nature
worm
At a glance
In short
Hebrew has two words for the worms of the grave, rimah and toleah, which always stand in that order (Avos 3:1 and the Gemara; Yeshayahu 14:11; Iyov 25:6). Rabbi Shaul Goldman explains that rimah is maggots or larvae, and more broadly decay from within, while toleah (commonly tola'as) is the worm that eats, destruction from without. Rabbi Klein reads the fixed order as chronological, and the Netziv and the Vilna Gaon make rimah the first, smaller stage of infestation and toleah the later, larger worm. In a similar vein, Rabbi Moshe Tedeschi-Ashkenazi makes rimah a cluster of larvae still in the egg and toleah one grown worm. Others draw the line elsewhere. Rabbi Tedeschi-Ashkenazi's alternative puts rimah in fruit and cheese and toleah in the innards and the ground. For Rav Hirsch, rimah form, or seem to form, from within, while toleah come from outside. For Malbim, rimah have not yet moved from where they were generated, while toleah can already move about; elsewhere he makes rimah worms of rot and toleah worms as such. For Midrash Sechel Tov, rimah do not eat, while toleah eat as if they had teeth.
Distinctions
Rimah (רימה)
Seven occurrences in Tanach, five of them in Iyov (7:5, 17:14, 21:26, 24:20, 25:6), plus Shemos 16:24, where the manna kept for Shabbos had no rimah, and Yeshayahu 14:11; a few pesukim earlier the leftover manna vayarum, "became infested," and bred tola'im (Shemos 16:20). The pair rimah v'toleah recurs in the Gemara (Berachos 24b; Nedarim 9b; Bava Basra 17a, on the seven whose bodies were not given to rimah and toleah; Bava Metzia 83b) and the Midrash (Shemos Rabbah 20, Vayikra Rabbah 18, Devarim Rabbah 11, Koheles Rabbah 5 and 12), though curiously never in the Yerushalmi. Ibn Janach, Radak (each in Sefer HaShorashim) and Rabbi Shlomo Ibn Parchon (Machberes HeAruch) trace it to ר-מ-ם; Menachem Ibn Saruk (Machberes Menachem) to the biliteral ר-ם. Either way the root family (with ר-ו-ם) covers lifting, exalting, separating, removing, producing, and throwing.
On which of those senses yields "maggot," the authorities split.
- Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim (Yerios Shlomo, Cheshek Shlomo), expanding on Menachem: from "throwing" upward in an arc, because these creatures have no legs to jump with and instead gather themselves to fling their bodies in an arc onto the spot they aim at; he further suggests that perhaps rimon, the pomegranate, is named from rimah, that fruit being so prone to infestation.
- Rav Hirsch (to Shemos 16:20): from "lifting," since food lying on the ground looks lifeless, and once worms move over it the thing seems raised into animation; he stresses that he is describing what the eye sees, with no bearing on whether such worms arise by spontaneous generation or from eggs, a controversy of his time.
- Rabbi Klein suggests that swarming worms "ascend" upon the rotting item, an explanation somewhat implied by Malbim in Sefer HaCarmel.
- Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh of Carpentras (Aholei Yehudah) offers two: in line with the science of his times, worms are generated from excess fat when rotting food grows hot and putrid, so ר-מ-ם is somehow related to ח-מ-ם, heat (he does not explain the reish and ches interchange); or the creature is so slight that its body barely lifts off the ground.
- Rabbi David Chaim Chelouche (Michtam L'David Luach HaShorashim to Tehillim 24:4; Ohr Chadash Luach HaShorashim to Shemos 16:20): a root can carry a thing and its exact opposite, so ר-ם gives the exalted ram and the lowest of the low, rimah, with mirmah and ramai in between, seeming exalted and being the reverse.
- Rabbi Moshe Tedeschi-Ashkenazi suggests relating rimah to ר-ב, through the interchange of mem and beis, for the proliferation of larvae at the onset of infestation.
Toleah (תולעה), tola (תולע), tola'as (תולעת)
Toleah twice (Yeshayahu 14:11, Iyov 25:6), tola twice (Eichah 4:5, Yeshayahu 1:18), tola'as close to forty times.
- On tola'as Yaakov (Yeshayahu 41:14), Radak explains the comparison by Klal Yisrael's weakened state in exile, while Tanchuma (Beshalach 9) says that as a worm fells a cedar with its mouth, so Klal Yisrael fells nations with its mouth, through tefillah.
- Ibn Saruk, Ibn Janach, Radak and Ibn Parchon all take the root as ת-ל-ע, which also yields mesalos, "teeth" (Iyov 29:17; Yoel 1:6; Mishlei 30:14). The link to teeth, Rabbi Klein notes, is not insignificant, since the Midrash makes the worm's mouth its outstanding feature, and Midrash Sechel Tov (to Shemos 16:24) states the difference that way: rimah do not eat or drink, while toleah eat as though they had teeth.
- Rabbi Pappenheim treats the tav as extraneous and the core root as ל-ע, "the organ of swallowing": loa, "throat," occurs once (Mishlei 23:2), teeth belong to the same apparatus, and bala, "swallow," he parses as ב-א ("enter") plus ל-ע. The worm, he argues, earns the name because it bolts its food as though swallowing without chewing.
- Rav Hirsch also ties toleah to loa, the worm being defined by its eating.
- Rabbi Tedeschi-Ashkenazi suggests tying it to loa by the long tubular shape.
Tola, the name
Tola is also a name, borne by a son of Yissachar (Bereishis 46:13; Bamidbar 26:23; Divrei HaYamim I 7:1-2) and a later judge of that tribe (Shoftim 10:1).
- Midrash Sechel Tov (to Bereishis 46:13) ties it to Yissachar's Torah study (Divrei HaYamim I 12:33): its bearer would bask in Torah like a worm consuming it, much as English speaks of a bookworm.
- Yalkut Midrashei Teiman (to Bamidbar 26:23): as a worm penetrates a fruit, the family of Tola went deep into the halachah.
- Alfred Jones (The Proper Names of the Old Testament Scriptures Expounded and Illustrated, London, 1856, p. 360) conjectures the child was so named for his poor, weak and scarlet appearance at birth, after tola'as shani.
The difference, stated
- Rabbi Shaul Goldman: rimah is specifically larvae and maggots, not actual worms, and in the broader sense always refers to internal decay; toleah is the worm as a creature that eats, an external force of destruction. Rabbi Klein suggests that several of the sources below may be adduced in support.
- Word order: wherever the two stand together, rimah comes first (Yeshayahu 14:11; Iyov 25:6), as in the rabbinic phrase, which Rabbi Klein takes to imply that rimah precedes toleah in time.
- Netziv (Birkas HaNetziv to Mechilta on Shemos 16:20; Ha'Emek She'eilah 56:3): rimah are the small ones that appear before the thing has properly rotted, toleah the long crawling ones that come after it has spoiled. Hence Shemos 16:20 uses the verb vayarum first and the noun tola'im after.
- Vilna Gaon, cited by Rabbi Binyamin Rivlin (Giviyay Giviya HaKesef to Shemos 16:20): infestation usually begins small (rimah) and grows large (toleah); so Shemos 16:24 says there was no rimah in the manna, meaning it did not reach even the first stage, and all the more so not the second. Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer (Beiurei Shemos Nirdafim) finds support in Rashbam to Shemos 16:20.
- Rabbi Moshe Tedeschi-Ashkenazi (Otzar Nirdafim 482): rimah is larvae still in the egg, and though it looks singular it names a cluster; toleah is one fully formed worm living on its own. Alternatively, rimah infests fruit and cheese, toleah is found in the innards or in the ground. Rabbi Wertheimer infers from Avos 2:7 that rimah specially infests fatty flesh. Rabbi Klein later found that Rabbi Tedeschi-Ashkenazi is probably drawing on Rabbi Eliyahu Bachur's glosses to Radak's Sefer HaShorashim: rimah for maggots in flesh and cheese, toleah for worms.
- Rav Hirsch (to Shemos 16:20): rimah form from within the rotting thing, or at least appear to; toleah plainly come from outside to consume it.
- Malbim (to Yeshayahu 14:11): rimah have not yet left the place where they were generated, toleah can already move about. Elsewhere (Yair Ohr, on adam versus enosh) he has rimah as worms infesting something rotting and toleah as worms as such.
Also discussed in
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
ר-מ-ם
To be high and to rise; and where the verb takes an object, to exalt and magnify. Also רִמָּה, the worm, and a verb from it, to breed worms.
High, and risen
רֹאשׁ כּֽוֹכָבִים כִּי־ רָֽמּוּ (Iyov 22:12), the head of the stars, that they are high; וַיָּרָם כְּבֽוֹד, the glory of Hashem rose from off the keruv (Yechezkel 10:4); וַיֵּרֹמּוּ הַכְּרוּבִים (Yechezkel 10:15), the keruvim were lifted; הֵרֹמּוּ מִתּוֹךְ הָֽעֵדָה הַזֹּאת (Bamidbar 17:10), be lifted up from among this congregation. רוֹמּוּ מְעַט וְֽאֵינֶנּוּ (Iyov 24:24) he reads of the wicked: they grew proud and rose a little, and are gone, for in a moment they perish.
Exalting Him
וְרוֹמַם תַּחַת לְשׁוֹנִֽי (Tehillim 66:17), meaning what is under my tongue exalts and magnifies Him, a hint at the heart. יַחַד לֹא יְרוֹמֵֽם (Hoshea 11:7): together not one of them exalts HaKadosh Baruch Hu or magnifies Him, though the prophets rebuke them and call them to return to the Most High and exalt Him in their prayer; so the prophets' rebukes avail nothing.
The three words take an object
עַל־כֵּן לֹא תְרוֹמֵֽם (Iyov 17:4) he joins to the pasuk beside it, as a prayer to Hashem: do not exalt one who tells his fellows smooth things and will not rebuke him truly for his transgressions, for even those among Iyov's fellows who know the truth is with him speak smooth words with their fellows to condemn him unjustly. These three words, he says, take an object, and are not intransitive as Rabbi Yonah holds; and Radak allows that all three may instead belong to the roots weak in the middle letter.
The worm
וְרִמָּה תְּכַסֶּה עֲלֵיהֶֽם (Iyov 21:26), the worm covers them; תַּחְתֶּיךָ יֻצַּע רִמָּה (Yeshayahu 14:11), the worm is spread beneath you; מְתָקוֹ רִמָּה (Iyov 24:20), the worm finds him sweet. Of these he says only that the sense is known.
Breeding worms
A verb from it: וַיָּרֻם תּֽוֹלָעִים וַיִּבְאַשׁ (Shemos 16:20), it bred worms and stank, pointed with a shuruk to hold it apart from וַיָּרָם כְּבֽוֹד, the rising of the glory of Hashem (Yechezkel 10:4).
וּרְאֵה רֹאשׁ כּֽוֹכָבִים כִּי־רָֽמּוּ (איוב כב, יב). ולגזרת פעול רוֹמּוּ מְעַט וְֽאֵינֶנּוּ (איוב כד, כד), וַיָּרָם כְּבֽוֹד־י"י מֵעַל הַכְּרוּב (יחזקאל י, ד). והנפעל וַיֵּרֹמּוּ הַכְּרוּבִים (יחזקאל י, טו), הֵרֹמּוּ מִתּוֹךְ הָֽעֵדָה הַזֹּאת (במדבר יז, י), עַתָּה אֵֽרוֹמָם (ישעיה לג, י). או הם ממין התפעל כמו שכתבנו בחלק הדקדוק. ובנין פועל הכבד [פִּעֵל] וְרוֹמַם תַּחַת לְשׁוֹנִֽי (תהלים סו, יז), פירוש מה שתחת לשוני רומם וגדל אותו. והוא רמז ללב. וכן יַחַד לֹא יְרוֹמֵֽם (הושע יא, ו), פירוש לא ירומם הקדוש ברוך הוא לא יגדלהו, כי הנביאים מוכיחים וקוראים אותם שישובו אל אל עליון וגדלוהו וירוממוהו בתפלתם וכולם יחד אין אחד מהם שירומם אותו, והנה לא תועיל תוכחות הנביאים. וכן עַל־כֵּן לֹא תְרוֹמֵֽם (איוב יז, ד), דבק עם הפסוק הסמוך לו לחלק יגיד רעים, והוא תפלה למקום ברוך הוא, ופירוש לֹא תְרוֹמֵֽם למי שיגיד לרעיו חלקלקות ולא יוכיחנו על פשעיו באמת, כי אף על פי שיש ברעי אלה שיכירו כי אתי האמת ידברו חלקלקות עם רעיהם להרשיעני שלא כדין. הנה פירשרתי לך שלש המלות האלה יוצאות, ואינן עומדות כדעת רבי יונה. ויתכן היות לא ירומם, עַל־כֵּן לֹא תְרוֹמֵֽם, מנחי העי"ן. ויתכן וְרוֹמַם תַּחַת לְשׁוֹנִֽי מבנין פועל מנחי העי"ן. ופירוש רוֹמּוּ מְעַט נתגאו וגבהו מעט הרשעים ואינם כי רגע יאבדו. וְרִמָּה תְּכַסֶּה עֲלֵיהֶֽם (איוב כא, כו), תַּחְתֶּיךָ יֻצַּע רִמָּה (ישעיה יד, יא), מְתָקוֹ רִמָּה (איוב כד, כ), ידוע. והתפעל ממנו וַיָּרֻם תּֽוֹלָעִים וַיִּבְאַשׁ (שמות טז, כ), בשרק להבדיל בינו ובין וַיָּרָם כְּבֽוֹד י"י (יחזקאל י, ד).
ת-ל-ע
A worm, and Israel likened to one in exile; crimson, named for the worm, or else תולע itself means colour; another sense, the thick teeth, with letters transposed.
The worm
כִּי תֹֽאכְלֶנּוּ הַתֹּלָֽעַת (Devarim 28:39), for the worm will eat it, and וַיָּרֻם תּֽוֹלָעִים (Shemos 16:20), it bred worms. By way of figure, אַל־תִּֽירְאִי תּוֹלַעַת יַֽעֲקֹב (Yeshayahu 41:14), fear not, worm of Yaakov, because they are weak in exile like a worm; and the Midrash Yelamdenu says that as the worm's whole strength is only in its mouth, so Israel's whole strength is in prayer.
The crimson
אִם־יַאְדִּימוּ כַתּוֹלָע (Yeshayahu 1:18), though they be red as crimson, and וְתוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי (Shemos 25:4), and crimson. Radak has already explained that the שני is the כרמ"ז, the kermes, and it is called by the word for a worm because of how much of the worm is in it. Or תולע may mean colour, so that תולעת שני says a red colour, and שְׁנִי הַתּוֹלַעַת (Vayikra 14:6) says red of colour, that is, the fine colour, which is the kermes.
Clothed in it
Because the colour is well known and finer than the rest, the word תולע is used without שני, and it is as though שני were said: האמונים עֲלֵי תוֹלָע (Eichah 4:5), those brought up on crimson. From it, אַנְשֵׁי־חַיִל מְתֻלָּעִים (Nachum 2:4), men of valour clothed in crimson, that is, dressed in garments of שני.
The thick teeth
Another sense: וָֽאֲשַׁבְּרָה מְתַלְּעוֹת עַוָּל (Iyov 29:17), I broke the thick teeth of the wrongdoer. The word is מַלְתְּעוֹת with its letters transposed, as in מַלְתְּעוֹת כְּפִירִים (Tehillim 58:7), the teeth of young lions, and they are the thick teeth.
וּבֶן־אָדָם תּֽוֹלֵעָֽה (איוב כה, ו), וּמְכַסֶּיךָ תּֽוֹלֵעָֽה (ישעיה יד, יא), כִּי תֹֽאכְלֶנּוּ הַתֹּלָֽעַת (דברים כח, לט), וַיָּרֻם תּֽוֹלָעִים (שמות טז, כ). ועל דרך משל אַל־תִּֽירְאִי תּוֹלַעַת יַֽעֲקֹב (ישעיה מא, יד), לפי שהם חלשים בגלות כתולעת. ובמדרש (ילמדנו פרשת ופרעה הקריב דף לב, ע"א) מה תולעת זו כל כחה אינו אלא בפיה כך ישראל כל כחם בתפלה. אִם־יַאְדִּימוּ כַתּוֹלָע (ישעיה א, יח), עֲלֵי תוֹלָע (איכה ד, ה), וְתוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי (שמות כה, ד), כבר פירשנו כי השני הוא הכרמ"ז ונקרא בלשון תולעת מפני רוב התולעת בשני. או יהיה פירוש תולע עין ובאמרו תולעת שני כאמרו עין אדום, ובאמרו שְׁנִי הַתּוֹלַעַת (ויקרא יד, ו), כאמרו אדום העין כלומר העין היפה והוא הכרמ"ז. ומפני שהוא ידוע ומשובח משאר הצבעים אמר תולעת מבלי זכר שני וכאילו זוכרו האמונים עֲלֵי תוֹלָע, אם יאדימו כתולע. וממנו [פֻּעַל] אַנְשֵׁי־חַיִל מְתֻלָּעִים (נחום ב, ד), כלומר לבושים בגדי שני. וענין אחר וּֽמְתַלְּעוֹת לָבִיא לֽוֹ (יואיל א, ו), וָֽאֲשַׁבְּרָה מְתַלְּעוֹת עַוָּל (איוב כט, יז), והוא הפוך מן מַלְתְּעוֹת כְּפִירִים (תהלים נח, ז), והם השנים הגסות.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Matos-Masei: The Wormy Place," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 26 July 2025.
Cited in the essay: Avos 2:7, 3:1; Berachos 24b; Nedarim 9b; Bava Basra 17a; Bava Metzia 83b; Shemos Rabbah 20; Vayikra Rabbah 18; Devarim Rabbah 11; Koheles Rabbah 5 and 12; Mechilta to Shemos 16:20 with Birkas HaNetziv; Ha'Emek She'eilah 56:3; Midrash Sechel Tov to Bereishis 46:13 and Shemos 16:24; Tanchuma Beshalach 9; Yalkut Midrashei Teiman to Bamidbar 26:23; Bereishis 46:13; Shemos 16:20 with Rav Hirsch and Rashbam; Shemos 16:24; Bamidbar 26:23; Shoftim 10:1; Yeshayahu 1:18; Yeshayahu 14:11 with Malbim; Yeshayahu 41:14 with Radak; Yoel 1:6; Mishlei 23:2, 30:14; Iyov 7:5, 17:14, 21:26, 24:20, 25:6, 29:17; Eichah 4:5; Divrei HaYamim I 7:1-2, 12:33; Ibn Janach and Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, with Rabbi Eliyahu Bachur's glosses; Rabbi Shlomo Ibn Parchon, Machberes HeAruch; Machberes Menachem; Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim, Yerios Shlomo and Cheshek Shlomo; Malbim, Sefer HaCarmel and Yair Ohr; Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh of Carpentras, Aholei Yehudah; Rabbi David Chaim Chelouche, Michtam L'David Luach HaShorashim to Tehillim 24:4 and Ohr Chadash Luach HaShorashim to Shemos 16:20; Rabbi Binyamin Rivlin, Giviyay Giviya HaKesef; Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer, Beiurei Shemos Nirdafim; Rabbi Moshe Tedeschi-Ashkenazi, Otzar Nirdafim 482; Rabbi Shaul Goldman; Alfred Jones, The Proper Names of the Old Testament Scriptures Expounded and Illustrated (London, 1856), p. 360.