fli fliz ?arobh (
Ex 8:21 ff;
Ps 78:45;
105:31; Septuagint kunomuia; "dog-fly"), zebhubh (
Ec 10:1;
Isa 7:18; Septuagint muiai, "flies"); compare ba?al-zebhubh, "Baal-zebub" (
2Ki 1:2 ff), and beelzeboul, "Beelzebul," or beelzeboub, "Beelzebub" (
Mt 10:25;
12:24,
27;
Lu 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
Ps 78:45;
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
Ex 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
Ex 8:24,...." the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies"; in
Ps 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
Ps 78:45, may apply perfectly well to the common house fly (Musca domestica). Some species of blue-bottle fly (Calliphora) might also suit.