Moth

Heb. ash, from a root meaning "to fall away," as moth-eaten garments fall to pieces (Job 4:19; 13:28; Isa. 50:9; 51:8; Hos. 5:12). Gr. ses, thus rendered in Matt. 6:19, 20; Luke 12:33. Allusion is thus made to the destruction of clothing by the larvae of the clothes-moth. This is the only lepidopterous insect referred to in Scripture.

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.