Exodus 8:16

“And the Lord said unto Moses, etc.] On the twenty seventh day of the month, according to Bishop Usher, the same day the flogs were removed; no warning is given him of the next plague, at least there is no account of any: say unto Aaron, stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land; in some one part of the land, that place nearest to him where there was a quantity of dust; for it cannot be imagined that he should smite all the dust of the land in every part of it, but smiting one part served for the whole: that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt: not gnats, as some, nor flies, as others, but lice, though perhaps not of the common and ordinary sort, but new and…”

“PLAGUE OF LICE. (Exo 8:16-19) smite the dust of the land, &c.--Aaron's rod, by the direction of Moses, who was commanded by God, was again raised, and the land was filled with gnats, mosquitoes--that is the proper meaning of the original term. In ordinary circumstances they embitter life in Eastern countries, and therefore the terrible nature of this infliction on Egypt may be imagined when no precautions could preserve from their painful sting. The very smallness and insignificance of these fierce insects made them a dreadful scourge. The magicians never attempted any imitation, and what neither the blood of the river nor the nuisance of the frogs had done, the visitation of this tiny enemy…”

“It is observed by Hebrew commentators that the nine plagues are divided into three groups: distinct warnings are given of the first two plagues in each group; the third in each is inflicted without any previous notice; namely, the third, lice, the sixth, boils, the ninth, darkness. The dust of the land - The two preceding plagues fell upon the Nile. This fell on the earth, which was worshipped in Egypt as the father of the gods. An special sacredness was attached to the black fertile soil of the basin of the Nile, called Chemi, from which the ancient name of Egypt is supposed to be derived. Lice - The Hebrew word occurs only in connection with this plague. These insects are generally…”

“8:16-19 The third plague was the plague of gnats. The word translated “gnats” is very general. Technical Old Testament dictionaries often translate it as “vermin.” The English term “bugs” would come close. The whole land was infested with insects of one sort or another.”

“Stretch: Exo 8:5, Exo 8:17 lice: The word kinnim is rendered by the LXX σκιφες, σκιπες, or σκνηφες, and by the Vulgate sciniphes, Gnats; and Mr. Harmer supposes he has found out the true meaning in the word tarrentes, a species of worm. Bochart, however, seems to have proved that lice, and not gnats, are meant; because: 1\. They sprang from the dust, and not from the waters; 2\. They were on both man and beast, which cannot be said of gnats; 3\. Their name is derived from koon, to make firm, fix, establish, which cannot agree with gnats, flies, etc., which are ever changing place, and almost constantly on the wing; 4\. The term kinnah is used by the Talmudists to express the louse. This…”

“The Gnats, or the third plague. - The כּנּם, or כּנּים (also כּנּם, probably an old singular form, Ewald, 163f), were not "lice," but σκνῖφες, sciniphes, a species of gnats, so small as to be hardly visible to the eye, but with a sting which, according to Philo and Origen, causes a most painful irritation of the skin. They even creep into the eyes and nose, and after the harvest they rise in great swarms from the inundated rice-fields. This plague was caused by the fact that Aaron smote the dust of the ground with his staff, and all the dust throughout the land of Egypt turned into gnats, which were upon man and beast ( Exo 8:17). "Just as the fertilizing water of Egypt had twice become a…”