Circumcision was mandatory for all Jewish males Genesis
17:10–11 and castration which was forbidden Deuteronomy 23:2, are the only surgical
procedures manifestly mentioned in the Bible. The precise technique for the former is not
mentioned but was probably technically advanced due to its frequency. It was
used as an emergency measure on Moses by Zipporah Exodus 4:25.
Insanity
Instances of mental dysfunction abound in the Hebrew
Bible not the least of which is Saul. The
concept of the brain didn’t exist only the head and mental function of a
conscious nature was usually ascribed to the heart which in Hebrew and
Hellenized Greek philosophy was in the chest. So ‘Bewilderment of the heart’
appears in Deuteronomy 28:28 along with madness proper in Zechariah 12:4. As usual, these were dispensations from the LORD in punishment
of waywardness:
The Lord shall
smite thee with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart. Deuteronomy
28:28
Ophthalmology
By the time of the Mishnah (3rd Century A.D.) and
the Talmud (4th Century A.D.), ophthalmic medicine was relatively well developed and is
widely discussed in these works. This was not the case, however, in earlier
writings and the Bible makes no reference to ophthalmology.
We know, however, that Trachoma or
Granular Conjunctivitis was [still is] rampant in the Near East. The ancient Egyptians
made much of diseases of the eye. Acquired Gonorrheal infection of the eye and
particularly congenital Ophthalmia Neonatorum were widespread in ancient times.
Blindness was also common and due to a variety of causes, most frequently trachoma.
The Hebrew terminology, סנור ים in Genesis 19:11 and עורון in Zechariah 12:4 is
vague about the precise causes of the blindness. Senile cataract must have been
the foremost source. (1)
Communicable Diseases
If we restrict our sources to
biblical texts, only two diseases, leprosy צרעת and discharge זוב qualify for consideration.
It is noteworthy that only these two conditions are mentioned in the Levitical
writings. Gordon
notes the point that the progress of the mentioned leprosy had it actually have
been Hansen’s disease would not have been tracked by the priests in seven-day
intervals as is suggested by a reading of Leviticus. (2) There is little
evidence to suggest the priests were interested in therapeutic measures for
that. There was no cure. Regarding quarantine, Gordon pointed out, ‘This
isolation of “lepers” demanded by the Old Testament is of less importance as a
hygiene measure than it is as an influencing factor on quarantine and disease
control. From these few biblical examples I believe we can be seen that the
earliest medical events were mostly observation and quarantine in terms of
leprosy and other communicable disease.
We must conclude that in Israel (as
in Egypt) what medical practice existed were essentially an anthropological-supernatural
hybrid. The activities of the priests were restricted to the two communicable
diseases, צרעת and זוב mentioned above which, they did not understand as
disease or illness in the modern sense. They were exclusively concerned with
the impact of these conditions on the preservation of the ‘wholeness-holiness’ equilibrium.
Medicinal benefits inadvertently precipitated out from that concept as a
benefit.
Summary
What we see in the Jewish priestly ritual furnishes the means by
which society can establish, maintain or reestablish order if it has been
compromised. For the Levitical priests and the Jewish people at-large God set the parameters for their
priestly rituals and priestly duties. Those rituals and duties are the controlling
pattern-oriented social acts that maintained their health while other societies floundered in disease and death.
(1) M. A. Glasby, "New
Testament Diagnoses," 122, no. 2 (2010): 98. J. K. Howard, Medicine,
Miracle and Myth in the New
Testament (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2010).
(2) Gordon, Maurice B. "Medicine
among the Ancient Hebrews." Pg 484
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