Hebrew word · H2070
זְבוּב
lazevuv
fly
Zevuv means 'fly'. Mavet means 'death'. In a Hebrew 'X of Y' phrase, the second word can describe the first, so 'flies of death' can mean (a) dead or dying flies, (b) flies that cause death (poisonous), or (c) flies drawn to dead things (carrion flies).
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
fly
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Ecclesiastes 10:1
- Range of meaning
Zevuv means 'fly'. Mavet means 'death'. In a Hebrew 'X of Y' phrase, the second word can describe the first, so 'flies of death' can mean (a) dead or dying flies, (b) flies that cause death (poisonous), or (c) flies drawn to dead things (carrion flies).
- Against the English
Almost every English version says 'dead flies', which fits the picture of insects drowned in a jar. Older commentators sometimes suggested 'deadly' or 'poisonous' flies. The Greek Septuagint has 'dying flies'.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Septuagint has μυῖαι θανατοῦσαι, 'flies that are dying'. The Vulgate has muscae morientes, also 'dying flies'. 2 Kings 1:2 shows the fly in a Philistine god-name (Baal-zebub). In the ancient Near East flies were a common sign of rot and contamination (compare the flies swarming over sacrifice in the Gilgamesh flood story).
Where it appears
Ecclesiastes · 1
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Ecclesiastes 10:1 זְב֣וּבֵי flies of
As dead flies bring a stench to the perfumer’s oil, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
Here: The common housefly or any buzzing insect drawn to sweet or rotting things. Here it is in a 'flies of …' phrase, linked to the next word. The word comes up again in the god-name Baal-zebub, 'lord of flies' (2 Kings 1:2).
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 7:18 לַזְּב֔וּב for the fly
On that day the LORD will whistle to the flies at the farthest streams of the Nile and to the bees in the land of Assyria.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.