Bull.lnd.lnst.Hist.Med. Vol. XXVIII - 1998 pp 159 to 166

MEDICINE IN THE HOLY BIBLE

P.K.J.P.SUBHAKTHA*

ABSTRACT

The study of history of medical science from non-medical sourcesneeds no apology. At first sight the d'scusaion of what was thought in thepast rather than what is known now appears to be of merely anti-quarianvalue. The Hebrews can be proud of having preserved in the old Testamentmany old medical practices and traditions which throw light on ancientmedicine in general and on Hebreaw .nedical practices in particular. TheBible is a genuinely documer.teu book representing the wisdom, medicalknowledge and the culture of a nomadic race.

The Bible is the great family chronicl-eof the Jews. This family chronicle isaccepted by millions of christians as theword of God. No book has beenpublished in so many languages in suchvast quantities as the Bible. No otherbook has had so many interpreters of itsevery word from the "In the beginning" ofGenesis to the last "Amen" of revelations.

Bible has not been nearly such astatic thing as we imagine. It has wornall sorts of different dresses in differentages and countries. The authorisedversion dated from 1611 and is anastonishing production. For our greaterastonishment, that, it was a miracleproduced by a committee of forty-sevenmen. Praise and appreciation has beenaccorded to the version by manygenerations of literary critics for thetenancious conservatism.

Ancient Hebrews attributed healthand disease to one divine source.Disease and premature death wereconsidered as curses from God. Everyone who suffered from any bodily ailmentwas thought to have previously violateda divine ordinance for which his bodilyaffliction was an atonement. Asexamples may be cited the case ofMiriam who was punished with Leprosyfor slandering her brother Moses and thecases of Gehazi and Uzzaiah who werepunished with the same disease for sinsof avarice and presumption respectively.For similar reasons, Jehoram wasinfected with intestinal disease andprolapse of the rectum.

Like sickness healing was alsoclearly divine attribute as may be seenfrom the following passages. "If Y0U willlend your ears to the laws and observeall the statutes you will never contract

* Assistant ResearchOfficer (A.Y.), Indian Institute of History of Medicine (CCRAS),O.M.C. Buildings,Putlibowli, Hyderabad (India).

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any of the diseases of Egypt, for theLord is your physician" (Ex.15:26) and"will take away sickness from yourmidst." (Ex. 23:25) disease and its cureemanate from God. Everything isaccomplished through His divine powers.He is the supreme healer of the sick.

Since disease was considered to bethe natural sequel to sin, only prayer andrepentance could heal or prevent itsoccurrence once some wicked deed wasperpetrated. In the case of Miriam, herbrother Moses cried out "Heal her now,oh God I beseech thee." Each leader ofhis generation is endowed with divinepowers, under the direct guidance of Godto lead, to instruct to judge and to heal.The Lord God, empowered Adam to rule,to minister and to instruct (Gen.1 :28).

Each chieftain among theantediluvian people (The first tengenerations from Adam to Noah)performed such duties. Noah was thechief executive for the period ofthe Deluge(Gen,9).

Ten generations later, a new leaderAbraham appeared with whom Godexecuted a pact and its symbol is therite of circumcision. Abraham performedthis operation upon himself when he wasninety-nine years old, upon his sonIsmail when he was thirteen years oldand upon his eight days old son, Issac.

Joseph, the son ofthe third patriarch,Jacob was the first Hebrew ruler(governor). He administrated the affairsof state for Pharoah the king of Egypt.

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At that time Egypt possessed a cultureand a civilization which greatly influencedthe generations of Jacob. While medicineamong the nomadic tribes was crude andaboriginal, the Egyptians had developeda highly scientific medical standards.Medicine was highly specialized. Skilledsurgeons, opthalmologists anddiagnosticians were practicing their arts.Medicine had its special branches thenas now.

The ancient crafts of physicians wereskilled in embalming. After Jacob haddied, Joseph "Ordered his servants, thephysicians, to embalm his father and thephysicians embalmed Jacob (Gen. 50:2).Thus the method of embalming described;they took strong alcoholic preparationsand mixed them with strong spices whichthey boiled. In to this medicated baththey placed the corpose, where it lay for40 days "And 40 days were fulfilled fromhim for its took 40 days to embalm."(Gen. 50:3).

The drugs used by the early Hebrewsformed the ingredients of preparations,compounded according to the art of theapothecary. Even in days of theirwanderings the ancient Hebrews mixeddrugs and apothecaries, dispencedmedicine. (Ex. 30:25). Special care wasexercised in the preparation of suchimportant compounds as the oil of holyointment and the holy incense.

The holy ointment was used to anointthe tabernacle, the ark, furniture andvessels including the alter. The aromatic

Medicine in Holy Bible - Subhaktha

fumes which issued forth from everyarticle anointed were supposed to havea sort of sanitary effect upon the thicklypopulated and overcrowded camps of theIsraelites. The inhalation of these odoursand their absorption helped to preservethe health bypenetrating to the lungs andhence the blood stream. Even moderncures are affected by inhalation ofmedicated air.

The holy incense which was burntmorning and evening upon the alter of thesanitary also acted as a deodorant andfumigator, and its effect were similar tothose of the holy ointment. It wassupposed to purify the air and so act asa disinfectant in contagious epidemics.

In the discourse of Moses to theIsraelities, as narrated in Deuteronomy,health, long life, and and prosperity arepromised to those who follow the Mosaicteachings. Among the rewards are "Hewill also bless the fruit of thy womb andthe fruit of thy land thy corn ... thou shallbe blessed above all people there shallnot be male offemale barren among you,or among your cattle. And the Lord willtake away from thee all sickness, andwill put none of the evil diseases of Egypt,which thou knowest upon thee but willlay them upon all them that hate thee."(Deut. 7: 13 To 15).

Failure to adhere to the teachings ofthe Mosaic code will result in thedevelopment of severe, undiagnosableepidemies including in fantile plagues aswell as the ordinary chronic diseases.

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(Deut. 28:59 - 62).Epidemics were brought on a

community for trespassing certainregulations, by the people themselves orby the leader of the community. TheSodomites were smitten with blindnessfor their attack on Lot. The Egyptainswere punished with pestilence for the sinsof Pharaoh. The Philistaines wereattacked with erne rods (tumors) becausetheir chiefs had commited a grossoffense against the Israelities. Pharoahwas punished with a peculiar skineruption for the abduction of Sarah thewife of Abraham and for the same offenseAbimelech and his house hold werepunished with barrenness.

At a later period, human agencieswere added to religious rites in treatingdisease. Thus the prophets Elijah andElisha, when called upon to administerto children who were at the threshold ofdeath resorted to physical devices. Intile case of Elijah, the child not breathe;the prophet took him to the roof of theabode in the open air and "stretched"himself upon the child. (streaching wasperhaps an ancient method of artificialrespiration) then he resorted to prayerand supplication.

Elisha when called to treat asupposedly dead child, after prayer andsupplication put his mouth to the mouthof child, possibly for the purpose ofblowing air, a from of artificial respirationpresently employed soon after birth whenthe new born does not breathe. Elisha

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followed this treatment by streachinghimself upon the child, and soon theflesh of the child was warm, he repeatedsame process, the child sneezed andopened its eyes.

Still later Isaiah is recorded to haveadministered a cataplasm (a cake) madeof figs to the inflamed parts of kingHezekiah. King As a appears to havebeen the first patient on record toseparate religion from medicine, and inthe thirty nineth year of his reign, Asawas diseased in his feet, His diseasewas exceedingly great, yet in his diseasehe sought not to the Lord, but to thephysicians. And died in the fortieth yearsof his reign." The outstanding implicationwith regard to As a ( 915 to 875 B.C.) isthat 450 years before Hippocrates, thepeople of Judea had professionalphysicians who separated priesthoodfrom magic.

In the days of Jeremiah (6th centuryB.C.) there appears to have been manyphysicians in Palestine. Jeremiahthought it unbelievable that there shouldbe no physicians. Is there not balm inGilead?" He asked. Is there no physicianthere? Why there is not the health ofthe daughter of my people recovered?

Job (7th - 4th B.C.) mentionedphysicians, but he had no confidence inthem. He characterized them asphysicians of no value. The practice ofhealing among Hebrews was not, as it isgenerally understood, in the hands ofpriests as it was among the Egyptains,

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Babylonians and Persians.The distinction of medicine in the old

Testament does not lie in the diagnosiSof diseases nor in the therapeutics butin social hygiene, five centuries beforethe Greeks visited the land of thePharaohs (1200 B.C.), Israel was inpossession of a document containinglawa and regulations, the realization ofwhich was bound to promote the welfareof the ancient Israelites and thepreservation of the future nation.

The precept that physical and mentalpurity are interdependent was thekeystone of the Mosaic law. Preventionof epidemics, suppression of prostitutionand venereal diseases, frequent ablution,care of the skin, regulation of the sexuallife, dietary laws, regulation of labour, theobservation of the Sabbath day,measures with regard to menstruation andpregnant women, circumcision, isolationof those suffering from gonnorhea, andmany other laws tended to preventdisease from spreading throughPalestine.

It is entirely immaterial whether thehygiene and prophylaxis as promulgatedby Moses in the pentateuch (five booksattributed to Moses but helci by scholarsto be a composite work of documentsdating from the 9th Cen. B.C. to the 4thCen.B.C.) were intended as religiousrituals or as health measures. The factis that neither the old Egyptian medicaldocuments nor other early medical codeswere so thorough going on subjects of

Medicine in Holy Bible - Subhaktha

hygiene and prophylaxis as the Mosaiccode.

The recognition that "announce ofprevention is worth a pound of cure"accounts for the absence in the oldTestament of many diseases whichprevailed in Egypt at the period. The strictsanitary and dietetic regulations and thebalmy climate of Palestine were destinedto eliminate many diseases prevailing inthe neighbouring countries.

If Moses was not the father of Jewishmedicine, he certainly was an apt pupilaccording to the Bible, Moses wasinstructed in "all the wisdom of theEgytains," which included medicine, formedicine in Egypt was a branch ofgeneral culture. Clement of Alexandria(160-214 AD.) also asserted that Moseswas trained in all the wisdom of theEgyptains which included medicine andalchemy.

After Moses, tradition credits kingsolomon (reigned 971-931 B.C.) with auseful knowledge of medicine. The "Bookof kings" refers to him as a wise monarch,particularly learned in botany and naturalhistory from the scriptural booksdescribed to him, it is evident that he hada knowledge of the bodily organs andtheir functions. His long peaceful reignand his friendly relationship withneighbouring countries particularly,Egypt, offered him added opportunitiesto study the wisdom of the Egyptainswhere medicine was highly developed atthat period.

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The early Israelites considered theblood to be the seat of soul. It is treated,"only flesh with life thereof which is theblood thereof shall ye not eat." The heartis frequently mentioned in the oldTestament as the seat of emotion andintellect. They had a good knowledge ofthe abdominal viscera even understandingthe function of the omentum as thepolicemen, of the abdomen. The liver andkidney mentioned many times in Bibilicalpassages. It refers to that part of theorgans which has to be sacrificed as afatty piece. They know that the liver is avital organ, trauma of which would leadto uncontrollable haemorrhage.

According to ancient Hebrewtradition, even before Moses time,cleanliness of the body was soinextricably tied up with purity of the soulthat the old testament, without anyquestion, assumes that the two go handin hand. Before one could communicatewith God or purity himself after diseasehe had to cleanse himself thoroughly. InExodus, it is noted that before theIsraelites were permitted to obtain thecommandments, "The Lord said untoMoses: go unto the people, and sanctifythem today and tomorrow, and let themwash their garments ..." so deeply wasthis idea of personal cleanliness ingrainedthat it was often used symbolically,unclean influences put the body in a stateof taboo until thorough cleansing wasaccomplished. Elaborate sanitaryprecautions were exercised by persons

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having communicable diseases and bypersons coming in contact with them.When a person was exposed to a corpse,a bone, or a grave, he was required tobathe in water. Anyone eating carrionwas likewise obliged to cleanse himself.

The spirit of cleanliness was carriedby hospitality beyond the defined limitsofthe Pentatauch. Thus a good host hadhis guests feet washed. We note thatAbraham's servant obtained "Water towash his feet and the feet of the menthat were with him" before enteringRebecca's house.

A list of several diseases prevalentin Biblical times is presented in the 26thchapter of "Leviticus" and in 28th chapterof "Deuteronomy." These includeConsumption, Fever that will consume theeyes (a severe form of chronic Malariathat effects the eye) Inflammation,Jandice, Egyptain boils, Scuruy, Skindiseases, Insanity, Blindness and thesore boils of the knees and legs., Dropsy,Gout and Dyspnoea etc.

The two great diseases consideredcommunicable and discussed in the oldTestament are Leprosy and Gonorrhoea.According to the priestly code, thepriesthood is given exclusive control onlyover these diseases. The statues dealingwith these dreaded plaques are obviouslyconcerned, not only with imparting aknowledge of the symptoms and thusmaking diagnosis comparatively easy,but also with preventing them fromspreading. Gonorrhea is believed to have

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been the dominant veneral disease ofantiquity. According to the preisty code,whenever there was an intermittent orcontinues discharge from person's sexualorgans, that person was declaredunclean and anyone engaging in coituswith him or touching him or anything withwhich he had come in contact (i.e. bed,chair, saliva) had to wash his clothes andbathe in water. Earthen vessels used bythe infected person has to be broken andwooden ones washed. After thedischarges had stopped for seven days,the infected person was required to washhis clothes and bathe in running water,after which the taboo was removed.These statues give completely in thechapter "Leviticus" are excellent hygienicmeasures to hinder the spread ofGonorrhea.

Contagious abortion of cows, hogsand other domestic cattle was shown tobe caused by bacillus abortus asrecently as 1918. But this disease wasknown in biblical days and is alluded towhen Jacob takes inventory of his laborsfor his father-in-law. During that periodJacob reported that "not a sheep, nor agoat aborted" (Gen 31 :28). We findanother allusion in the general blessing"There will be no barren male nor barrenfemale among you, including yourcattle." (Deut. 7:14).

There is a record in the Bible of anunnamed epidemic, which followed in thewake of the disaster occasioned byKorah's revolt. Hundreds of dead bodies

Medicine in Holy Bible - Subhaktha

had collected within the camp, and beforetheir disposal was expedited thisepidemic broke out and spread likewildfire (Numb. 14:37). In the secondworld war epidemics ofTyphus, Influenzaand other communicable diseases werecaused by the decomposing material ofthe unburied dead which hadaccumulated upon the battle fields andin the trenches. In the case of theBiblical epidemic mentioned above,"Moses ordered Aaron to take the censerand place upon it the fire from the alter,and put in to it the incense offering, andthen go quickly among thecongregation ..... may hap the epidemicwill abate." (Numb. 16:46). This wasprobably some sort of disinfectant whichacted by fumigation and so prevented thespread of the epidemic.

Other than these the Bible recordsthe existence of mid wives and instances

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of multiple pregnancies, prematurebirths, instances of births to mothers inadvanced age, difficult labour, theobstetric chair, the roller bandage for abroken arm, noting the ointments of theapothecary and their use as an emollientetc. These are the expositions of thescience of medicine in the Bible.

The study of history of medicalscience from non-medical sources needsno apology. At first sight the discussionof what was thought in the past ratherthan what is known now appears to be ofmerely antiquarian value. A deeperconsideration will admit that the historyof science is the guarantee of itsfreedom. The mistakes of ourpredicessor remind us that we may bemistaken, and by studying the processesof their thought we may hope to have abetter understanding.

REFERENCES1. Finis Jennings Dake 1963 "DakeAnnotated Reference Bible" by

Dake F.J. Pub.by D.B.S. Georgia. U.S.A.

2. Spiros Zodhiates 1984 "Hebrew Greek Key study Bible" King-James version pub.by AM.G. Publishers,USA

3. William Smith 1891 "Smith's Bible Dictionary" by W.Smith.Pub by AJ.H. Company, Philadelphia.,U.S.A.

166 BUll. Ind. Inst. Hist. Med. Vol.XXVIII - 1998

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