, leather,
and articles of every kind, and either consume or render unavailable
all eatables."
