Lice

From BibleEncyclopedia.Net

līs (כּנּים, kinnīm (Exodus 8:17, Exodus 8:18; Psalm 105:31), כּנּם, kinnim (Exodus 8:16), כּנּם, kinnām (Exodus 8:17, Exodus 8:18); Septuagint σκνῖφες, skníphes (Exodus 8:16, Exodus 8:18), τὸν σκνίφα, tón sknípha, once in Exodus 8:18; σκνῖπες, sknípes (Psalms 105:31); Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) scniphes; according to Liddell and Scott, under the word σκνίψ, sknips, Slav. sknipa = culex):

The creatures employed in the third plague sent upon Egypt (Exodus 8:16-18). They were miraculously produced from the dust of the land. “The entomologists Kirby and Spence place these minute but disgusting insects in the very front rank of those which inflict injury upon man. A terrible list of examples they have collected of the ravages of this and closely allied parasitic pests.” The plague of lice is referred to in Psalm 105:31.

Some have supposed that the word denotes not lice properly, but gnats. Others, with greater probability, take it to mean the “tick” which is much larger than lice.

The references, both in Exodus and in Psalms, are all to the plague of “lice.” the Revised Version margin suggests “fleas” or “sandflies.” The Septuagint rendering would favor “sandflies” or “mosquitoes,” between which two insects the Old Testament writers would hardly be expected to discriminate. Mosquitoes belong to the order of Diptera, family Culicidae; the sandfly (Plebotomus papataci) to the family of Simuliidae of the same order. The sandflies are much smaller than mosquitoes, and are nearly noiseless, but give a sharp sting which may leave an unpleasant irritation. They are abundant in the Levant. In Southern Europe they cause the “three-day fever” or “papataci.” As stated under Gnat (which see), there is little ground other than the authority of the Septuagint for deciding between “lice,” “fleas,” “sand-flies,” or “mosquitoes” as translations of kinnīm. See also under Gnat the note on kēn, the Revised Version margin “gnat” (Isaiah 51:6).