Original Word: צִרְעָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: tsir`ah
Pronunciation: tseer-ah'
Phonetic Spelling: (tsir-aw')
KJV: hornet
NASB: hornet, hornets
Word Origin: [from H6879 (צָּרַע - leper)]

1. a wasp (as stinging)

hornet

From tsara'; a wasp (as stinging) -- hornet.

see HEBREW tsara'

Word Origin
from the same as tsaraath
Definition
hornets
NASB Translation
hornet (2), hornets (1).

צִרְעָה noun feminine collective hornets (? as wounding, prostrating; Late Hebrew = Biblical Hebrew); — allies of Israel; — ׳הַצּ Exodus 23:28; Joshua 24:12 (both E), Deuteronomy 7:20.

Definition and Conceptual Background

צִרְעָה (tzir‘ah) denotes a stinging flying insect—usually translated “hornet”—employed by God as an agent of judgment and displacement against the pagan nations inhabiting Canaan. Rather than a random act of nature, each biblical mention presents the hornet as a deliberate extension of the Lord’s covenant faithfulness to Israel.

Occurrences in Scripture

• Exodus 23:28 – “I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive out the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites from before you.”
• Deuteronomy 7:20 – “Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet against them until even the survivors hiding from you have perished.”
• Joshua 24:12 – “I sent the hornet ahead of you, and it drove out the two kings of the Amorites before you; it was not by your sword or bow.”

Historical Setting

All three texts relate to Israel’s conquest era (fifteenth–fourteenth centuries BC, depending on dating). The promise in Exodus is given at Sinai; the reiteration in Deuteronomy occurs as Israel stands on the plains of Moab; the fulfillment is celebrated by Joshua at the covenant renewal in Shechem. Thus the hornet motif brackets the entire conquest narrative—promise, process, and completion.

Instrument of Divine Warfare

1. Supernatural Strategy – The hornet underscores that victory would be God’s work, not Israel’s ingenuity (Joshua 24:12). Military means were employed, yet the decisive factor was divine intervention.
2. Psychological Terror – Whether literal insects or a metaphor for panic (or a combination), the result was dread among Israel’s enemies, echoing the “terror of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 14:14).
3. Gradual Dispossession – Exodus 23:29-30 clarifies that God would drive the nations out “little by little,” preventing ecological and infrastructural collapse. The hornet therefore served a controlled, measured judgment, safeguarding the land for Israel’s eventual occupation.

Covenantal Significance

The sending of the hornet flows from the Abrahamic promise of land (Genesis 15:18-21) and is linked to the Mosaic covenant’s stipulations: if Israel obeyed (Exodus 23:22-25), God would act. The hornet thus becomes a sign that the Lord both remembers promises and rewards obedience, reinforcing the unity and reliability of Scripture’s covenantal thread.

Typological and Christological Insights

Israel’s inability to secure the land by human strength foreshadows humanity’s inability to secure salvation by works. Just as the hornet preceded Israel, so the saving work of Christ precedes and enables the believer’s spiritual victory (John 1:13; Ephesians 2:9). Both acts display grace—unmerited divine action on behalf of God’s people.

Lessons for Contemporary Believers

• Dependence on Divine Power – Ministries should prioritize prayer and obedience, trusting God to “go before” them (Psalm 127:1).
• Assurance of God’s Faithfulness – Past divine interventions encourage confidence for present challenges (Hebrews 13:8).
• Warning Against Opposition – The hornet serves as a sober reminder that God resists idolatry and unrepentant sin, a truth reiterated in Acts 5:1-11 and Revelation 2:16.

Implications for Ministry and Mission

When engaging spiritually resistant cultures, the church can rest in God’s sovereign ability to prepare hearts, often in unseen ways. Evangelistic fruitfulness ultimately derives from divine initiative, echoing the unseen yet decisive work of the hornet in Canaan.

Summary

צִרְעָה stands as a minor but vivid emblem of God’s sovereign, covenant-keeping power—an assurance that He both precedes and empowers His people, accomplishing His redemptive purposes not by human might but by His own initiative.

הַצִּרְעָ֔ה הַצִּרְעָ֖ה הצרעה haṣ·ṣir·‘āh haṣṣir‘āh hatztzirAhInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts