This is sometimes figuratively used. The Lord Jesus calls himself a worm and no man, (Psalms 22:6) to intimate the unparalleled humility of his person. Hence, JEHOVAH speaking to Christ,under the character of Jacob, saith, Fear not, thou worm Jacob! (Isaiah 41:14) Sometimes the word is also used by way of figure, to represent the torments of the damned. "Their worm, (said Jesus,) dieth not, and the fire is not quenched," Mark 9:44-48. Some of the old writers have contended, however, that this worm, here spoken of by Christ, is not in figure, but in reality. Of this opinion was Austin.