GNATS — or lice, or mosquitoes; the word is genuinely uncertain (KJV 'lice,' most modern versions 'gnats'). The third plague comes with no warning and no demand, straight out of the dust of the earth, and it is the one the magicians of Egypt CANNOT reproduce: 'this is the finger of God' (8:15). Whatever the insect, its importance is that it ends the contest of skill — from here Egypt's experts are spectators. → first discussed at Exod 8:12