κώνωψ, Matt. xxiii, 24, a small-winged insect, comprehending a
genus of the order of _diptera_. In those hot countries, as Servius
remarks, speaking of the east, gnats and flies are very apt to fall into
wine, if it be not carefully covered; and passing the liquor through a
strainer, that no gnat or part of one might remain, became a proverb for
exactness about little matters. This may help us to understand that
passage, Matt. xxiii, 24, where the proverbial expression of carefully
straining out a little fly from the liquor to be drunk, and yet
swallowing a camel, intimates, that the scribes and Pharisees affected
to scruple little things, and yet disregarded those of the greatest
moment.
genus of the order of _diptera_. In those hot countries, as Servius
remarks, speaking of the east, gnats and flies are very apt to fall into
wine, if it be not carefully covered; and passing the liquor through a
strainer, that no gnat or part of one might remain, became a proverb for
exactness about little matters. This may help us to understand that
passage, Matt. xxiii, 24, where the proverbial expression of carefully
straining out a little fly from the liquor to be drunk, and yet
swallowing a camel, intimates, that the scribes and Pharisees affected
to scruple little things, and yet disregarded those of the greatest
moment.