Lice: (Heb. kinnim), the creatures employed in the third plague sent upon
Egypt
(Exodus 8:16-18) They were miraculously produced from the dust of
the land. "The entomologists Kirby and Spence place these minute but
disgusting insects in the very front rank of those which inflict
injury upon man. A terrible list of examples they have collected of
the ravages of this and closely allied parasitic pests." The plague
of lice is referred to in
(Psalms 105:31) Some have supposed that the word
denotes not lice properly, but gnats. Others, with greater
probability, take it to mean the "tick" which is much larger than
lice.
