A maggot (as voracious ); specifically (often with ellipsis of 8144 ) the crimson- grub , but used only (in this connection) of the color from it, and cloths dyed therewith
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The Hebrew noun tola'at can name a worm or grub and, through the dye associated with such a creature, crimson or scarlet material. Exodus repeatedly places the dyed yarn alongside blue, purple, fine linen, skilled work, and obedience in the tabernacle and priestly garments.
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Full entry for תּוֹלָע (H8438) · Open the biblical lexicon
The Hebrew noun tola'at can name a worm or grub and, through the dye associated with such a creature, crimson or scarlet material. Exodus repeatedly places the dyed yarn alongside blue, purple, fine linen, skilled work, and obedience in the tabernacle and priestly garments.
The BSB source-word alignment has 43 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and scarlet yarn (24), . . . (6), or scarlet yarn (2), a scarlet (1), a worm (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 16:20. Its strongest book concentrations include Exodus (27), Leviticus (5), Isaiah (4), Numbers (2).
The Hebrew noun tola'at can name a worm or grub and, through the dye associated with such a creature, crimson or scarlet material. Exodus repeatedly places the dyed yarn alongside blue, purple, fine linen, skilled work, and obedience in the tabernacle and priestly garments. Leviticus and Numbers include scarlet material in specific cleansing rites, while Isaiah uses the color to picture sins that God can make white.
Other texts retain the creature sense: stored manna breeds worms, a worm destroys Jonah's plant, and prophetic or poetic passages portray mortality and decay. Psalm 22 uses the speaker's comparison to a worm as language of humiliation, not as a biological description or permission to demean sufferers. Context must therefore decide whether the noun identifies a creature, dye, yarn, or figurative comparison.
Responsible teaching does not turn the dye's production, its color, or the worm image into a secret code. It also refuses ritual magic, shame, disgust toward bodies, and confident claims that every scarlet object symbolizes sin, blood, royalty, or redemption.
Tola'at ranges from a worm or grub to crimson dye and scarlet material, serving sanctuary craft, cleansing rites, prophetic color comparison, mortality language, and scenes of creaturely loss.
Blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen and goat hair;
Scarlet yarn appears among the freely contributed materials for the tabernacle, joined with other textiles and resources.
Every skilled woman spun with her hands and brought what she had spun: blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen.
Skilled women spin scarlet yarn and other textiles, making both material and expert labor visible in sacred craft.
The priest shall order that two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the one to be cleansed.
Scarlet yarn belongs to the prescribed cleansing procedure with birds, cedar wood, and hyssop in its covenant setting.
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
Isaiah contrasts scarlet and crimson sins with snow and wool to announce the Lord's summons and cleansing promise.
When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.
God appoints a worm that attacks Jonah's plant, exposing the prophet's anger and disordered compassion.
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.
The afflicted speaker compares himself to a worm amid public scorn, expressing humiliation rather than defining human worth.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Worm of degradation and death, yet source of costly crimson dye—paradox of shame and royalty.
Worm of degradation and death, yet source of costly crimson dye—paradox of shame and royalty.
a maggot (as voracious); specifically (often with ellipsis of 8144) the crimson-grub, but used only (in this connection) of the color from it, and cloths dyed therewith BDB: worm Usage: crimson, scarlet, worm.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 43 lexical occurrence verses.
תּוֹלָע is built from this root:
The imagery intensifies the humiliation of former glory.Isaiah 14:9-11
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Tola'at is a vivid example of a lexical range held together by material history but governed by context. In Exodus, scarlet yarn is one resource among many, shaped by skilled workers according to detailed instructions. The color contributes beauty without becoming holy by itself, and the text makes human craft visible. Leviticus places scarlet yarn within a particular cleansing rite whose authority lies in God's covenant command, not in a magical property of the material.
Isaiah 1 uses the stubborn color of scarlet and crimson to portray sins that the Lord can make white, so the comparison serves repentance and divine mercy. Jonah returns to the creature sense when a worm attacks a plant and exposes the prophet's misplaced pity. Psalm 22 voices humiliation by comparing the afflicted speaker to a worm amid contempt. Teachers must not repeat that contempt by calling vulnerable people worms or by treating low self-worth as godliness.
Faithful application honors craft, preserves ritual and covenant setting, speaks forgiveness without manipulation, and protects sufferers from shame. It does not claim that every scarlet thread, insect, garment, or decoration carries one spiritual message.
Isa.1.18
Tola'at is a Hebrew noun whose range includes a worm or grub and crimson or scarlet dye and material associated with such a creature. Ellipsis and textile context can supply the color sense, while narrative and poetic context retain the creature sense.
The New Testament uses scarlet, cleansing, suffering, and Psalm 22 in its own contexts, but those links do not make every occurrence of tola'at a direct prediction or assign one symbolic meaning to every red textile. Canonical connections should follow explicit quotation, theme, and genre.