The Crimson Worm

“But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.”Psalm 22:6 · KJV

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”Isaiah 53:5 · KJV

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”Isaiah 1:18 · KJV

In the most detailed psalm of the cross, Messiah says, “But I am a worm, and no man” (Psa 22:6). The word is not the common one. It is tola'ath, the crimson grub crushed to make the scarlet dye of the ancient world, the same word behind the scarlet of the tabernacle (Exod 26:1) and the crimson of Isaiah 1:18.

David could have reached for the lion. He reached for the creature that is crushed so its crimson can cover. The tola'ath is killed to yield the dye, so when Messiah names Himself a worm He names His own death: “he was bruised for our iniquities” (Isa 53:5). And Isaiah 1:18 sets that same crimson-worm word inside the promise of cleansing: though sins be “red like crimson, they shall be as wool”; though “as scarlet,” made “white as snow.” The color no washing could lift is lifted by the blood of the One who was crushed.