עיש, Job iv, 19; and עשש, Job xiii, 28; xxvii, 18; Psalm vi, 7;
xxxi, 9, 10; xxxix, 11; Isaiah l, 9; Hosea v, 12. The clothes moth is
the _tinea argentea_; of a white, shining silver, or pearl colour. It is
clothed with shells, fourteen in number, and these are scaly. Albin
asserts this to be the insect that eats woollen stuffs; and says that it
is produced from a gray speckled moth, that flies by night, creeps among
woollens, and there lays her eggs, which, after a little time, are
hatched as worms, and in this state they feed on their habitation, till
they change into a chrysalis, and thence emerge into moths. The young
moth, or moth worm,” says the Abbé Pluche, upon leaving the egg which a
_papilio_ had lodged upon a piece of stuff commodious for her purpose,
finds a proper place of residence, grows and feeds upon the nap, and
likewise builds with it an apartment, which is fixed to the groundwork
of the stuff with several cords and a little glue. From an aperture in
this habitation, the moth worm devours and demolishes all about him;
and, when he has cleared the place, he draws out all the fastenings of
his tent; after which he carries it to some little distance, and then
fixes it with the slender cords in a new situation. In this manner he
continues to live at our expense, till he is satisfied with his food, at
which period he is first transformed into the _nympha_, and then changed
into the _papilio_.”
The allusions to this insect in the sacred writings are very striking:
Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their
revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm
shall eat them like wool.” They shall perish with as little noise as a
garment under the tooth of a moth, Isaiah li, 7, 8. In the prophecies of
Hosea, God himself says, I will be as a moth unto Ephraim, and as a
lion;” that is, I will send silent and secret judgments upon him, which
shall imperceptibly waste his beauty, corrode his power, and diminish
his strength, and will finish his destruction with open and irresistible
calamities. Or the meaning may be, As the moth crumbles into dust under
the slightest pressure, or the gentlest touch, so man dissolves with
equal ease, and vanishes into darkness, under the finger of the
Almighty. Deeply sensible of this affecting truth, the royal Psalmist
earnestly deprecates the judgments of God, humbly confessing his own
weakness, and the inability of every man to endure his frown: Remove thy
stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thy hand. When thou
with rebukes doth correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to
consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah,” Psalm
xxxix, 10, 11. Such, in the estimation of Job, is the fading prosperity
of a wicked man: He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that
the keeper maketh,” Job xxvii, 18. His unrighteous acquisitions shall be
of short continuance; they shall moulder insensibly away, returning to
the lawful owner, or pass into the possession of others. It is in this
sense that the Lord threatens: I will be unto Ephraim as a moth,” Hosea
v, 12. By the secret curse of God he shall fade away, and whatever is
most precious in his estimation shall be gradually dissolved and
consumed, as a garment eaten by the moth. The same allusion is involved
in the direction of our Lord to his disciples: Lay not up for yourselves
treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do
not break through nor steal,” Matthew vi, 19, 20. The word _treasure_
commonly suggests to our minds the idea of some durable substance, as
precious stones, gold, and silver, upon which the persevering industry
of a moth can make no impression; but, in the language of inspiration,
it denotes every thing collected together which men reckon valuable. The
Jews had treasures of raiment as well as of corn, of wine, of oil, of
honey, Jer. xli, 8; and of gold, silver, and brass, Ezek. xxxiii, 4;
Dan. xi, 43. The robes of princes were a part of their treasure, upon
which they often set a particular value. Rich vestments made a
conspicuous figure in the treasury of Ulysses. These were, from their
nature, exposed to the depredations of the moth; fabricated of perishing
materials, they were liable to be prematurely consumed, or taken away by
fraud or violence; but the favour of God, and the graces of his Spirit,
and the enjoyment of eternal happiness, are neither liable to internal
decay nor external violence, and by consequence, are the proper objects
of our highest regard, chief solicitude, and constant pursuit. It is
also likely, that by moth” our Lord meant all the kinds of small insects
which devour or spoil the different kinds of property, such as corn,
honey, fruits, &c, which were treasured up for the future. These, in
warm countries, are very numerous and destructive.
xxxi, 9, 10; xxxix, 11; Isaiah l, 9; Hosea v, 12. The clothes moth is
the _tinea argentea_; of a white, shining silver, or pearl colour. It is
clothed with shells, fourteen in number, and these are scaly. Albin
asserts this to be the insect that eats woollen stuffs; and says that it
is produced from a gray speckled moth, that flies by night, creeps among
woollens, and there lays her eggs, which, after a little time, are
hatched as worms, and in this state they feed on their habitation, till
they change into a chrysalis, and thence emerge into moths. The young
moth, or moth worm,” says the Abbé Pluche, upon leaving the egg which a
_papilio_ had lodged upon a piece of stuff commodious for her purpose,
finds a proper place of residence, grows and feeds upon the nap, and
likewise builds with it an apartment, which is fixed to the groundwork
of the stuff with several cords and a little glue. From an aperture in
this habitation, the moth worm devours and demolishes all about him;
and, when he has cleared the place, he draws out all the fastenings of
his tent; after which he carries it to some little distance, and then
fixes it with the slender cords in a new situation. In this manner he
continues to live at our expense, till he is satisfied with his food, at
which period he is first transformed into the _nympha_, and then changed
into the _papilio_.”
The allusions to this insect in the sacred writings are very striking:
Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their
revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm
shall eat them like wool.” They shall perish with as little noise as a
garment under the tooth of a moth, Isaiah li, 7, 8. In the prophecies of
Hosea, God himself says, I will be as a moth unto Ephraim, and as a
lion;” that is, I will send silent and secret judgments upon him, which
shall imperceptibly waste his beauty, corrode his power, and diminish
his strength, and will finish his destruction with open and irresistible
calamities. Or the meaning may be, As the moth crumbles into dust under
the slightest pressure, or the gentlest touch, so man dissolves with
equal ease, and vanishes into darkness, under the finger of the
Almighty. Deeply sensible of this affecting truth, the royal Psalmist
earnestly deprecates the judgments of God, humbly confessing his own
weakness, and the inability of every man to endure his frown: Remove thy
stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thy hand. When thou
with rebukes doth correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to
consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah,” Psalm
xxxix, 10, 11. Such, in the estimation of Job, is the fading prosperity
of a wicked man: He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that
the keeper maketh,” Job xxvii, 18. His unrighteous acquisitions shall be
of short continuance; they shall moulder insensibly away, returning to
the lawful owner, or pass into the possession of others. It is in this
sense that the Lord threatens: I will be unto Ephraim as a moth,” Hosea
v, 12. By the secret curse of God he shall fade away, and whatever is
most precious in his estimation shall be gradually dissolved and
consumed, as a garment eaten by the moth. The same allusion is involved
in the direction of our Lord to his disciples: Lay not up for yourselves
treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do
not break through nor steal,” Matthew vi, 19, 20. The word _treasure_
commonly suggests to our minds the idea of some durable substance, as
precious stones, gold, and silver, upon which the persevering industry
of a moth can make no impression; but, in the language of inspiration,
it denotes every thing collected together which men reckon valuable. The
Jews had treasures of raiment as well as of corn, of wine, of oil, of
honey, Jer. xli, 8; and of gold, silver, and brass, Ezek. xxxiii, 4;
Dan. xi, 43. The robes of princes were a part of their treasure, upon
which they often set a particular value. Rich vestments made a
conspicuous figure in the treasury of Ulysses. These were, from their
nature, exposed to the depredations of the moth; fabricated of perishing
materials, they were liable to be prematurely consumed, or taken away by
fraud or violence; but the favour of God, and the graces of his Spirit,
and the enjoyment of eternal happiness, are neither liable to internal
decay nor external violence, and by consequence, are the proper objects
of our highest regard, chief solicitude, and constant pursuit. It is
also likely, that by moth” our Lord meant all the kinds of small insects
which devour or spoil the different kinds of property, such as corn,
honey, fruits, &c, which were treasured up for the future. These, in
warm countries, are very numerous and destructive.