Fly

Scripture references: Exodus 8:20–32; Psalm 78:45; 105:31; Ecclesiastes 10:1; Isaiah 7:18; 2 Kings 1:2–3; Matthew 10:25; 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15–19

The Hebrew term, zebub (זְבוּב) is the fly, appearing in Ecclesiastes 10:1 and in the compound name ba'al-zebub (Lord of Flies), the god of Ekron named in 2 Kings 1. The fourth plague of Egypt uses the Hebrew arov (עָרֹב), a word whose precise meaning is debated (swarms, flies, mixture of insects, stinging flies); most translations render it "swarms of flies" or simply "flies." Psalm 78:45 and 105:31 use kinnim (gnats/lice, third plague) and arov (fourth plague) in sequence, affirming both as distinct plagues.

The fourth plague, Exodus 8:20–32, YHWH commands Moses: "Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh as he goes out to the water, and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "Let my people go... else... I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand."'" The first three plagues affected all Egypt including Goshen. The fourth plague introduces a distinction for the first time: "But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there." The fly-plague introduces the principle of protected separation. Pharaoh negotiates for the first time, he will let the people sacrifice, but in the land. Moses refuses. Pharaoh concedes. The flies depart. Pharaoh hardens his heart.

Dead flies in the ointment, Ecclesiastes 10:1, "Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor." The dead fly in the ointment is the image of disproportionate corruption: the perfumer's ointment is expensive, carefully prepared, the product of skilled work. One dead fly ruins it entirely. The stench overwhelms the fragrance. Qohelet uses this as the measure of folly's destructive power, a small amount of folly undoes an entire reputation of wisdom.

YHWH whistles for the fly, Isaiah 7:18, "In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is at the sources of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria." YHWH summons both Egypt and Assyria as his instruments of judgment against Judah by the signal of a whistle. The fly is summoned from the farthest reach of the Nile Delta's streams, a swarm called at YHWH's command from the furthest corner of the world. The fly as a weapon in YHWH's arsenal.

Ba'al-zebub, 2 Kings 1:2–3; Matthew 12:24, Ahaziah king of Israel, injured in a fall, sends messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron (ba'al-zebub = Lord of Flies). YHWH sends Elijah to intercept: "Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?" The name is often understood as a deliberate mockery of ba'al-zebul (Exalted Lord) corrupted to ba'al-zebub (Lord of Flies), the demoted title of a Canaanite deity reduced to the god of the insect. In the New Testament, Beelzebul/Beelzebub becomes the name for the prince of demons (Matthew 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15): "But the Pharisees said, 'He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons.'" The fly-name of the Ekron deity has traveled from Canaanite religion to demonology.

The fly is the creature of plague and small but decisive corruption, who fills Egypt at YHWH's command while leaving Goshen untouched (the first protected separation), whom YHWH whistles for out of Egypt as an instrument of judgment in Isaiah 7, and whose name ba'al-zebub becomes the title of the prince of demons. The Sanctum holds it as Canon-tier: from the fourth Egyptian plague to Ecclesiastes' dead fly in the ointment to Jesus's refutation of Beelzebul in Matthew 12.