Flea

פרעש , 1Sa 24:14; 1Sa 26:20. The LXX, and another Greek version in the Hexapla, render it ψυλλον, and the Vulgate pulex. It seems, says Mr. Parkhurst, an evident derivative from פרע free, and רעש to leap, bound, or skip, on account of its agility in leaping or skipping. The flea is a little wingless insect, equally contemptible and troublesome. It is thus described by an Arabian author: “A black, nimble, extenuated, hunch- backed animal, which being sensible when any one looks on it, jumps incessantly, now on one side, now on the other, till it gets out of sight.” David likens himself to this insect; importing that while it would cost Saul much pains to catch him, he would obtain but very little advantage from it.

Flea occurs only 1Sa 24:14; 1Sa 26:20, where David thus addresses his persecutor Saul at the cave of Adullam: ’After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue?—after a flea;’ ’The king of Israel is come out to seek a flea!’ In both these passages the Hebrew means to pursue after, to seek one or a single flea. David’s allusion to the flea displays great address. It is an appeal founded upon the immense disparity between Saul as the king of Israel, and himself as the poor contemptible object of the monarch’s laborious pursuit. Hunting a flea is a comparison, in other ancient writings, for much labor expended to secure a worthless result.

Although this insect has been used as a popular emblem for insignificance, yet, when considered by itself, it has high claims upon the attention of the naturalist. Even to the naked eye there is something pleasing in its appearance, and elegant in its postures; but it is indebted to the microscope for our acquaintance with the flexible, highly polished, and ever clean suit of armor in which it is encased cap-a-pie, its finely-arched neck, large beautiful eye, antennae, muscular jointed legs, its piercer and sucker—forming one most complicated instrument—the two long, hooked, sharp claws, in which its legs severally terminate. The agility of the flea places it at the head of all the leaping insects, when its strength is considered in relation to its size, it being able to leap, unaided by wings, 200 times its own length. Owing to the habits of the lower orders, fleas abound so profusely in Syria, especially during the spring, in the streets and dusty bazaars, that persons of condition always change their long dresses upon returning home. There is a popular saying in Palestine that ’the king of the fleas keeps his court at Tiberias;’ though many other places in that region might dispute the distinction with that town (Kitto’s Physical History of Palestine, p. 421).

Flea. An insect, but twice mentioned in Scripture, namely, in 1Sa 24:14; 1Sa 26:20. Fleas are abundant in the East, and afford the subject of many proverbial expressions.

1Sa 24:14; 1Sa 26:20). Translated "(thou pursuest) after one flea," David implying his extreme insignificance, fleas in Palestine abounding in a degree not known with us.

(פִּרְעשׁ), parosh’, from its leaping; a name found in the Arab. equivalent: see Bocbart, iii, 474, ed. Rosenm.) occurs only 1Sa 24:14 [15]; Isa 26:20, where David thus addresses his persecutor Saul at the cave of Adullam: "After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue ?-after a flea ;" " The king of Israel is come out to seek a flea!" In both these passages our translation omits the force of the word אֶחָד, which is found in the Hebrew of each: thus, "to pursue after, to seek one or a single flea" (Sept. ψύλλος, Vulg. pulex unus). David’s allusion to the flea displays great address. It is an appeal founded upon the immense disparity between Saul, as the king of Israel, and himself as the poor contemptible object of the monarch’s laborious pursuit. Hunting a flea is a comparison in other ancient writings (Homer, Il. 10:378; Aristoph. Nub. i, 2; iii,1) for much labor expended to secure a worthless result.- This insect, in the East, is often used as a popular emblem for insignificance (Roberts, Oriental Illustrations, p. 178). An Arabian author thus describes this troublesome insect: "A black, nimble, extenuated, hunch-backed animals, which, being sensible when any one looks on it, jumps incessantly, now on one side, now on the other, till it gets out of sight." The flea belongs to the Linns-san order anptera (Latreille, smphonap X tera; Kirby, ophanaopera). For a description of itself and congeners, see the Penny Cyclopedia, s.v. Puleax. Owing to the habits of the lower orders, fleas abound so profusely in Syria (see Thomson, Land and Book, ii, 94), especially during the spring, in the streets and dusty bazaars, that persons of condition always change their long dresses on returning home. There is a popular saying in - Palestine that " the king of the fleas keeps his court at Tiberias," though many other places in that region might dispute the distinction with that town (Kitto, Physical History of Palestine, p 421)..

The well-known small insect, to which David compared himself when being hunted by Saul. 1Sa 24:14; 1Sa 26:20.

See INSECTS:

FLEA (par‘ôsh, 1Sa 24:14; 1Sa 26:20).—The common flea, Pulex irritans, is a universal pest in Palestine. Fleas are present in incredible numbers in the dust of caves to which goats resort. RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] has ‘fleas’ for ‘lice’ in Exo 8:16.

E. W. G. Masterman.

flē (פרעשׁ, par‛ōsh; compare Arabic barghût, “flea,” and barghash, “mosquito” (1Sa 24:14; 1Sa 26:20); kinnı̄m (Exo 8:16), “lice,” the Revised Version, margin “sandflies” or “fleas”; Septuagint σκνίφες, sknı́phes, probably best rendered “gnat”; see GNAT; LICE): In 1 Sam 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” (1Sa 24:14). Again in 1Sa 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‛ōsh ’eḥādh “a flea,” to pere’ midhbār, “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.

1Sa 24:14 (a) David thus describes his own insignificance, weakness and worthlessness in his own sight. (See 1Sa 26:20).

Flea. Fleas flourished in the sand and dust of the Holy Land. Classified as parasites, these tiny insects attach themselves to a body and suck blood from their host. Fleas have no wings, but they do have strong legs and can jump several inches at one leap. The flea that lives on man is tiny, but it can be very irritating. David described himself as a mere flea being pursued by a king (1Sa 24:14; 1Sa 26:20). He may have seemed insignificant, but he irritated King Saul.