sik, sik ́nes (חלה, ḥālāh (Genesis 48:1, etc.), חלי, ḥŏlī (Deuteronomy 28:61, etc.), תּחלא, taḥălu' (Deuteronomy 29:21, etc.), מחלה, maḥălāh (Exodus 23:25, etc.), דּוה, dāweh (Leviticus 15:33, etc.), אנשׁ, ‘ānash (2 Samuel 12:15, etc.); ἀσθενέω, asthenéō (Matthew 10:8, etc.;. compare 2 Maccabees 9:22), κακῶς ἔχων, kakṓs échōn (Luke 7:2), κακῶς ἔχοντας, kakṓs échontas (Matthew 4:24, etc.), ἄῤῥωστος, árrhōstos (Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 7:35; Matthew 14:14, etc.), ἀῤῥώστημα, arrhṓstēma (Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 10:10, etc.), with various cognates, κάμνω, kámnō (James 5:15); Latin morbus (2 Esdras 8:31)): Compared with the number of deaths recorded in the historical books of the Bible the instances in which diseases are mentioned are few. “Sick” and “sickness” (including “disease,” etc.) are the translations of 6 Hebrew and 9 Greek words and occur 56 times in the Old Testament and 57 times in the New Testament. The number of references in the latter is significant as showing how much the healing of the sick was characteristic of the Lord’s ministry. The diseases specified are varied. Of infantile sickness there is an instance in Bath-sheba’s child (2 Samuel 12:15), whose disease is termed ‘ānash, not improbably trismus nascentium, a common disease in Palestine. Among adolescents there are recorded the unspecified sickness of Abijah (1 Kings 14:1), of the widow’s son at Zarephath (1 Kings 17:17), the sunstroke of the Shunammite’s son (2 Kings 4:19), the epileptic boy (Matthew 17:15), Jairus’ daughter (Matthew 9:18), and the nobleman’s son (John 4:46). At the other extreme of life Jacob’s death was preceded by sickness (Genesis 48:1). Sickness resulted from accident (Ahaziah, 2 Kings 1:2), wounds (Joram, 2 Kings 8:29), from the violence of passion (Amnon, 2 Samuel 13:2), or mental emotion (Daniel 8:27); see also in this connection Song of Solomon 2:5; 5:8. Sickness the result of drunkenness is mentioned (Hosea 7:5), and as a consequence of famine (Jeremiah 14:18) or violence (Micah 6:13). Daweh or periodic sickness is referred to (Leviticus 15:33; 20:18), and an extreme case is that of Luke 8:43.
In some examples the nature of the disease is specified, as Asa’s disease in his feet (1 Kings 15:23), for which he sought the aid of physicians in vain (2 Chronicles 16:12). Hezekiah and Job suffered from sore boils, Jehoram from some severe dysenteric attack (2 Chronicles 21:19), as did Antiochus Epiphanes (2 Maccabees 9:5). Probably the sudden and fatal disease of Herod was similar, as in both cases there is reference to the presence of worms (compare Acts 12:23 and 2 Maccabees 9:9). The disease of Publius’ father was also dysentery (Acts 28:8). Other diseases specified are paralysis (Matthew 8:6; 9:2), and fever (Matthew 8:14). Not improbably the sudden illness of the young Egyptian at Ziklag (1 Samuel 30:11), and the illness of Ben-hadad which weakened him so that he could not resist the violence of Hazael, were also the common Palestine fever (2 Kings 8:15) of whose symptoms and effects there is a graphic description in Psalms 38. Unspecified fatal illnesses were those of Elisha (2 Kings 13:14), Lazarus (John 11:1), Tabitha (Acts 9:37). In the language of the Bible, leprosy is spoken of as a defilement to be cleansed, rather than as a disease to be cured.
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Author: International Std. Bible Encyclopedia
Keywords: Sick, Sickness, Medicine, Medical, Illness, Disease
Source: James Orr (editor), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 5 volume set.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.