Job 25:6

How much less man, that is a worm?....

How much less man, that is a worm? - Or as the Targum - “How much more man, who in his life is a reptile; and the son of man, who in his death is a worm.” Almost all the versions read, “Truly man is corruption, and the son of man a worm.” The original is degradingly expressive: “Even because אנוש enosh, miserable man, is רמה rimmah, a crawling worm; and the son of Adam, who is תולעה toleah, a worm, or rather maggot, from its eating into and dividing certain substances.” - Parkhurst.

15:16). worm . . . worm--Two distinct Hebrew words. The first, a worm bred in putridity; alluding to man's corruption. The second a crawling worm; implying that man is weak and grovelling.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

How much less man - See Job 4:19. Man is mentioned here as a worm; in Job 4:19 he is said to dwell in a house of clay and to be crushed before the moth. In both cases the design is to represent him as insignificant in comparison with God. A worm - רמה rı̂mmâh; see Job 7:5. The word is commonly applied to such worms as are bred in putridity, and hence, the comparison is the more forcible. And the son of man - Another mode of speaking of man. Any one of the children of man is the same. No one of them can be compared with God; compare the notes at Mat 1:1. Which is a worm - תולעה tôlê‛âh; compare the notes at Isa 1:18. This word frequently denotes the worm from which the scarlet or crimson color was obtained. It is, however, used to denote the worm that is bred on putrid substances, and is so used here; compare Exo 16:20; Isa 14:11; Isa 66:24. It is also applied to a worm that destroys plants. Jon 4:7; Deu 28:39. Here it means, that man is poor, feeble, powerless. In comparison with God he is a crawling worm. All that is said in this chapter is true and beautiful, but it has nothing to do with the subject in debate. Job had appealed to the course of events in proof of the truth of his position. The true way to meet that was either to deny that the facts existed as he alleged, or to show that they did not prove what be had adduced them to establish. But Bildad did neither; nor did he ingenuously confess that the argument was against him and his friends. At this stage of the controversy, since they had nothing to reply to what Job had alleged, it would have been honorable in them to have acknowledged that they were in error, and to have yielded the palm of victory to him. But it requires extraordinary candor and humility to do that; and rather than do it, most people would prefer to say something - though it has nothing to do with the case in hand.