THE CRIMSON OR SCARLET WORM
Psalm 22:6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
Usually, in the Scriptures, the Hebrew word for a worm is «rimmah», which means a maggot – but the Hebrew word Yeshua used here for worm, is «TOLA’ATH», which means “Crimson worm” or “Scarlet worm”. Both scarlet and crimson are the colours of blood – deep red.
The Crimson worm (coccus ilicis) is a very special worm that looks more like a grub than a worm. When it is time for the female or mother Crimson Worm to have babies (which she does only one time in her life), she finds the trunk of a tree, a wooden fence post or a stick. She then attaches her body to that wood and makes a hard crimson shell. She is so strongly and permanently stuck to the wood that the shell can never be removed without tearing her body completely apart and killing her.
The Crimson Worm then lays her eggs under her body and the protective shell. When the baby worms (or larvae) hatch, they stay under the shell. Not only does the mother’s body give protection for her babies, but it also provides them with food – the babies feed on the LIVING body of the mother!
After just a few days, when the young worms grow to the point that they are able to take care of themselves, the mother dies. As the mother Crimson worm dies, she oozes a crimson or scarlet red dye which not only stains the wood she is attached to, but also her young children. They are coloured scarlet red for the rest of their lives.
After three days, the dead mother Crimson worm’s body loses its crimson colour and turns into a white wax which falls to the ground like snow.
