These two Hebrew words appear to be interchangeable (Job 25:6; Isaiah 14:11). Tola'im in some places denotes the caterpillar (Deuteronomy 28:39; Jonah 4:7), and rimmah, the larvae, as bred from putridity (Job 17:14; 21:26; 24:20). In Micah 7:17, where it is said, "They shall move out of their holes like worms," perhaps serpents or "creeping things," or as in the Revised Version, "crawling things," are meant.
The word is used figuratively in Job 25:6; Psalm 22:6; Isaiah 41:14; Mark 9:44,46,48; Isaiah 66:24.