These two Hebrew words appear to be interchangeable ( Job 25:6 ; Isaiah 14:11 ). Tola'im in some places denotes the caterpillar ( Deuteronomy 28:39 ; Jonah 4:7 ), and rimmah, the larvae, as bred from putridity ( Job 17:14 ; 21:26 ; 24:20 ). In Micah 7:17 , where it is said, "They shall move out of their holes like worms," perhaps serpents or "creeping things," or as in the Revised Version, "crawling things," are meant.
The word is used figuratively in Job 25:6 ; Psalms 22:6 ; Isaiah 41:14 ; Mark 9:44 Mark 9:46 Mark 9:48 ; Isaiah 66:24 .
the representative in the Authorized Version of several Hebrew words. Sas , which occurs in ( Isaiah 51:18 ) probably denotes some particular species of moth, whose larva is injurious to wool. Rimmah , ( Exodus 16:20 ) points evidently to various kinds of maggots and the larvae of insects which feed on putrefying animal matter, rather than to earthworms. Toleah is applied in ( 28:39 ) to some kinds of larvae destructive to the vines. In ( Job 19:26 ; 21:26 ; 24:20 ) there is an allusion to worms (insect larvae) feeding on the dead bodies of the buried. There is the same allusion in ( Isaiah 66:24 ) which words are applied by our Lord, ( Mark 9:44 Mark 9:46 Mark 9:48 ) metaphorically to the torments of the guilty in the world of departed spirits. The valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem, where the filth of the city was cast, was alive with worms. The death of Herod Agrippa I, was caused by worms. ( Acts 12:23 )