ix. 5: "And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but

that they should be tormented five months, and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man." Also ver. 10 of the same chapter: "And they had tails like unto scorpions: and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months."

The venom of the Scorpion is indirectly mentioned in other passages. There is, for example, the well-known saying of our Lord, "If a son shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?" (Luke xi. 12.) And in the preceding chapter of the same Evangelist Scorpions are classed with serpents in their power of injury: "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

There is another reference to the Scorpion in the Old Testament, which requires an explanation. It forms part of the rash counsel given to Rehoboam by his friends: "My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke; my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions."

The general tenor of this passage is evident enough, namely, that he intended to be far more severe than his father had been. But his words assume a new force when we remember that there was a kind of whip called a Scorpion. This terrible instrument was made for the express purpose of punishing slaves, so that the mere mention of it was an insult. It consisted of several thongs, each of which was loaded with knobs of metal, and tipped with a metal hook, so that it resembled the jointed and hooked tail of the Scorpion. This dreadful instrument of torture could kill a man by a few blows, and it was even used in combats in the amphitheatre, a gladiator armed with a Scorpion being matched against one armed with a spear.

The prevalence of the Scorpion in Palestine and its neighbourhood may be inferred from the fact that a wady or pass between the south end of the Dead Sea and Zion was named after it. The southern boundary of Judah is said to be at Maaleh Akrabbim (Josh. xv. 3). Now the literal translation of these words is "The Ascent of Scorpions," or The Scorpion Pass.

THE SPIDER.

Signification of the word _Semamith_--Various interpretations of a Scriptural passage--Talmudical opinions respecting the creature--The 'Akkabish and its web--Spiders of Palestine.

Although the word "spider" is mentioned three times in the Authorized Version of the Bible, one of them must be excluded, namely Prov. xxx. 28: "The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces." There is much doubt whether the word _semamith_, which is here translated a "spider," does not rather allude to the Gecko, a lizard which has already been described. Moreover, the passage is rendered very differently in the Jewish Bible: "A spider thou mayest catch with the hands, and is in kings' palaces."

Buxtorf mentions some curious Talmudical opinions regarding the Semam. For example, there is a kind of proverb--"Dreaded as a Semam by a scorpion," founded on the belief that the Semam, whatever it might be, crept into the ears of the scorpion. Another proverb is, "A Semam against a scorpion," the idea being that if a Semam was crushed on the wound made by a scorpion, it would destroy the effect of the poison.

He further mentions that the word has been translated as _araneus_ or _aranea_, _i.e._ Spider, as _simia_, _i.e._ an ape, as _calamotes_, which signifies a kind of fish, or as _kalabotes_ and _askalabotes_, which is a kind of lizard. The Septuagint employs this rendering, to which Buxtorf himself leans.

The same word _'akkabish_ occurs twice, and certainly does signify some kind of Spider. The Prophet Isaiah writes of the wicked that they "weave the spider's web" (lix. 5), and there is a similar image in Job