The flea is a small, wingless insect known for its ability to jump long distances and its parasitic relationship with warm-blooded hosts, including humans and animals. In the Bible, the flea is mentioned in the context of illustrating insignificance and humility, particularly in the life of David.

Biblical References:

1. 1 Samuel 24:14 : "Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? A single flea?" In this passage, David speaks to King Saul, who is pursuing him with the intent to kill. David uses the metaphor of a flea to emphasize his own perceived insignificance and harmlessness compared to the might and authority of King Saul. By likening himself to a flea, David underscores the futility of Saul's pursuit and his own humility before God and man.

2. 1 Samuel 26:20 : "Now do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the LORD. For the king of Israel has come out to search for a single flea, just as one hunts a partridge in the mountains." Here, David again addresses Saul, reiterating the metaphor of the flea to highlight the disproportionate nature of Saul's actions against him. David's use of the flea imagery serves to remind Saul of the triviality of his pursuit and the moral and spiritual implications of his actions.

Symbolism and Interpretation:

In the biblical context, the flea symbolizes insignificance and vulnerability. David's use of the flea metaphor reflects his awareness of his own humble status and his reliance on God's protection and justice. The flea, being a small and seemingly inconsequential creature, serves as a powerful image to convey the idea that human efforts and pursuits can be misguided when they are not aligned with God's will.

The mention of the flea in these passages also highlights the theme of divine providence and protection. Despite being pursued by a powerful king, David remains confident in God's ability to deliver him from harm. The flea, therefore, becomes a symbol of faith and trust in God's sovereignty, reminding believers of the importance of humility and reliance on divine guidance.

Cultural and Historical Context:

In ancient Israel, fleas would have been a common nuisance, particularly in the agrarian and pastoral settings of the time. The familiarity of the flea to the original audience of the biblical texts would have made David's metaphor immediately understandable and relatable. The use of such a common and lowly creature to convey profound spiritual truths is characteristic of the biblical narrative, which often employs everyday imagery to communicate deeper theological concepts.

Overall, the biblical references to the flea serve as a reminder of the importance of humility, the futility of human pride, and the necessity of trusting in God's providential care.Flea

an insect but twice mentioned in Scripture, viz., in (1 Samuel 24:14; 26:20) Fleas are abundant in the East, and afford the subject of many proverbial expressions.

David at the cave of Adullam thus addressed his persecutor Saul (1 Samuel 24:14): "After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea?" He thus speaks of himself as the poor, contemptible object of the monarch's pursuit, a "worthy object truly for an expedition of the king of Israel with his picked troops!" This insect is in Eastern language the popular emblem of insignificance. In 1 Samuel 26:20 the LXX. read "come out to seek my life" instead of "to seek a flea." 1. (v. t.) To flay.

2. (n.) An insect belonging to the genus Pulex, of the order Aphaniptera. Fleas are destitute of wings, but have the power of leaping energetically. The bite is poisonous to most persons. The human flea (Pulex irritans), abundant in Europe, is rare in America, where the dog flea (P. canis) takes its place.

FLEA

fle (par`osh; compare Arabic barghut, "flea," and barghash, "mosquito" (1 Samuel 24:14; 1 Samuel 26:20); kinnim (Exodus 8:16), "lice," the Revised Version, margin "sandflies" or "fleas"; Septuagint skniphes, probably best rendered "gnat"; see GNAT; LICE):

In 1 Samuel 24 Saul seeks David in the wilderness of En-gedi, and David, after cutting off the skirt of Saul's robe in the cave, calls out to him, "After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea" (24:14). Again in 1 Samuel 26:20 Saul seeks David in the wilderness of Ziph, and David after taking the spear and cruse from beside Saul while he slept, cries out to him, ". the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains." The flea is here used as a symbol of David's insignificance, coupled perhaps, in the second passage, with a thought of the difficulty that Saul had in laying hands on him. In Encyclopedia Biblica Cheyne finds fault with a similar interpretation given in DB on the ground that it is absurd that David should refer to hunting "a single flea," and proposes to change par`osh 'echadh "a flea," to pere' midhbar, "wild ass of the desert." The writer will only say that no observant resident of Palestine would consider the textual alteration to be called for.

Linnaeus recognized two species of flea, Pulex irritans, the common parasite of man, and Pulex (Sarcopsylla) penetrans, the tropical and sub-tropical jigger flea. More than a hundred species are now listed, and the recent discovery that certain fleas are instrumental in the transmission of the plague has given a new impetus to the study of these tiny pests. A flea that is often commoner in houses than Pulex irritans is the "dog and cat flea," variously known as Pulex serraticeps, Pulex canis, Pulex felis or Ctenocephalus canis.

Alfred Ely Day

6550. parosh -- a flea
... 6549, 6550. parosh. 6551 . a flea. Transliteration: parosh Phonetic
Spelling: (par-oshe') Short Definition: flea. Word Origin of ...
/hebrew/6550.htm - 6k

You Observe How He Treats Ambrose. First, He Calls Him a Crow and ...
... if you condemn all those I have mentioned with the same mouth with which you once
praised them, I who in comparison of them am but like a flea, must not ...
/.../25 you observe how he.htm

Love for Hate, the True Quid Pro Quo
... thee.14. After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue?
after a dead dog, after a flea.15. The Lord therefore ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/love for hate the true.htm

What Good Does it do Me that He Declares on his Oath that it was ...
... As to all these he keeps silence; he does not notice those who are like pillars
of the church; but me, who am but like a flea and a man of no account, he hunts ...
/.../2 what good does it.htm

Psalm CXLVIII.
... willing to learn, and he would find that everything happeneth upon earth by God's
Providence, and he would wonder at the arrangement of even the limbs of a flea ...
/.../augustine/exposition on the book of psalms/psalm cxlviii.htm

Description of the Symbol of the Hands among the Manich??ans.
... were your followers. For if a flea may be killed on account of its small
size, so may the fly which is bred in beans. And if this ...
/.../chapter 17 name of the.htm

Brother Hugh
... shirts. Welcome horse-hair vests, sacking sheets, and the "bitter bite
of the flea,""sad entertainment for gentlemen! Instead ...
/.../marson/hugh bishop of lincoln/chapter ii brother hugh.htm

The Sweet Uses of Adversity
... After a dead dog: after a flea?" Wilt thou hunt the partridge on the mountains with
an army, and wilt thou go forth against a gnat with shield and spear? ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 5 1859/the sweet uses of adversity.htm

After This
... Once more the same argument will fit my hand in dealing with this too,"that a man
would not be wrong in saying the same thing of a dog, or a flea, or a snake ...
/.../gregory/gregory of nyssa dogmatic treatises etc/section 4 after this.htm

! is that Foul Smell...
... But the same gods have given to you both cumin, cress, turnips, onions, parsley,
esculent thistles, radishes, gourds, rue, mint, basil, flea-bane, and chives ...
/.../arnobius/the seven books of arnobius against the heathen/16 what say you o.htm

The Christian Described
... while the persons thus opposed, if you consider them as to their state and capacity
in this world, are the most inconsiderable"but as a dead dog or a flea. ...
/.../bunyan/the riches of bunyan/xii the christian described.htm

Flea (2 Occurrences)
... after a dead dog, after a flea?" He thus speaks of himself as the poor, contemptible
object of the monarch's pursuit, a "worthy object truly for an expedition ...
/f/flea.htm - 10k

Partridge (2 Occurrences)
... 1 Samuel 26:20: "Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the
presence of Yahweh: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when ...
/p/partridge.htm - 13k

Insects (17 Occurrences)
... least 23 names of insects or words referring to them: ant, bald locust, bee, beetle,
cankerworm, caterpillar, creeping thing, cricket, crimson, flea, fly, gnat ...
/i/insects.htm - 14k

Dog (19 Occurrences)
... after a dead dog, after a flea." Mephibosheth says to David (2 Samuel 9:8): "What
is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?" The ...
/d/dog.htm - 20k

Single (65 Occurrences)
... 1 Samuel 24:14 After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou
pursue? after a dead dog, after a single flea. (DBY NAS). ...
/s/single.htm - 28k

Zoology
... Snail, Murex (Purple) Insects: HYMENOPTERA: Ant, Bee, Hornet LEPIDOPTERA:
Clothes-Moth (sv MOTH), Silk-Worm, Worm (Larva) SIPHONAPTERA: Flea DIPTERA: Fly ...
/z/zoology.htm - 18k

Lop (2 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (n.) A flea. 2. (vt) To cut off as the top
or extreme part of anything; to show/ -- by cutting off ...
/l/lop.htm - 7k

Gnat (1 Occurrence)
... the Bible and the others suggested, except as we may be influenced by the Septuagint
rendering, skniphes, which may mean "gnats" or "mosquitoes." See FLEA; LICE ...
/g/gnat.htm - 10k

Flaying

/f/flaying.htm - 6k

Flies (16 Occurrences)
... SAND FLIES. sand'-fliz (kinnim (Exodus 8:16 margin; Wis 19:10 margin)): English
Versions of the Bible "lice." See FLEA; GNAT; INSECTS; LICE. FLIES. fliz. ...
/f/flies.htm - 15k

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