Hebrew word · H7415

רִמָּה

rimah

worm

Maggots or worms that breed in decaying matter: in rotting manna (Exod 16:24), in a corpse in the grave (Job 21:26; 24:20; Isa 14:11), on Job's diseased skin (Job 7:5). It is a word of corruption and death, not of gardens and soil.

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

maggot, worm (as cause and sign of decay)

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 Job 25:6

Range of meaning

Maggots or worms that breed in decaying matter: in rotting manna (Exod 16:24), in a corpse in the grave (Job 21:26; 24:20; Isa 14:11), on Job's diseased skin (Job 7:5). It is a word of corruption and death, not of gardens and soil.

Against the English

KJV and WEB say 'worm', which hides both the decay and the difference from the next word. BSB, YLT ('grub') and most modern versions mark the difference, usually with 'maggot'.

How it drifted

'Worm' today brings to mind a harmless earthworm. Rimmah brought to mind something more like the maggots on a carcass.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Isaiah 14:11 the same pair appears, about the dead king of Babylon: 'maggots (rimmah) are spread beneath you, and worms (tole'ah) cover you.' The Greek Septuagint translates rimmah here as sapria, 'rottenness', and the Latin Vulgate as putredo, 'putrefaction'. Both read the word as decay.

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 16:24 וְרִמָּ֖ה and a maggot

    So they set it aside until morning as Moses had commanded, and it did not smell or contain any maggots.

Job · 5

  1. Job 7:5 רִ֭מָּה maggot[s]

    My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering.

  2. Job 17:14 לָֽרִמָּֽה׃ to the maggot

    and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

  3. Job 21:26 וְ֝רִמָּ֗ה and a maggot

    But together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.

  4. Job 24:20 רִמָּ֗ה maggot[s]

    The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is broken like a tree.

  5. Job 25:6 רִמָּ֑ה a maggot

    how much less man, who is but a maggot, and the son of man, who is but a worm!”

    Here: The maggots that breed in rotting matter and swarm over corpses. Hebrew has no 'is' here: 'a mortal: a maggot.' Placing the two side by side makes the comparison feel blunt and absolute.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 14:11 רִמָּ֔ה maggot[s]

    Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol, along with the music of your harps. Maggots are your bed and worms your blanket.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.