Greek word · G4662
σκωληκόβρωτος
skōlēkobrōtos
worm-eated
'Eaten by worms or grubs', from skōlēx ('worm, maggot, grub') and bibrōskō ('eat'). It is used elsewhere in Greek of plants or produce eaten by grubs.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
σκωληκό-βρωτος, -ον
(σκώληξ, βιβρώσκω),
eaten of worms: Acts 12:23 (cf. 2Ma.9:9, and see MM, xxiii) †
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
'Eaten by worms or grubs', from skōlēx ('worm, maggot, grub') and bibrōskō ('eat'). It is used elsewhere in Greek of plants or produce eaten by grubs.
- Against the English
KJV 'eaten of worms', most modern versions 'eaten by worms', NLT 'consumed with worms'. All are accurate. None conveys that this was a recognised, shameful way to die in ancient storytelling.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Death by worms or putrefaction was told of hated rulers and enemies of the gods. Antiochus IV, persecutor of the Jews, died with worms swarming from his body 'while still living' (2 Macc 9:9). Herod the Great's last illness included a festering, worm-producing rot (Josephus, Ant. 17.169). There are similar stories of Pheretime (Herodotus 4.205), Sulla (Plutarch) and later the persecutor Galerius (Lactantius). Isa 14:11 says to the king of Babylon, who would 'be like the Most High', 'maggots are spread beneath you, and worms cover you'. Isa 66:24, Sir 7:17 and Jdt 16:17 make worms the lot of the ungodly.
Where it appears
Acts · 1
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Acts 12:23 σκωληκόβρωτος eaten by worms
Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
Here: This compound of 'worm/maggot' and 'eaten' occurs only here in the New Testament. It describes a loathsome death that ancient readers knew as the typical end of tyrants who set themselves against God. The man hailed as a god ends as food for worms.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.