| Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (n.) Any one of numerous species of pulmonate arachnids of the order Scorpiones, having a suctorial mouth, large claw-bearing palpi, and a caudal sting. 2. (n.) The pine or gray lizard (Sceloporus undulatus). 3. (n.) The scorpene. 4. (n.) A painful scourge. 5. (n.) A sign and constellation. See Scorpio. 6. (n.) An ancient military engine for hurling stones and other missiles. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia SCORPION skor'-pi-un (aqrabh; compare Arabic aqrab, "scorpion"; ma`aleh `aqrabbim, "the ascent of Akrabbim"; skorpios. Note that the Greek and Hebrew may be akin; compare, omitting the vowels, `krb and skrp): In Deuteronomy 8:15, we have, "who led thee through the great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents (nachash saraph) and scorpions (`aqrabh)." Rehoboam (1 Kings 12:11, 14 2 Chronicles 10:11, 14) says, "My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." Ezekiel is told to prophesy to the children of Israel (2:6), and "Be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions." "The ascent of Akrabbim," the north end of Wadi-ul-`Arabah, South of the Dead Sea, is mentioned as a boundary 3 times (Numbers 34:4 Joshua 15:3 Judges 1:36). Jesus says to the Seventy (Luke 10:19), "Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions," and again in Luke 11:12 He says, "Or if he shall ask an egg, will he give him a scorpion?"
Note that we have here three doublets, the loaf and the stone, the fish and the serpent, and the egg and the scorpion, whereas in the passage in Matthew (7:9) we have only the loaf and stone and the fish and serpent. Encyclopedia Biblica (s.v. "Scorpion") ingeniously seeks to bring Luke into nearer agreement with Matthew by omitting from Luke the second doublet, i.e. the fish and the serpent, instancing several texts as authority for the omission, and reading opson, "fish," for oon, "egg."
In Revelation 9:2-10 there come out of the smoke of the abyss winged creatures ("locusts," akrides) like war-horses with crowns of gold, with the faces of men, hair of women, teeth of lions, breastplates of iron, and with stinging tails like scorpions. In Ecclesiasticus 26:7 it is said of an evil wife, "He that taketh hold of her is as one that graspeth a scorpion." In 1 Maccabees 6:51 we find mention of "pieces" skorpidia, diminutive of skorpios "to cast darts." In Plutarch skorpios is used in the same sense (Liddell and Scott, under the word skorpios).
In the passage cited from Deuteronomy, and probably also in the name "ascent of Akrabbim," we find references to the abundance of scorpions, especially in the warmer parts of the country. Though there is a Greek proverb, "Look for a scorpion under every stone," few would agree with the categorical statement of Tristram (NHB) that "every third stone is sure to conceal one." Nevertheless, campers and people sleeping on the ground need to exercise care in order to avoid their stings, which, though often exceedingly painful for several hours, are seldom fatal.
Scorpions are not properly insects, but belong with spiders, mites and ticks to the Arachnidae. The scorpions of Palestine are usually 2 or 3 inches long. The short cephalothorax bears a powerful pair of jaws, two long limbs terminating with pincers, which make the creature look like a small crayfish or lobster, and four pairs of legs. The rest of the body consists of the abdomen, a broad part continuous with the cephalothorax, and a slender part forming the long tail which terminates with the sting. The tail is usually carried curved over the back and is used for stinging; the prey into insensibility. Scorpions feed mostly on insects for which they lie in wait. The scorpion family is remarkable for having existed with very little change from the Silurian age to the present time.
It does not seem necessary to consider that the words of Rehoboam (1 Kings 12:11, etc.) refer to a whip that was called a scorpion, but rather that as the sting of a scorpion is worse than the lash of a whip, so his treatment would be harsher than his father's.
Alfred Ely Day |  | Multi-Version Concordance Scorpion (6 Occurrences) Luke 11:12 Or if he asks for an egg, he won't give him a scorpion, will he? (WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Revelation 9:5 They were given power not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a person. (WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Numbers 34:4 and your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass along to Zin; and the goings out of it shall be southward of Kadesh Barnea; and it shall go forth to Hazar Addar, and pass along to Azmon; (See NIV) Deuteronomy 8:15 who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who brought you forth water out of the rock of flint; (Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV) Joshua 15:3 and it went out southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and passed along to Zin, and went up by the south of Kadesh Barnea, and passed along by Hezron, went up to Addar, and turned about to Karka; (See NIV) Judges 1:36 The border of the Amorites was from the ascent of Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward. (See NIV) |
