Moth

עיש , Job 4:19; and עשש , Job 13:28; Job 27:18; Psa 6:7; Psa 31:9-10; Psa 39:11; Isa 50:9; Hos 5:12. 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 Abbe 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, Isa 51:7-8. 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,” Psa 39:10-11. 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 27:18. 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,” Hos 5:12. 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,”

Mat 6:19-20. 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 41:8; and of gold, silver, and brass, Eze 33:4; Dan 11:43. 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.

Moth occurs in Job 4:19; Job 13:28; Job 27:18; Isa 50:9; Isa 51:8; Hos 5:12; Mat 6:19-20; Luk 12:33; Sir 19:3; Sir 42:13. There is no Biblical insect whose identity is better ascertained. The following allusions to the moth occur in Scripture:—to its being produced in clothes—’for from garments cometh a moth’ (Sir 42:13): to its well-known fragility ’mortal men are crushed before the moth’ (Job 4:19), literally ’before the face of the moth.’ The allusion to ’the house of the moth’ (Job 27:18) seems to refer plainly to the silky spindle shaped case, covered with detached hairs and particles of wool, made and inhabited by the larva of the Tinea sarcitella; or to the felted case or tunnel formed by the larva of the Tinea pellionella; or to the arched gallery formed by eating through wool by the larva of the Tinea tapetzella. References occur to the destructiveness of the clothes-moth: ’as a garment that is moth-eaten’ (Job 13:28); ’the moth shall eat them up’ (Isa 50:9); ’the moth shall eat them up like a garment’ (Isa 51:8); ’I will be to Ephraim as a moth,’ i.e. will secretly consume him (Hos 5:12); comp. Mat 6:19-20; Luk 12:33; Jas 5:2, metaphorically. Since the ’treasures’ of the Orientals, in ancient times, consisted partly of ’garments, both new and old’ (Mat 13:52; and comp. Jos 7:21; Jdg 14:12), the ravages of the clothes-moth afforded them a lively emblem of destruction. Moths, like fleas, etc. amid other more immediate purposes of their existence, incidentally serve as a stimulus to human industry and cleanliness; for, by a remarkable discrimination in her instinct, the parent moth never deposits her eggs in garments frequently overlooked or kept clean. Indeed, the most remarkable of all proofs of animal intelligence is to be found in the larva of the water-moth, which get into straws, and adjust the weight of their case so that it can always float: when too heavy they add a piece of straw or wood, and when too light a bit of gravel.

The common moth is an insect destructive to woolen cloths. The egg is laid by a small shining worm; which by another transformation becomes a miller. Allusions to the moth, as devouring clothes, and as a frail and feeble insect, are frequent in Scripture, Job 4:19 13:28 27:18 Isa 50:9 Hos 5:12 Mat 6:19,20 . See GARMENTS.\par The insects called in general moths, of which the above is only one species, are exceedingly numerous. The main genus is called by naturalists Phaloena, and contains more than fifteen hundred species. Moths fly abroad only in the evening and night; differing in this respect from the tribe of butterflies that fly only by day. Their larva, or the worms from which they spring, are active, and quick in motion, mostly smooth, and prey voraciously on the food adapted to them; the common moth on cloths, others on furs, the leaves of plants, etc.\par

Moth. By the Hebrew word, we are certainly to understand some species of clothes-moth, (tinea). Reference to the destructive habits of the clothes-moth is made in Job 4:19; Job 13:28; Psa 39:11; etc.

(The moth is a well-known insect, which in its caterpillar state is very destructive to woollen clothing, furs, etc. The egg of the moth, being deposited on the fur or cloth, produces a very small shining insect, which immediately forms a house for itself by cuttings from the cloth. It eats away the nap, and finally ruins the fabric. There are more than 1500 species of moths. -- McClintock and Strong’s Cyclopedia).

The clothes moth, Hebrew ’ash, Greek sees. Job 4:19; "houses of clay crushed (as a garment) before the moth" (compare Job 13:28); but Maurer, "crushed after the manner of the moth," whose lustrous satiny wings and body are soon crushed. The minute wasting of garments, stored up as they are in the East as wealth, by the larva which forms its own case out of the cloth material on which it feeds, is the chief point of similitude (Mat 6:19-20; Jas 5:2); Hos 5:12, "I will be unto Ephraim as a moth," gradually, silently, and surely consuming the nation’s substance (Isa 50:9; Isa 51:8).

The Tinea pellionella and Tinea biselliata still abound in Palestine. The order is the Lepidoptera. Job says of the man enriched by wrong, (Job 27:18) "he buildeth his house as a moth," whose house, in and of the garment, is broken, so frail is it whenever the garment is shaken out. The moth chooses for laying its egg a garment under cover, rather than one exposed and in use. The young one chooses the longer hairs for the outside, the shorter for the interior, of its oblong case; it finishes it within with closely woven silk. When needed, it enlarges the case by pieces inserted in the sides. Only when the case is complete it begins to eat. It chooses for food the shortest and thickest fibers, eating into the body of the cloth and rejecting the nap.

Moth. The clothes-moth, which, in its caterpillar state, is very destructive to woven fabrics. In Job 4:19 man is said to be "crushed before the moth"—that is, more easily than the moth.

ash , σής. This is the clothes-moth (one of the Tineae ), the destructive ravages of which are well known. In the East garments were kept in larger quantities, as property and for presents, as when Naaman the Syrian brought ’changes of garments’ as a present to Elisha, of which Gehazi obtained two. 2Ki 5:22-23. Moths do not attack the clothing that is worn; but they lay their eggs in what is laid up, in which the young find their food. From this the lesson is drawn to lay up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust can corrupt or destroy. Job 13:28. Psa 39:11; Isa 51:8; Mat 6:19-20; Jas 5:2.

MOTH (σής).—The Bible frequently makes reference to the destructive action of the moth as a fit symbol of the perishableness of man and his earthly possessions. In Oriental countries, where so large a part of ‘treasure’ consisted of costly silken and woollen fabrics, the figure was peculiarly appropriate and impressive. Specially referred to is the ‘clothes’ moth,’ one or more (not readily identified as to its particular member of the family) of the genus Tinea, which may be said to have an almost cosmopolitan distribution. The larva of this moth feeds on wool, silk, hair, fur, feathers, etc. Out of the material on which it feeds it forms a portable case or house, supposed to be alluded to as an image of instability (though Cheyne [EBi [Note: Bi Encyclopaedia Biblica.] , ‘Moth’] denies this) in Job 27:18 a. The moth first finishes its case, which is often motley-coloured on account of the variety of material from which it draws supplies, and afterwards feeds voraciously on the substance from which the tent or house has been produced. For building purposes it selects the long straight fibres, but for food the shortest and thickest, and in order to get the latter it eats down below the surface pile to the fabric itself. The feeding process is therefore the most destructive to the fabric. The yellowish-brown pupa is either formed in this structure which the larva constructs, or in a slight cocoon. Before the perfect insect appears the mischief is accomplished, for large patches are eaten in the clothes, carpets, or tapestry where the parent moth has laid its eggs. If the action of the insect is undiscovered, or by carelessness allowed to be completed, it makes the fabric into a mere flimsy shell which falls into nothingness on the least touch or breath. ‘Crushed before the moth’ (Job 4:19) is a faithful description of this most effective destruction—an apt figure of the insidious, deadly work of evil in the human character.

Our Lord refers to this well-known phenomenon in the Sermon on the Mount (Mat 6:19-20, Luk 12:33). Along with the corroding work of the rust—due to chemical action on metals left unused and exposed—He classes the ravages of the moth, as illustrations of the inevitable corruption and decay which overtake all earthly things apart from the heavenly and Divine. Men are not to set their affections on things that belong to the earth (things which contain no higher and heavenly element), are not to make these their treasures, for in that case their heart, the centre of their life, set upon these decaying, perishing things, is itself subject to similar destructive forces—‘Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’ All earthly things are to be valued, not in themselves as ends, but as means to the higher spiritual life. The affection is to be positively fixed on the enduring things of human virtue, knowledge, and character, formed and obtained by fellowship with the Divine—elements which all lower things are adapted to subserve, and which themselves ‘neither moth, nor rust can corrupt.’

T. H. Wright.

See INSECTS:

MOTH (‘âsh. Job 4:18; Job 13:28; Job 27:18, Psa 39:12, Isa 50:9; Isa 51:8, Hos 5:12; Gr. sçs, Mat 6:19-20, Luk 12:33, Jas 5:2).—All the references are to the clothes-moth, which is ubiquitous and extremely plentiful in Palestine. It is almost impossible to guard against its destructiveness, except by constantly using clothes, shawls, carpets, etc. Such goods, when stored for long, are found to be reduced almost to powder on being removed (cf. Job 4:19 etc.). The fragile cases of these moths are referred to in Job 27:18, if the MT [Note: Massoretic Text.] he correct.

E. W. G. Masterman.

moth (עשׁ, ‛āsh; compare Arabic ‛uththat, “moth”; colloquial, ‛itt; סס, ṣāṣ, “worm” Isa 51:8; compare Arabic sûs, “worm,” especially an insect larva in flesh, wood or grain; σής, sḗs, “moth” Mat 6:19-20; Luk 12:33; σητόβρωτος, sētóbrōtos, “moth-eaten” Jas 5:2):

The moths constitute the larger division of the order Lepidoptera. Two of the points by which they are distinguished from butterflies are that they are generally nocturnal and that their antennae are not club-shaped. Further, the larva in many cases spins a cocoon for the protection of the pupa or chrysalis, which is never the case with butterflies. The Biblical references are to the clothes-moth, i.e. various species of the genus Tinea, tiny insects which lay their eggs in woolen clothes, upon which the larvae later feed. As the larva feeds it makes a cocoon of its silk together with fibers of the cloth on which it is feeding, so that the color of the cocoon depends upon the color of the fabric. The adult is only indirectly harmful, as it is only in the larval stage that the insect injures clothing. Therefore in Isa 51:8, “For the moth (‛āsh) shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm (ṣāṣ) shall eat them like wool,” both words must refer to the larva, the distich demanding such a word as ṣāṣ to balance ‛āsh in the first half. The word “moth” occurs 7 times in the Old Testament, in Job, Psalms, Isaiah and Hosea, always in figurative expressions, typifying either that which is destructive Job 13:28; Psa 39:11; Isa 50:9; Isa 51:8; Hos 5:12 or that which is frail Job 4:19; Job 27:18. See INSECTS.

Job 4:19 (b) This insect which weighs very little is used as a type of GOD’s wrath in its least and lightest form. This, falling on mortal man, crushes him and wrecks him.

Psa 39:11 (a) In this passage natural human beauty is compared to this insect in that it is quickly and easily lost, crushed and destroyed, even as this insect may be easily destroyed.

Isa 50:9 (b) This type indicates the way the Lord uses little things to remove great things. Little troubles, little difficulties, little adversities destroy peace, joy, zeal, earnestness and even faith, just as a little moth will destroy a large, expensive garment.

Hos 5:12 (a) The destructive insect eating away at the cloth is a picture of the way our Lord would quietly and slowly deal with Israel, taking away his blessings, one by one, and leaving them as a damaged garment, with no strength, no beauty and no power.

Mat 6:19 (c) By this is represented decay in the animal kingdom from the moth, decay in the mineral kingdom by the rust, decay in the human kingdom by the thieves. All of these ruin and destroy the things we lay up for ourselves on the earth.

Moth. Moths are mentioned several times in the Bible as a symbol of destructiveness and the perishable nature of all earthly goods. In (Hos 5:12), God says, "I will be to Ephraim like a moth." Just as the damage caused by moths takes place slowly and undetected, so God would quietly, but inevitably, bring judgment upon His backsliding people.

The female moth lays her eggs upon garments. When the eggs hatch into caterpillars, they feed on the fibers, eventually leaving the garment full of holes. Jesus warned against placing too much confidence and hope in worldly possessions that could be wiped out so easily by moths (Mat 6:19; Luk 12:33)

An insect from the Tineola family, that lays its eggs on wool or furs. The larvae feed on those materials. Several biblical passages refer to the destructive qualities of moths (Job 13:28; Psalm 39:11; Isaiah 50:9; Hosea 5:12; Matthew 6:19–20; Luke 12:33; James 5:2).

In Isaiah 51:8, “worm" refers to larvae of the clothes moth. These larvae symbolize decay and weakness. They are the only harmful stage; adults pose no threat and mainly feed on flower nectar. Adults are also easy to crush (Job 4:19). Clothes moths breed in May or June and enter homes at night. A week after laying eggs, larvae emerge and start damaging animal fiber items.

Moths quietly destroy things, unlike swarms of insects that block out the sun. In the past, wealth was in possessions, not just money. Wool clothing was especially valuable. So, moths could cause economic disaster. This context highlights Jesus's words in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:19–20).

Palestine has many moth species besides the clothes moth. These moths do not harm plants or seeds. Like the clothes moth, only the larvae cause damage

Aquifer Open Bible Dictionary © 2026 Mission Mutual, an adaptation of the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Animals in the Bible © United Bible Societies. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.