Sickness, as depicted in the Bible, is a condition that affects the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of individuals. It is often seen as a consequence of the fallen state of the world due to sin, but it also serves as a context for demonstrating God's power, mercy, and sovereignty.

Biblical Understanding of Sickness

1. Origin and Nature: Sickness entered the world as a result of the Fall. In Genesis 3, the disobedience of Adam and Eve brought sin into the world, leading to various forms of suffering, including sickness. Romans 5:12 states, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned."

2. Sickness as a Consequence of Sin: In some instances, sickness is portrayed as a direct consequence of personal sin. For example, in John 5:14, Jesus warns the man He healed at the pool of Bethesda, "See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you." However, it is crucial to note that not all sickness is a direct result of personal sin, as seen in the case of the man born blind in John 9:1-3, where Jesus clarifies that his condition was not due to his sin or his parents' sin.

3. Sickness and God's Sovereignty: The Bible illustrates that God is sovereign over sickness and health. In Exodus 15:26, God declares to the Israelites, "If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His statutes, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD who heals you."

4. Healing and Miracles: The New Testament is replete with accounts of Jesus healing the sick, demonstrating His divine authority and compassion. Matthew 4:23 records, "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people." These miracles served as signs of the coming Kingdom of God and the restoration that Jesus brings.

5. Sickness and Faith: The Bible encourages believers to respond to sickness with faith and prayer. 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. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven."

6. Sickness and Suffering: Sickness is often a part of the broader theme of suffering in the Christian life. The Apostle Paul speaks of a "thorn in the flesh" in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, which he describes as a means to keep him humble and reliant on God's grace. He concludes, "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me."

7. Eternal Perspective: Ultimately, the Bible points to a future where sickness will be eradicated. Revelation 21:4 offers hope, stating, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away."

In summary, sickness in the Bible is multifaceted, serving as a reminder of the brokenness of the world, a platform for God's miraculous work, and a call to faith and reliance on God's promises.1. (n.) The quality or state of being sick or diseased; illness; disease or malady.

2. (n.) Nausea; qualmishness; as, sickness of stomach.

PINING SICKNESS

pin'-ing, sik'-nes: In the account of the epileptic boy in Mark 9:18 it is said that "he pineth away." The verb used here (xeraino) means "to dry up," and is the same which is used of the withering of plants, but seldom used in this metaphorical sense. The English word is from the Anglo-Saxon pinjan and is often found in the Elizabethan literature, occurring 13 times in Shakespeare. In the Old Testament it is found in Leviticus 26:39 (bis) and in Ezekiel 24:23 and 33:10. In the Revised Version (British and American) it replaces "consume" in Ezekiel 4:17. In all these passages it is the rendering of the Hebrew maqaq, and means expressly being wasted on account of sin. In Leviticus 26:16 "pine away" is used in the Revised Version (British and American) to replace "cause sorrow of heart," and is the translation of the Hebrew dubh; and in Deuteronomy 28:65 "sorrow of mind" is also replaced in the Revised Version (British and American) by "pining of soul," the word so rendered being de'abhon, which in these two passages is expressive of homesickness. In Isaiah 24:16 the reduplicated exclamation, "my leanness," of the King James Version is changed into "I pine away," the word being razi. The starving people in Lamentations 4:9 are said to pine away, the word so translated being zubh. All these Hebrew words have a general meaning of to dry or to waste or wear away, or to be exhausted by morbid discharges.

Pining sickness in Isaiah 38:12 the King James Version is a mistranslation, the word so rendered, dallah, meaning here the thrum by which the web is tied to the loom. The figure in the verse is that Hezekiah's life is being removed from the earth by his sickness as the web is removed from the loom by having the thrums cut, and being then rolled up. Both the King James Version margin and the Revised Version margin have the correct reading, "from the thrum." Septuagint has erithou eggizouses ektemein, and Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) dum adhuc ordirer, succidit me. The other reading is due to another interpretation of the word which in a few passages, as Jeremiah 52:15, like its root dal, means something small, poor, and decaying or weak, such as the lean kine of Pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41:19).

Alexander Macalister

SICK; SICKNESS

sik, sik'-nes (chalah (Genesis 48:1, etc.), choli (Deuteronomy 28:61, etc.), tachalu' (Deuteronomy 29:21, etc.), machalah (Exodus 23:25, etc.), daweh (Leviticus 15:33, etc.), 'anash (2 Samuel 12:15, etc.); astheneo (Matthew 10:8, etc.; compare 2Ma 9:22), kakos echon (Luke 7:2), kakos echontas (Matthew 4:24, etc.), arrhostos (Sirach 7:35; Matthew 14:14, etc.), arrhostema (Sirach 10:10, etc.), with various cognates, kamno (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 'anash, 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 Songs 2:5; Songs 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; Leviticus 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; Matthew 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 Psalm 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.

The proverb concerning the sick quoted by the Lord at Capernaum (Mark 2:17) has come down to us in several forms in apocryphal and rabbinical writings (Babha' Qamma' 26:13; Sanhedhrin 176), but is nowhere so terse as in the form in which He expresses it. The Lord performed His healing of the sick by His word or touch, and one of the most emphatic charges which He gave to His disciples when sending them out was to heal the sick. One of the methods used by them, the anointing with oil, is mentioned in Mark 6:13 and enjoined by James (5:15). In later times the anointing which was at first used as a remedial agent became a ceremonial in preparation for death, one of the seven sacraments of the Roman church (Aquinas, Summa Theologia suppl. ad Piii. 29).

The duty of visiting the sick is referred to in Ezekiel 34:4, 16, and by the Lord in the description of the Judgment scene (Matthew 25:36, 43). It is inculcated in several of the rabbinical tracts. "He that visits the sick lengthens his life, he who refrains shortens it," says Rabbi Ischanan in Nedharim 29. In Shulchan `Arukh, Yoreh De`ah there is a chapter devoted to this duty, which is regarded as incumbent on the Jew, even though the sick person be a Gentile (Gittin 61a). The church's duty to the sick, so long neglected, has, within the last century, been recognized in the mission field, and has proved, in heathen lands, to be the most important of all pioneer agressive methods.

While we find that the apostles freely exercised their gifts of healing, it is noteworthy that we read of the sickness of two of Paul's companions, Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:26) and Trophimus (2 Timothy 4:20), for whose recovery he seems to have used no other means than prayer.

See also DISEASE.

Alexander Macalister

HEZEKIAH'S SICKNESS

See DIAL OF AHAZ.

3554. nosos -- disease, sickness
... disease, sickness. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: nosos Phonetic
Spelling: (nos'-os) Short Definition: a disease, malady Definition: a disease ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3554.htm - 6k

3553. nosema -- sickness
... sickness. Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: nosema Phonetic Spelling:
(nos'-ay-ma) Short Definition: a trouble, disease Definition: a trouble ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3553.htm - 6k

769. astheneia -- weakness, frailty
... 769 ("weakness, sickness") refers to an ailment that of enjoying or accomplishing
what they would like to do. ... disease, infirmity, sickness, weakness. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/769.htm - 7k

3119. malakia -- softness, weakness
... Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: malakia Phonetic Spelling: (mal-ak-ee'-ah)
Short Definition: weakness, illness Definition: weakness, illness, sickness. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3119.htm - 6k

4912. sunecho -- to hold together, to hold fast, pass. to be ...
... with Definition: (a) I press together, close, (b) I press on every side, confine,
(c) I hold fast, (d) I urge, impel, (e) pass: I am afflicted with (sickness). ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4912.htm - 7k

5198. hugiaino -- to be sound, healthy
... [5198 () is opposite to having a debilitating sickness. Thus it became the ideal
way to open and close personal letters in ancient times -- ie ().]. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5198.htm - 8k

2577. kamno -- to be weary
... 2577 -- properly, become weary (this was a common meaning for this term from 900
bc on, J. Thayer); weary to the point of sickness; "spent," ready to ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2577.htm - 6k

931. basanos -- a touchstone (a dark stone used in testing metals) ...
... peculiar mark. Then it was used for examination by torture. Sickness was
often regarded as 'torture' " (, 1, 37).]. Word Origin of ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/931.htm - 7k

2825. kline -- a small couch
... bed, table. From klino; a couch (for sleep, sickness, sitting or eating) -- bed,
table. see GREEK klino. (klinarion) -- 1 Occurrence. (klinen) -- 4 Occurrences. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2825.htm - 6k

776. asitia -- abstinence from food
... a fast Definition: either: lack or wheat, lack of food (the literal meaning), or:
abstinence from food, a fast, loss of appetite, sea-sickness (the extended ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/776.htm - 6k

2483. choli -- sickness
... 2482, 2483. choli. 2484 . sickness. Transliteration: choli Phonetic
Spelling: (khol-ee') Short Definition: sickness. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/2483.htm - 6k

4245. machaleh -- sickness, disease
... machaleh. 4245a . sickness, disease. Transliteration: machaleh Phonetic Spelling:
(makh-al-eh') Short Definition: disease. disease, infirmity, sickness ...
/hebrew/4245.htm - 5k

4245a. machalah -- sickness, disease
... 4245, 4245a. machalah. 4245b . sickness, disease. Transliteration: machalah
Short Definition: sickness. Word Origin from chalah ...
/hebrew/4245a.htm - 5k

4064. madveh -- sickness
... 4063, 4064. madveh. 4065 . sickness. Transliteration: madveh Phonetic Spelling:
(mad-veh') Short Definition: diseases. ... disease. From davah; sickness -- disease ...
/hebrew/4064.htm - 6k

4245b. machaleh -- sickness, disease
... 4245a, 4245b. machaleh. 4246 . sickness, disease. Transliteration: machaleh
Short Definition: disease. Word Origin from chalah Definition ...
/hebrew/4245b.htm - 5k

4251. machluy -- sickness, suffering (caused by wounds)
... sickness, suffering (caused by wounds). Transliteration: machluy or machaluy
Phonetic Spelling: (makh-loo'-ee) Short Definition: sick. ...
/hebrew/4251.htm - 6k

1803. dallah -- hair, thrum
... 1802b, 1803. dallah. 1803a . hair, thrum. Transliteration: dallah Phonetic
Spelling: (dal-law') Short Definition: hair. hair, pining sickness, poorest sort ...
/hebrew/1803.htm - 5k

1739. daveh -- faint, unwell
... 1). faint, menstruous cloth, she that is sick, having sickness. From davah;
sick (especially in menstruation) -- faint, menstruous ...
/hebrew/1739.htm - 6k

8464. tachmas -- male ostrich
... disease, grievous, that are sickness. From chamac; a species of unclean bird (from
its violence), perhaps an owl -- night hawk. see HEBREW chamac. 8463, 8464 ...
/hebrew/8464.htm - 6k

4257. Machalath -- in psalm titles, probably the name of a tune.
... Mahalath From chalah; sickness; Machalath, probably the title (initial word) of
a popular song -- Mahalath. see HEBREW chalah. 4256, 4257. Machalath. 4258 ...
/hebrew/4257.htm - 6k

Evening Prayer in Sickness.
... Evening Prayer In Sickness. III. In Sickness. 7,5,7,5. Herr, ein ganzer Leidenstag.
[177]Heinrich Puchta. Lord, a whole long day of pain. Now at last is o'er! ...
/.../lyra germanica second series the christian life/evening prayer in sickness.htm

Psalm 6 Complaint in Sickness.
... THE PSALMS OF DAVID PSALM 6 Complaint in sickness. CM Complaint in sickness.
In anger, Lord, rebuke me not; Withdraw the dreadful storm; ...
/.../watts/the psalms and hymns of isaac watts/psalm 6 complaint in sickness.htm

Psalm 6:1. CM Complaint in Sickness; Or, Diseases Healed.
... THE Psalms of David, In Metre. Psalm 6:1. CM Complaint in sickness; or,
diseases healed. 1 In anger, Lord, rebuke me not, Withdraw ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watts/the psalms of david/psalm 6 1 c m complaint.htm

Sickness and Recovery.
... SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC WORSHIP. 932. " Sickness and Recovery. 932. CM Doddridge.
Sickness and Recovery. 1 My God, thy service well ...
/.../adams/hymns for christian devotion/932 sickness and recovery.htm

Consolations against Impatience in Sickness.
... THE PRACTICE OF PIETY. CONSOLATIONS AGAINST IMPATIENCE IN SICKNESS. If in thy sickness
by extremity of pain thou be driven to impatience, meditate" ...
/.../bayly/the practice of piety/consolations against impatience in sickness.htm

The Diverse Forms of Spiritual Sickness.
... Book X. 24. The Diverse Forms of Spiritual Sickness. ... For not every sin is to be
considered a sickness, but that which has settled down in the whole soul. ...
/.../origen/origens commentary on the gospel of matthew/24 the diverse forms of.htm

Psalm 6:2. LM Temptations in Sickness Overcome.
... THE Psalms of David, In Metre. Psalm 6:2. LM Temptations in sickness overcome.
1 Lord, I can suffer thy rebukes, When thou with ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/watts/the psalms of david/psalm 6 2 l m temptations.htm

Home-Sickness.
... HOME-SICKNESS. 8,8 Ich wolt daz ich daheime wer. [32]Henry of Loufenburg. Fifteenth
Century. trans. by Catherine Winkworth, 1869. I would I were at last at home ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/winkworth/christian singers of germany/home-sickness.htm

Psalm 6 Temptations in Sickness Overcome.
... THE PSALMS OF DAVID PSALM 6 Temptations in sickness overcome. LM Temptations
in sickness overcome. Lord, I can suffer thy rebukes,. ...
/.../watts/the psalms and hymns of isaac watts/psalm 6 temptations in sickness.htm

Little Jennie's Sickness and Death
... LITTLE JENNIE'S SICKNESS AND DEATH. Little Jennie was eight years old, March
30, 1886. The April following she was taken very sick ...
/.../little jennies sickness and death.htm

Sickness (40 Occurrences)
... 1. (n.) The quality or state of being sick or diseased; illness; disease or malady.
2. (n.) Nausea; qualmishness; as, sickness of stomach. Int. ... PINING SICKNESS. ...
/s/sickness.htm - 29k

Disease (213 Occurrences)
... or disturbing the performance of the vital functions, and causing or threatening
pain and weakness; malady; affection; illness; sickness; disorder; -- applied ...
/d/disease.htm - 39k

Pining (6 Occurrences)
... & vb. n.) of Pine. 2. (a.) Languishing; drooping; wasting away, as with longing.
3. (a.) Wasting; consuming. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. PINING SICKNESS. ...
/p/pining.htm - 11k

Recover (37 Occurrences)
... lost time. 4. (vt) To restore from sickness, faintness, or the like; to
bring back to life or health; to cure; to heal. 5. (vt) To ...
/r/recover.htm - 21k

Bowels (40 Occurrences)
... The remarkable phrases used in 2 Chronicles 21:18, 19, "Yahweh smote him in his
bowels" and "His bowels fell out by reason of his sickness," refer to a severe ...
/b/bowels.htm - 20k

Illness (15 Occurrences)
... 2. (n.) Disease; indisposition; malady; disorder of health; sickness; as, a short
or a severe illness. 3. (n.) Wrong moral conduct; wickedness. ...
/i/illness.htm - 11k

Mahalath (6 Occurrences)
... The whole phrase has by others been rendered, "On the sickness of affliction: a
lesson;" or, "Concerning afflictive sickness: a didactic psalm.". ...
/m/mahalath.htm - 11k

Bed (142 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary (Hebrews mittah), for rest at night (Exodus 8:3; 1 Samuel
19:13, 15, 16, etc.); during sickness (Genesis 47:31; 48:2; 49:33, etc ...
/b/bed.htm - 52k

Sicknesses (15 Occurrences)
... 2 Chronicles 21:15 and thyself with sore sicknesses, with a disease of thy bowels,
until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day. (DBY YLT). ...
/s/sicknesses.htm - 10k

Severe (53 Occurrences)
... 1 Kings 17:17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman,
the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so severe that ...
/s/severe.htm - 23k

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