And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the LORD shall hiss for the fly that [is] in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that [is] in the land of Assyria.
Ver. 18. The Lord will hiss for the fly, &c.] Out of Egypt and the confines. The people of which parts are fitly called flies, say expositors, for their numerosity, swiftness, stench, impudence, harsh language, ob vocis absonae stridorem. The country being hot, and lying low, aboundeth with flies aad gnats, such as proud Pharaoh was vexed with.
And for the bee that is in Assyria.] That country is full of woods, and so of bees, to which also the Assyrians are fitly compared, as for their numerousness, their military skill and comely marshalling of their forces; their golden armour, their industry and constance in battle; so for their force and fury especially. Virgil, speaking of bees, saith -
“ Illis ira modum superat, laesaeque venenum
Inspirant stimulis, et vitam in vulnere linquunt. ”
See the Babylonical fierceness and cruelty graphically described. Jer 51:34 It was so much the greater, because sent for and set on they were by God's hiss or whistle.