Lice

The third plague on Egypt came without a warning. Aaron struck the dust with his rod, and the dust itself turned: “all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.” Pharaoh’s magicians tried to copy it and could not, and they told him, “This is the finger of God.” He still would not listen, as the LORD had said. The psalmist remembers the plague in Psalm 105, where “divers sorts of flies, and lice” fill the coasts. It is a small creature used for a large lesson. Read Exodus 8:16-19 for the whole scene.

5 verses

Exodus

Exodus 8:16

And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

Exodus 8:17

And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

Exodus 8:18

And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.

Exodus 8:19

Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

Psalms

Psalms 105:31

He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

(Heb. kinnim), the creatures employed in the third plague sent upon Egypt (Ex. 8:16-18). They were miraculously produced from the dust of the land. “The entomologists Kirby and Spence place these minute but disgusting insects in the very front rank of those which inflict injury upon man. A terrible list of examples they have collected of the ravages of this and closely allied parasitic pests.” The plague of lice is referred to in Ps. 105:31.

Some have supposed that the word denotes not lice properly, but gnats. Others, with greater probability, take it to mean the “tick” which is much larger than lice.

Read the full entry

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(Heb. cinnam, cinnim). this word occurs in the Authorized Version only in (Exodus 8:16-18) and in (Psalms 105:31) both of which passages have reference to the third great plague of Egypt. The Hebrew word has given occasion to whole pages of discussion. Some commentators, and indeed modern writers generally, suppose that gnats are the animals intended by the original word; while, on the other hand, the Jewish rabbis, Josephus and others, are in favor of the translation of the Authorized Version. Upon the whole it appears that there is not sufficient authority for departing from this translation. Late travellers (e.g. Sir Samuel Baker) describe the visitation of vermin in very similar terms: --"It is as though the very dust were turned into lice." The lice which he describes are a sort of tick, not larger than a grain of sand, which when filled with blood expand to the size of a hazel nut. --Canon Cook.