December 30th, 2024

117. Gnats or Flies - Isaiah 51:6

In Isaiah 51:6, the EHV says "die like gnats," while the NIV says "die like flies,” and other translations have "die in like manner" (as EHV mentions in a footnote). Why the difference?

There are two questions here. One is “what is the meaning of the Hebrew insect name כֵ֣ן, gnats or flies?” The other is “what is the Hebrew word כֵ֣ן, insects or thus?”

Here is the text in the EHV.

Isaiah 51:6

⁶Lift up your eyes to the heavens.

Look closely at the earth beneath,

because the heavens will vanish like smoke,

and the earth will wear out like a garment,

and its inhabitants will die like gnats.^[]

But my salvation will remain forever,

and my righteousness will never be abolished.

• 51:6 Or in the same way

The Hebrew construction כְּמֹו־כֵ֣ן  kmo-ken is unusual. כְּמֹו is a long form of the preposition like, which is usually the single letter כ k .  כֵ֣ן may be the name of an insect or it may be a word that means thus, in this way.

Let us look at the insect options first. כֵ֣ן is not the usual Hebrew word for flies (which is zebub). It appears that the translations that say “die like flies” are not seeking a biologically-correct literal translation, but are expressing the comparison by means of an English idiom.

The other main use of כֵ֣ן  ken as an insect name is in the plague in Exodus 8, where it appears as a plural form. In that chapter the EHV has this note.

8:16 The identity of the insects is uncertain. Fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, and gnats are among the suggestions. The requirement is that this be an insect that appears on both people and animals. It probably must be something that is more than an annoyance, perhaps also a source of disease. Lice is retained as the traditional translation.

Since the translation was uncertain, we retained the traditional name of the plague in Exodus. Lice, however, does not seem to fit in Isaiah 51.

Whether one uses flies or gnats in Isaiah 51 the meaning for the reader is the same. Since flies live about 28 days and gnats 7-10 days, gnats is a better fit, but it does not have the proverbial familiarity of flies.

But what if כֵ֣ן ken is a word that means thus, in this way, yes? The question then is “What is the antecedent of in the same way?” Does the vanishing of heaven and earth form a good parallel to the death of many people?

The bottom line is that whatever option is chosen the point is the same.