spı̄´dẽr ((1) עכּבישׁ , ‛akkābhı̄sh ; compare Arabic ‛ankabût , English Versions of the Bible "spider"; Septuagint ἀράχνη , aráchnē ( Job 8:14; Isaiah 59:5 ); (2) שׂממית , semāmı̄th , "lizard," the King James Version "spider"; Septuagint καλαβώτης , kalabṓtēs (Proverbs 30:28 )): Semāmı̄th of Proverbs 30:28 is probably the gecko, a kind of lizard, as Septuagint and the Revised Version (British and American) have it. See LIZARD . In Job 8:14 the spider's web is an emblem of frailty: "Whose confidence shall break in sunder, and whose trust is a spider's web." Frailty or futility seems to be indicated also in Isaiah 59:5 , Isaiah 59:6 : "They hatch adders' eggs, and weave the spider's web:... Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works" "Spider's web" is in Job 8:14 bēth ‛akkābhı̄sh , "spider's house," while in Isaiah 59:5 it is ḳūrē ‛akkābhı̄sh , קוּר , ḳūr , according to BDB , being "thread" or "film."
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) was edited by James Orr, John Nuelsen, Edgar Mullins, Morris Evans, and Melvin Grove Kyle and was published complete in 1939. This web site includes the complete text.
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