What does תּוֹלָע (tôla‘aṯ) mean in the Bible?
תּוֹלָע (tôla‘aṯ): Worm of degradation and death, yet source of costly crimson dye—paradox of shame and royalty.
Hebrew · H8438
תּוֹלָע
A maggot (as voracious ); specifically (often with ellipsis of 8144 ) the crimson- grub , but used only (in this connection) of the color from it, and cloths dyed therewith
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תּוֹלָע H8438
Pronunciation tôla‘aṯ
What does תּוֹלָע (tôla‘aṯ) mean in the Bible?
תּוֹלָע (tôla‘aṯ): Worm of degradation and death, yet source of costly crimson dye—paradox of shame and royalty.
Full entry for תּוֹלָע (H8438) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H8438?
The BSB source-word alignment has 43 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and scarlet yarn (24), . . . (6), or scarlet yarn (2), a scarlet (1), a worm (1).
Where does תּוֹלָע (tôla‘aṯ) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 16:20. Its strongest book concentrations include Exodus (27), Leviticus (5), Isaiah (4), Numbers (2).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It and scarlet yarn 24× Exodus 25:4, Exodus 26:1, Exodus 26:31, Exodus 26:36
. . . 6× Leviticus 14:4, Leviticus 14:6, Leviticus 14:49, Leviticus 14:51
or scarlet yarn 2× Exodus 35:23, Exodus 35:25
a scarlet 1× Numbers 4:8
a worm 1× Jonah 4:7
am a worm 1× Psalms 22:6
and worms 1× Isaiah 14:11
as crimson 1× Isaiah 1:18
crimson 1× Lamentations 4:5
their worm 1× Isaiah 66:24
who is but a worm 1× Job 25:6
with maggots 1× Exodus 16:20
worms 1× Deuteronomy 28:39
you worm 1× Isaiah 41:14
Show sample aligned rows
Exodus 16:20 תּוֹלָעִ֖ים to with maggots Noun - masculine plural Exodus 25:4 וְתוֹלַ֥עַת to and scarlet yarn Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct Exodus 26:1 וְתֹלַ֣עַת to and scarlet yarn Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct Exodus 26:31 וְתוֹלַ֥עַת to and scarlet yarn Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct Exodus 26:36 וְתוֹלַ֥עַת to and scarlet yarn Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct Exodus 27:16 וְתוֹלַ֧עַת to and scarlet yarn Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct Exodus 28:5 תּוֹלַ֥עַת to and scarlet yarn Noun - feminine singular construct Exodus 28:6 תּוֹלַ֧עַת to and scarlet yarn Noun - feminine singular construct Exodus 28:8 וְתוֹלַ֥עַת to and scarlet yarn Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct Exodus 28:15 וְתוֹלַ֧עַת to and scarlet yarn Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Exodus 16:20
Aligned rows 43
Books represented 9
Exodus 27 Leviticus 5 Numbers 2 Deuteronomy 1 Job 1 Psalms 1 Isaiah 4 Lamentations 1 Jonah 1
Source forms
וְתוֹלַ֥עַת 13x wə·ṯō·w·la·‘aṯ Exodus 25:4, Exodus 26:31, Exodus 26:36, Exodus 28:8
וְתוֹלַ֣עַת 4x wə·ṯō·w·la·‘aṯ Exodus 28:33, Exodus 36:8, Exodus 39:1, Exodus 39:24
תּוֹלַ֥עַת 3x tō·w·la·‘aṯ Exodus 28:5, Exodus 35:25, Exodus 39:3
וְתוֹלַ֧עַת 2x wə·ṯō·w·la·‘aṯ Exodus 27:16, Exodus 28:15
תוֹלַ֖עַת 2x ṯō·w·la·‘aṯ Leviticus 14:4, Leviticus 14:49
תּוֹלַ֣עַת 2x tō·w·la·‘aṯ Numbers 4:8, Isaiah 41:14
בְּתוֹלַ֧עַת 1x bə·ṯō·w·la·‘aṯ Exodus 35:35
הַתּוֹלַ֖עַת 1x hat·tō·w·la·‘aṯ Leviticus 14:6
Parsing patterns
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct 20x Exodus 25:4, Exodus 26:1, Exodus 26:31, Exodus 26:36
Noun - feminine singular construct 7x Exodus 28:5, Exodus 28:6, Exodus 35:25, Exodus 39:3
Noun - feminine singular 6x Leviticus 14:4, Leviticus 14:49, Numbers 19:6, Job 25:6
Article | Noun - feminine singular 4x Leviticus 14:6, Leviticus 14:51, Leviticus 14:52, Deuteronomy 28:39
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct 1x Exodus 38:23
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine plural 1x Isaiah 66:24
Noun - masculine plural 1x Exodus 16:20
Noun - masculine singular 1x Lamentations 4:5
Evidence Summary
Presence
Hebrew word. Worm of degradation and death, yet source of costly crimson dye—paradox of shame and royalty.
Source Gloss
a maggot (as voracious ); specifically (often with ellipsis of 8144 ) the crimson- grub , but used only (in this connection) of the color from it, and cloths dyed therewith
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Worm of degradation and death, yet source of costly crimson dye—paradox of shame and royalty.
a maggot (as voracious); specifically (often with ellipsis of 8144) the crimson-grub, but used only (in this connection) of the color from it, and cloths dyed therewith BDB: worm Usage: crimson, scarlet, worm.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Old Testament Witnesses
Maggot or worm associated with decay.
Worm; maggot; often associated with decay or the crimson-dye grub; signifies something crushed and lowly
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 43 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
תּוֹלָע is built from this root:
יָלַע H3216
Why This Word Matters
The imagery intensifies the humiliation of former glory. Isaiah 14:9-11
Canonical Themes
Presence
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain