Psalm 106:13

Psalm 22:6  

I am a worm

     The meaning of this verse is so amazing that it’s only right to explain, in depth, what the Psalm is saying here. And I confess to copying a fair bit of this! The Hebrew word for a worm is “rimmah,” which is defined as a maggot or a worm.  However, in this verse the word for “worm” is towla’ or tola’ath.  Strong’s Dictionary defines this word as: a maggot;  the crimson-grub, but used only of the colour from it, and cloths dyed therewith:–crimson, scarlet, worm.

So the word “tola’ath” used in verse 6 denotes not only a worm but also a crimson or scarlet worm that is common to the Middle East, predominantly in Israel.  It should be noted that crimson and scarlet are the colours of blood – a very deep, blackish red. And, in this crimson worm, we find a hidden meaning, of biblical significance. The Crimson Worm looks more like a grub than a worm. When the female crimson worm is ready to lay her eggs (which happens only once in her life), she climbs up a tree or fence and attaches herself to it.  With her body attached to the wood, a hard, crimson shell forms — a shell so hard and so secured to the wood that it can only be removed by tearing apart the body which would kill the worm.  

The female worm lays her eggs under her body, under the protective shell. The larvae hatch and they remain under the mother’s protective shell. The baby worms feed on the living body of the mother worm for three days. The mother worm then dies and her body excretes a crimson or scarlet dye that stains the wood to which she is attached and to her baby worms. The baby worms remain crimson coloured for their entire life.

On day four, the tail of the mother worm pulls up into her head, forming a heart-shaped body that is no longer crimson but has turned into a snow-white wax, looking like a patch of wool on the tree or fence. It then begins to flake off and drop to the ground looking like snow (sounds like manna).  

Isa 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet [shaniy – root word of tola’ath], they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson [tola’ath], they shall be as wool.

In biblical times, the red dye excreted from the Crimson Worm (Ps 22:6, Isa 1:18, Isa 66:24) was used in the High Priest’s robe and probably for Ram’s skins dyed red in the covering of the Tabernacle in the wilderness.  Uses of this red dye continue today:

·      The worm’s body and shell, while still red and attached to the tree, are scraped off and used to make what is called “Royal Red Dye.”

·      The waxy material is used to make high-quality shellac that is used in the Middle East as a wood preserver. 

·      The remains of the Crimson Worm are also used in medicine that helps in regulating the human heart.

What does Psalm 22:6 mean: “I am a Worm”? Was Jesus a “Crimson Worm” on the cross?  In typology, yes. 

·      Just as the mother worm attaches herself to the tree or fence, Jesus put himself on a wooden cross, a type of “tree,” and He willingly allowed the nails to be driven into His hands. However, it wasn’t the nails that held Him on the cross. It was His desire to fulfil the purpose and plan of God the Father to redeem man from sin.

·      Just as the mother worm attaching itself to a tree is the design of God in the creation of its lifecycle, so also it was God’s plan from before the foundations of the world to send His Son to die on a tree/wooden cross.

·      Just as the mother worm, when crushed, excretes a crimson/scarlet dye that covers the baby worms and stains, or marks, them, Jesus was bruised/crushed for our iniquities. His scourging and death brought forth His crimson/scarlet blood that both washes away our sins and marks us as His own.

·      Just as the baby worm is dependent on the mother worm for the crimson dye to give it life and to mark it, a repentant sinner must depend on the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, to receive new life, and be marked as His own.

“He became poor.”  In typology, Jesus became a worm, a lowly worm.  He was crushed for our sakes and He poured out His red blood—the blood that washes us clean.  The blood that gives us life.