Topical Bible: Disease: Remedies Used

◄ Disease: Remedies Used ►

Jump to: Nave's • Library • Subtopics • Terms

Topical Encyclopedia

In biblical times, disease and illness were common challenges faced by individuals and communities. The Bible provides various accounts of remedies and treatments used to address these ailments, reflecting the medical practices and spiritual beliefs of the time.

Herbal and Natural Remedies

The use of herbs and natural substances is evident in biblical texts. For instance, in 2 Kings 20:7, a poultice of figs is applied to King Hezekiah's boil, leading to his recovery: "Then Isaiah said, 'Prepare a lump of pressed figs.' So they brought it and applied it to the boil, and he recovered." This suggests an understanding of the medicinal properties of certain plants.

Oil and Anointing

Oil was frequently used for its healing properties. In the New Testament, James 5:14-15 instructs, "Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick." Anointing with oil was both a physical remedy and a spiritual act, symbolizing the presence and power of God in the healing process.

Wine and Strong Drink

Wine was also used for medicinal purposes. In 1 Timothy 5:23, Paul advises Timothy, "Stop drinking only water and use a little wine instead, because of your stomach and your frequent ailments." This indicates an awareness of the antiseptic and soothing properties of wine, which was used to treat digestive issues.

Prayer and Faith

Prayer and faith were central to the healing process in biblical times. The Gospels recount numerous instances where Jesus healed the sick through prayer and divine intervention. In Matthew 9:22, Jesus tells a woman who had been suffering from bleeding for twelve years, "Take courage, daughter, your faith has healed you." This highlights the belief in the power of faith and divine will in overcoming disease.

Isolation and Quarantine

Levitical laws provided guidelines for dealing with infectious diseases, emphasizing isolation and cleanliness. Leviticus 13 outlines the procedures for diagnosing and isolating individuals with skin diseases, ensuring the protection of the community. This reflects an early understanding of contagion and the importance of preventing the spread of disease.

Dietary Laws

The dietary laws given to the Israelites also played a role in maintaining health. Certain foods were deemed clean or unclean, and these regulations likely contributed to the prevention of disease. For example, the prohibition against consuming pork (Leviticus 11:7) may have protected the Israelites from trichinosis, a disease associated with undercooked pork.

Conclusion

The Bible presents a multifaceted approach to disease and its remedies, combining natural, spiritual, and communal practices. These accounts provide insight into the ancient understanding of health and the divine role in healing.

Nave's Topical Index

Proverbs 17:22
A merry heart does good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dries the bones.
Nave's Topical Index

Proverbs 20:30
The blueness of a wound cleans away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.
Nave's Topical Index

Isaiah 38:21
For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster on the boil, and he shall recover.
Nave's Topical Index

Jeremiah 30:13
There is none to plead your cause, that you may be bound up: you have no healing medicines.
Nave's Topical Index

Jeremiah 46:11
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shall you use many medicines; for you shall not be cured.
Nave's Topical Index

Library

Moreover, as the Use of Remedies is the Way to Health...
... incur the penalty of death: Christ used His mortality ... The disease was brought in
through a woman's corrupted ... To the same class of opposite remedies it belongs ...
/.../augustine/on christian doctrine in four books/chapter 13 moreover as the.htm

A Battle with Smallpox
... something to keep his face from pitting, declaring that unless some remedies were
used it would ... in every point by not leaving a trace of the disease on my ...
/.../cole/trials and triumphs of faith/chapter xx a battle with.htm

A Review of the Passions of Gluttony and Fornication and their ...
... flesh); but bodily chastisement must be used as well ... For a complicated disease needs
a complicated remedy. ... evident, and so they are cured with speedy remedies. ...
/.../cassian/the works of john cassian /chapter iv a review of.htm

Appendix xvi. On the Jewish views About Demons' and the Demonised ...
... need scarcely be said, that the more intractable the disease, the more irrational
are the remedies proposed ... calves and put it on the basin used by surgeons ...
/.../the life and times of jesus the messiah/appendix xvi on the jewish.htm

How the Wisdom of God Healed Man.
... incur the penalty of death: Christ used His mortality ... The disease was brought in
through a woman's corrupted ... To the same class of opposite remedies it belongs ...
/.../augustine/on christian doctrine in four books /chapter 14 how the wisdom of.htm

Of the Practice of Loving Indifference, in Things Belonging to the ...
... But if it be the Divine pleasure that the disease, victorious over the remedies,
should at ... according to the rigour of the words he had used in announcing ...
/.../francis/treatise on the love of god/chapter vi of the practice.htm

How Herod Slew Sohemus and Mariamne and Afterward Alexandra and ...
... part of his head, joined with madness; and for the remedies that were used, they
did him ... for his recovery could not at all conquer the disease, and partly ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 7 how herod slew.htm

Analysis Necessary.
... soul," "conscience," "inward man" are used indiscriminately ... the various forms of
spiritual disease, and always ... fulness to select the spiritual remedies required ...
/.../kuyper/the work of the holy spirit/iii analysis necessary.htm

Letter iii. --The Illusions of the Devil.
... analogy between them there is also some resemblance between the remedies to be used. ...
ill-humoured and wild, the remedy would be worse than the disease. ...
/.../abandonment to divine providence/letter iii the illusions of the.htm

The Healing of the Woman - Christ's Personal Appearance - the ...
... psychical means are apparently to accompany the therapeutical in this disease, but
the ... For Jesus neither used remedies, nor spoke the word Qum to her who had ...
/.../the life and times of jesus the messiah/chapter xxvi the healing of.htm