Worm

A small, soft, legless creature that eats decaying food.

WEB-0612_maggots
Worm, maggot

About Worm

A worm is a small, soft-bodied creature. In the Bible, the word usually means insect larvae, often maggots (the young of flies).

Maggots are mentioned in stories where they feed on:

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Habits, distribution, and how translators render the term across languages.

Key References

Exodus 16:24

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

Isaiah 14:11

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

Mark 9:48

where ‘their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.’

All Scripture References (16)

Exodus (2)
Exodus 16:20

But they did not listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

Exodus 16:24

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

Deuteronomy (1)
Deuteronomy 28:39

You will plant and cultivate vineyards, but will neither drink the wine nor gather the grapes, because worms will eat them.

Job (5)
Job 7:5

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

Job 17:14

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

Job 21:26

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

Job 24:20

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

Job 25:6

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

Psalms (1)
Psalm 22:7

All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads:

Isaiah (3)
Isaiah 14:11

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

Isaiah 41:14

Do not fear, O Jacob, you worm, O few men of Israel. I will help you,” declares the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 66:24

“As they go forth, they will see the corpses of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never be quenched, and they will be a horror to all mankind.”

Jonah (1)
Jonah 4:7

When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.

Mark (2)
Mark 9:48

where ‘their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.’

Mark 16:18

they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be made well.”

Acts (1)
Acts 12:23

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.