Flea occurs only; , where David thus addresses his persecutor Saul at the cave of Adullam: 'After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue?—after a flea;' 'The king of Israel is come out to seek a flea!' In both these passages the Hebrew means to pursue after, to seek one or a single flea. David's allusion to the flea displays great address. It is an appeal founded upon the immense disparity between Saul as the king of Israel, and himself as the poor contemptible object of the monarch's laborious pursuit. Hunting a flea is a comparison, in other ancient writings, for much labor expended to secure a worthless result.
Although this insect has been used as a popular emblem for insignificance, yet, when considered by itself, it has high claims upon the attention of the naturalist. Even to the naked eye there is something pleasing in its appearance, and elegant in its postures; but it is indebted to the microscope for our acquaintance with the flexible, highly polished, and ever clean suit of armor in which it is encased cap-a-pie, its finely-arched neck, large beautiful eye, antennae, muscular jointed legs, its piercer and sucker—forming one most complicated instrument—the two long, hooked, sharp claws, in which its legs severally terminate. The agility of the flea places it at the head of all the leaping insects, when its strength is considered in relation to its size, it being able to leap, unaided by wings, 200 times its own length. Owing to the habits of the lower orders, fleas abound so profusely in Syria, especially during the spring, in the streets and dusty bazaars, that persons of condition always change their long dresses upon returning home. There is a popular saying in Palestine that 'the king of the fleas keeps his court at Tiberias;' though many other places in that region might dispute the distinction with that town (Kitto's Physical History of Palestine, p. 421).
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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