Flies

Fly - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

Heb. zebub, (Eccl. 10:1; Isa. 7:18). This fly was so grievous a pest that the Phoenicians invoked against it the aid of their god Baal-zebub (q.v.). The prophet Isaiah (7:18) alludes to some poisonous fly which was believed to be found on the confines of Egypt, and which would be called by the Lord. Poisonous flies exist in many parts of Africa, for instance, the different kinds of tsetse.

Heb. arob, the name given to the insects sent as a plague on the land of Egypt (Ex. 8:21-31; Ps. 78:45; 105:31). The LXX. render this by a word which means the "dog-fly," the cynomuia. The Jewish commentators regarded the Hebrew word here as connected with the word 'arab, which means "mingled;" and they accordingly supposed the plague to consist of a mixed multitude of animals, beasts, reptiles, and insects. But there is no doubt that "the 'arab" denotes a single definite species. Some interpreters regard it as the Blatta orientalis, the cockroach, a species of beetle. These insects "inflict very painful bites with their jaws; gnaw and destroy clothes, household furniture, leather, and articles of every kind, and either consume or render unavailable all eatables."

Fly - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

FLY, v.i.

1. To move through air by the aid of wings, as fowls.

2. To pass or move in air, by the force of wind or other impulse; as, clouds and vapors fly before the wind. A ball flies from a cannon, an arrow from a bow.

3. To rise in air, as light substances, by means of a current of air or by having less specific gravity than air, as smoke.

Man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward. Job 5.

4. To move or pass with velocity or celerity, either on land or water. He flew to the relief of his distressed friend. The ship flies upon the main.

5. To move rapidly, in any manner; as, a top flies about.

6. To pass away; to depart; with the idea of haste, swiftness or escape. The bird has flown.

7. To pass rapidly, as time. Swift fly the fleeting hours.

8. To part suddenly or with violence; to burst, as a bottle.

9. To spring by an elastic force.

10. To pass swiftly, as rumor or report.

11. To flee; to run away; to attempt to escape; to escape.

I'll fly from shepherds, flocks, and flowery plains.

12. To flutter; to vibrate or play; as a flag in the wind.

To fly at, to spring towards; to rush on; to fall on suddenly. A hen flies at a dog or cat; a dog flies at a man.

1. To fly in the face, to insult.

2. To assail; to resist; to set at defiance; to oppose with violence; to act in direct opposition.

1. To fly off, to separate or depart suddenly.

2. To revolt.

To fly open, to open suddenly or with violence; as, the doors flew open.

1. To fly out, to rush out; also, to burst into a passion.

2. To break out into license.

3. To start or issue with violence from any direction.

1. To let fly, to discharge; to throw or drive with violence; as, to let fly a shower of darts.

2. In seamanship, to let go suddenly. Let fly the sheets.

FLY, v.t. [This is used for flee, and from is understood after fly, so that it can hardly be called a transitive verb.]

1. To shun; to avoid; to decline; as, to fly the sight of one we hate. That is, primarily, to flee from

Sleep flies the wretch.

2. To quit by flight.

3. To attack by a bird of prey. [Not used.]

4. To cause to float in the air.

FLY, n.

1. In zoology, a winged insect of various species, whose distinguishing characteristic is that the wings are transparent. By this flies are distinguished from beetles, butterflies, grasshoppers, _c. Of flies, some have two wings and others four.

In common language, fly is the house fly, of the genus Musca.

2. In mechanics, a cross with leaden weights at the ends, or a heavy wheel at right angles with the axis of a windlass, jack or the like. The use of this is, to regulate and equalize the motion in all parts of the revolution of the machine.

3. That part of a vane which points and shows which way the wind blows.

4. The extent of an ensign, flag or pendant from the staff to the end that flutters loose in the wind.

fliz.

See FLY.

(Verb; `uph petaomai, or, contracted, ptaomai):

Used in preference to "flee" when great speed is to be indicated. "To fly" is used: (1) Literally, of birds, `uph (Ge 1:20; Ps 55:6); da'ah (De 28:49), of sparks (Job 5:7); of the arrow (Ps 91:5); of the seraphim (Isa 6:2,6); of an angel (Da 9:21, ya`aph, "to be caused to fly"); of swift action or movement (Ps 18:10; Jer 48:40); of people (Isa 11:14); of a fleet (Isa 60:8; 1Sa 15:19, 14:32, `asah, "to do," etc.). (2) Figuratively, of a dream (Job 20:8); of man's transitory life (Ps 90:10); of riches (Pr 23:5); of national glory (Ho 9:11).

For "fly" the Revised Version (British and American) has "soar" (Job 39:26) "fly down" (Isa 11:14); for "flying" (Isa 31:5) the American Standard Revised Version has "hovering."

W. L. Walker

fli fliz `arobh (Ex 8:21 ff; Ps 78:45; 105:31; Septuagint kunomuia; "dog-fly"), zebhubh (Ec 10:1; Isa 7:18; Septuagint muiai, "flies"); compare ba`al-zebhubh, "Baal-zebub" (2Ki 1:2 ff), and beelzeboul, "Beelzebul," or beelzeboub, "Beelzebub" (Mt 10:25; 12:24,27; Lu 11:15,18,19); compare Arabic dhubab, "fly" or "bee"; (Note: "dh" for Arabic dhal, pronounced like "d" or "z" or like th in "the"):

The references in Psalms as well as in Exodus are to the plague of flies, and the word `arobh is rendered "swarm of flies" throughout, except in Ps 78:45; 105:31 the King James Version, where we find "divers sorts of flies" (compare Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) omne genus muscarum). In Ex 8:21 we read, "I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are"; in Ex 8:24, .... "the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies"; in Ps 78:45, "He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them." There has been much speculation as to what the insects were, but all the texts cited, including even Ps 78:45, may apply perfectly well to the common house fly (Musca domestica). Some species of blue-bottle fly (Calliphora) might also suit.

The other word, zebhubh, occurs in Ec 10:1, "Dead flies cause the oil of the perfumer to send forth an evil odor; so doth a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor"; and Isa 7:18, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that Yahweh will hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria:" The house fly would fit perfectly the reference in each, but that in Isa would seem to suggest rather one of the horse flies (Tabanidae) or gad flies (Oestridae). Whatever fly may be meant, it is used as a symbol for the military power of Egypt, as the bee for that of Assyria.

Owing to deficiencies in public and private hygiene, and also for other reasons, house flies and others are unusually abundant in Palestine and Egypt and are agents in the transmission of cholera, typhoid fever, ophthalmia and anthrax. Glossina morsitans, the tsetse fly, which is fatal to many domestic animals, and Glossina palpalis which transmits the sleeping sickness, are abundant in tropical Africa, but do not reach Egypt proper.

See PLAGUE.

Alfred Ely Day

1. Zebub , which occurs only in (Ecclesiastes 10:1) and in Isai 7:18 And is probably a generic name for an insect.
2. ’Arob ("swarms of flies ," "divers sorts of flies ," Authorized Version), the name of the insect or insects which God sent to punish Pharaoh; see (Exodus 8:21-31; Psalms 78:45; 105:31) The question as to what particular species is denoted, or whether any one species is to be understood, has long been a matter of dispute. As the arob are said to have filled the houses of the Egyptians, it seems not improbable that common flies (Muscidae) are more especially intended. The arob may include various species of Culicidae (gnats), such as the mosquito; but the common flies are to this day in Egypt regarded as a "plague," and are the great instrument of spreading the well-known ophthalmia, which is conveyed from one individual to another by these dreadful pests. "It is now generally supposed that the dog-fly is meant, which at certain seasons is described as a far worse plague than mosquitos. The bite is exceedingly sharp and painful, causing severe inflammation, especially in the eyelids. Coming in immense swarms, they cover all objects in black and loathsome masses, and attack every exposed part of a traveller’s person with incredible pertinacity." --Cook.