Insects and Divine Intervention

Abstract

“Devils in the forms of gnats and tiny insects were thought to be especially dangerous, since one might swallow them unawares and thus become diabolically possessed.” - E.P. Evans, 1906 The intervention of gods with insects in human affairs essentially falls into two categories. First, gods punish people with insects for bad behavior. Second, gods are prayed to by people to reduce insect problems. Some examples are better known to entomologists, such as insect plagues in the Bible. Other lesser-known examples are scattered throughout entomological literature. Moreover, many other examples that have not been brought to the attention of entomologists are found in mythology and anthropological literature. The following examples show the numerous ways that various gods have intervened in the affairs of humans with insects. The best known examples of a god punishing people with insects are found in the Bible in the form of plagues sent to punish early Egyptians. This topic was reported very early in entomological publications by Dow (1917 and 1918). It has been a popular topic since then, reported in numerous entomological works. Recent discussions of this topic may be found in Kritsky and Cherry (2000) and Carde and Resh (2012). Essentially, the story is as follows: the god Jehovah forced the Egyptians to release the Israelites from slavery by subjecting the Egyptians to …