Topical Encyclopedia
A boil, in biblical terms, refers to a painful, inflamed, pus-filled sore on the skin. This condition is mentioned several times in the Bible, often as a form of divine judgment or affliction. The Hebrew word often translated as "boil" is "shechin," which can denote a range of skin diseases characterized by inflammation and sores.
Occurrences in the Bible:1.
Plague of Boils in Egypt: One of the most notable mentions of boils is during the plagues of Egypt. In
Exodus 9:8-11, God instructs Moses and Aaron to take handfuls of soot from a furnace and scatter it toward the sky in the presence of Pharaoh. This act results in boils breaking out on people and animals throughout Egypt. The text states: "The boils broke out on men and animals, and the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils had afflicted the magicians and all the Egyptians" (
Exodus 9:10-11). This plague demonstrated God's power and judgment against the Egyptians, who had enslaved the Israelites.
2.
Job's Affliction: The Book of Job provides another significant reference to boils. Job, a man described as blameless and upright, is afflicted by Satan with painful boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head as a test of his faithfulness to God.
Job 2:7-8 states: "So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. And Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself as he sat among the ashes" . Despite his suffering, Job remains steadfast in his faith, providing a profound example of endurance and trust in God amidst trials.
3.
Hezekiah's Illness: In
2 Kings 20:1-7, King Hezekiah falls ill with a life-threatening boil. The prophet Isaiah tells him to set his house in order, for he will not recover. However, after Hezekiah prays earnestly to the Lord, God hears his prayer and grants him an additional fifteen years of life. Isaiah instructs that a poultice of figs be applied to the boil, and Hezekiah recovers. This account highlights the power of prayer and God's mercy in response to sincere supplication.
Symbolism and Theological Implications:Boils in the Bible often symbolize suffering, judgment, and the testing of faith. They serve as a physical manifestation of spiritual or moral issues, prompting individuals and nations to reflect on their relationship with God. The affliction of boils can be seen as a call to repentance, a test of faith, or a demonstration of divine power and sovereignty.
In the broader biblical narrative, the healing of boils, as seen in the case of Hezekiah, underscores God's compassion and willingness to restore those who turn to Him in faith. The accounts of boils in Scripture remind believers of the importance of maintaining faith and integrity, even in the face of severe trials and suffering.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Boil[MEDICINE]
Easton's Bible Dictionary
(rendered "botch" in
Deuteronomy 28:27, 35), an aggravated ulcer, as in the case of Hezekiah (
2 Kings 20:7;
Isaiah 38:21) or of the Egyptians (
Exodus 9:9, 10, 11;
Deuteronomy 28:27, 35). It designates the disease of Job (
2:7), which was probably the black leprosy.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (
v.) To be agitated, or tumultuously moved, as a liquid by the generation and rising of bubbles of steam (or vapor), or of currents produced by heating it to the boiling point; to be in a state of ebullition; as, the water boils.
2. (v.) To be agitated like boiling water, by any other cause than heat; to bubble; to effervesce; as, the boiling waves.
3. (v.) To pass from a liquid to an aeriform state or vapor when heated; as, the water boils away.
4. (v.) To be moved or excited with passion; to be hot or fervid; as, his blood boils with anger.
5. (v.) To be in boiling water, as in cooking; as, the potatoes are boiling.
6. (v. t.) To heat to the boiling point, or so as to cause ebullition; as, to boil water.
7. (v. t.) To form, or separate, by boiling or evaporation; as, to boil sugar or salt.
8. (v. t.) To subject to the action of heat in a boiling liquid so as to produce some specific effect, as cooking, cleansing, etc.; as, to boil meat; to boil clothes.
9. (v. t.) To steep or soak in warm water.
10. (n.) Act or state of boiling.
11. (n.) A hard, painful, inflamed tumor, which, on suppuration, discharges pus, mixed with blood, and discloses a small fibrous mass of dead tissue, called the core.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
BOIL (1)(noun) (shechin; helkos): A localized inflamed swelling. The Hebrew word is derived from a root probably meaning "to burn," and is used as a generic term for the sores in the sixth plague of Egypt (Exodus 9:9-11); for a sore which might be confounded with leprosy (Leviticus 13:18-23); for Job's malady (Job 2:7) and Hezekiah's disease (2 Kings 20:1Isaiah 38:21). Our English word is derived from the verb "to beal," i.e. to suppurate, now obsolete except as a dialect word in Scotland and Ireland. Wyclif uses the name for Lazarus' sores (Luke 16:20), "houndis lickeden his bylis." The Egyptian word schn is the name of an abscess, and occurs in the reduplicated form chnchnt in Papyr. Ebers, CV. The plague of boils in Egypt came without warning immediately after the insect plagues of kinnim (sandflies) and that of `arobh or flies, and followed the epizootic murrain, which is suggestive in the light of the transmission of toxic germs by insects. It has been supposed by some to be elephantiasis, as Pliny says that this di sease was peculiar to Egypt (xxvi.5). A stronger case has been made out for its identity with confluent smallpox; but as it is not described as being a fatal disease, it may more probably have been an aggravated form of the ordinary gregarious furuncles or boils, due to the microbe streptococcus pyogenes.
Job's body is said to have been covered with itchy, irritating sores which made his face unrecognizable,Job 2:12, caused continual burning pain (Job 3:24;Job 6:4), and which were infested with maggots (Job 7:5) and exhaled a nauseous fetor (Job 19:17). His sleep was destroyed and his nervous system enfeebled (Job 3:26) so that he required assistance to move, as he sat in the ashes (Job 2:8). Various diagnoses have been made of his malady, but it is most probable that it was a form of the disease known as "oriental sore," or "Bagdad boil," called in Algeria "Biskra batton," in which the intensely itchy sores are often multiple, affecting the face, hands, and other exposed parts. The cases which I have seen have been very intractable and disfiguring.
Hezekiah's boil was apparently more localized, and the indefinite description would accord with that of a carbuncle. It seems to have rendered him unclean (Isaiah 38:22), though the reference may be to the practice referred to inLeviticus 13:18. The "botch" of Egypt (Deuteronomy 28:27, 35 the King James Version) is translation of the same word, as is "boil" in the Revised Version (British and American). Botch is an old English name for boil and occurs in Piers Plowman, and the adjective "botchy" is used in Troilus and Cressida (II, 1, 6). The word is cognate to the old French boche or poche, a form of our later word "pock." The sores of Lazarus (Luke 16:20) were probably old varicose ulcers, such as are as common on the legs of the old and poor in the East as they are in the West.
Alex. Macalister
BOIL (2)
(verb) (bashal, rathach): "Boil" is the translation of bashal, "to bubble up," "to boil," "to be cooked," Piel, "to cause to boil," "to cook" (Leviticus 8:311 Kings 19:212 Kings 6:29Ezekiel 46:20, 24 bis); of rathach, "to be hot," "to boil," "to be made to boil," "to be greatly moved" under strong emotion (the bowels), Hiphil "to cause to boil" (Job 30:27 the King James Version "My bowels boiled, and rested not," the English Revised Version "My bowels boil." the American Standard Revised Version "My heart is troubled";Job 41:31, "He maketh the deep to boil like a pot";Ezekiel 24:5, "make it boil well"); of ba`ah, "to bubble" or "well up" (Isaiah 64:2 (1, in Hebrew) "The fire causeth the waters to boil"); in King James Version, margin ofPsalm 45:1 ("My heart is inditing a good matter") we have Hebrew "boileth" or "bubbleth up" (rachash, "to boil" or "bubble up," the Revised Version (British and American) text, "My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter").
"Boiling-places," occurs inEzekiel 46:23 as the translation of mebhashsheloth, "hearths," "boiling-places." The American Standard Revised Version has "boiling-houses" for "places of them that boil" (Ezekiel 46:24), "boil well" for "consume" (Ezekiel 24:10). the American Standard Revised Version has "boiling over" for "unstable" (Genesis 49:4; the English Revised Version, margin "bubbling over").
W. L. Walker
Greek
2204. zeo -- toboil, be hot... to
boil, be hot. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: zeo Phonetic Spelling:
(dzeh'-o) Short Definition: I burn in spirit Definition: (lit: I
boil, am boiling
...3582. xestes -- a sextarius (about a pint), a pitcher (of wood or...
... As if from xeo (properly, to smooth; by implication, (of friction) toboil or heat);
a vessel (as fashioned or for cooking) (or perhaps by corruption from the...
2205. zelos -- to have warmth of feeling for or against, to be...
... 2205 (an omamopoeic term that mimics the sound of water bubbling over from heat
and perhaps derived from 2204 , "toboil") -- properly, burning emotion (inner...
5396. phluareo -- to talk nonsense
... Cognate: 5396 (from 5397 , "to bubble up,boil over") -- overflowing with speech
"that is " (, 562). It is used only in 3 Jn 10. See 5397 ()....
5397. phluaros -- babbling
... 5397 (an adjective, derived from , "toboil, bubble over") -- properly, what bubbles
over (like a seething, boiling pot). 5397 () is only used in 1 Tim 5:13....
Strong's Hebrew
1310. bashal -- toboil, seethe, grow ripe... 1309, 1310. bashal. 1311 . to
boil, seethe, grow ripe. Transliteration: bashal
Phonetic Spelling: (baw-shal') Short Definition:
boil. Word Origin a prim.
...7570. rathach -- toboil
... toboil. Transliteration: rathach Phonetic Spelling: (raw-thakh') Short Definition:
boil.... root Definition toboil NASB Word Usageboil (2), seething (1).boil....
7822. shechin -- aboil, eruption
... 7821b, 7822. shechin. 7823 . aboil, eruption. Transliteration: shechin Phonetic
Spelling: (shekh-een') Short Definition: boils....boil, botch....
1158. baah -- to inquire, cause to swell orboil up
... baah. 1159 . to inquire, cause to swell orboil up. Transliteration: baah Phonetic
Spelling: (baw-aw') Short Definition: inquire. Word Origin a prim....
2560a. chamar -- to ferment,boil or foam up
... 2560, 2560a. chamar. 2560b . to ferment,boil or foam up. Transliteration:
chamar Short Definition: troubled. Word Origin a prim....
2102. zud -- toboil up, seethe, act proudly or presumptuously or...
... toboil up, seethe, act proudly or presumptuously or rebelliously. Transliteration:
zud or zid Phonetic Spelling: (zood) Short Definition: arrogantly....
2560. chamar -- to ferment,boil or foam up
... chamar. 2560a . to ferment,boil or foam up. Transliteration: chamar Phonetic
Spelling: (khaw-mar') Short Definition: daub. daub, befoul, be red, trouble...
7571. rethach -- a boiling
... Word Origin from rathach Definition a boiling NASB Word Usage vigorously (1).boil
well. From rathach; a boiling -- X (boil) well. see HEBREW rathach....
1730. dod -- beloved, love, uncle
... Or (shortened) dod {dode}; from an unused root meaning properly, toboil, ie
(figuratively) to love; by implication, a love- token, lover, friend; specifically...
7874. sid -- to whitewash
... plaister. A primitive root probably meaning toboil up (compare shuwd); used only
as denominative from siyd; to plaster -- plaister. see HEBREW shuwd....
Library
A Triplet of Graces
... the fire of the Holy Spirit will naturally have its temperature raised, and will
be moved by the warm touch as heat makes water in a pot hung above a fireboil...
Persecution Every Christian's Lot
... folly (says he) shall be made manifest unto all men, as theirs (the Magicians) also
was," when they could not stand before Moses because of theboil; for the...
On Genesis.
... my first-born, thou art my strength, and the first of my children; hard to bear
with, and hard and self-willed: thou hast waxed wanton as water;boil not over....
Of those who While Still Imperfect Retire into the Desert.
... and, when they have even for a little while broken through their habit of retirement
owing to the accident of a visit from some of the brethren,boil over with...
The Oration of Moses at the Rehearsal of the Blessing and the...
... The LORD shall smite thee with theboil of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with
the scurvy, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed....
Satan Considering the Saints
... at such a heat, and another at a different temperature; as those who have to deal
with chemicals know that at a certain heat one fluid willboil, while another...
Whether There was any Reasonable Cause for the Ceremonial...
... cooked. Consequently there seems to be no reason in what is said,
Ex.23:19: "Thou shalt notboil a kid in the milk of its dam."....
Sinners Bound with the Cords of Sin
... he wills, and to give his lusts unbridled headway, and you have secured him boundless
misery; only allow the seething caldron of his corruptions toboil at its...
Obedience
... Romans 12:11. Quae ebullit prae ardore. As water that boils over; so the heart
mustboil over with hot affections in the service of God....
The Test of Courage
... Such meanness and injustice must have made the boy's bloodboil. But he mastered
himself and said nothing. That afternoon Paul was going out riding....
Thesaurus
Boil (29 Occurrences)... 6. (vt) To heat to the boiling point, or so as to cause ebullition; as,
to
boil water. 7. (vt) To form, or separate, by boiling
...Seethe (8 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Toboil (Exodus 16:23). Noah Webster's Dictionary. 1.
(vi) To be a state violent agitation; to be hot; toboil over....
Blains (2 Occurrences)
... BLAINS. blanz (abha`bu`ah: only in Exodus 9:9, 10): Pustules containing fluid around
aboil or inflamed sore.... SeeBOIL. Multi-Version Concordance...
Knees (47 Occurrences)
... and his knees smote one against another" (compare Nahum 2:10). The "sore
boil. in the knees, and in the legs," a disease announced...
Feeble (147 Occurrences)
... and his knees smote one against another" (compare Nahum 2:10). The "sore
boil. in the knees, and in the legs," a disease announced...
Festering (7 Occurrences)
... Exodus 9:9 It shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a
boil breaking forth with boils on man and on animal, throughout all the land...
Boils (6 Occurrences)
... Exodus 9:9 It shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a
boil breaking forth with boils on man and on animal, throughout all the land...
Boiled (15 Occurrences)
... 1. (imp. & pp) ofBoil. 2. (a.) Dressed or cooked by boiling; subjected to the action
of a boiling liquid; as, boiled meat; a boiled dinner; boiled clothes....
Plaster (13 Occurrences)
... The Arabic word for mortar is Tin, which really means "clay." The Hebrew sidh,
literally, "toboil up," refers to the boiling of the water with which the lime...
Bake (13 Occurrences)
... Bake that which you want to bake, andboil that which you want toboil; and all
that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.'" (WEB...
Resources
What does the Bible say about cancer? | GotQuestions.orgWhat can we learn from the tribe of Simeon? | GotQuestions.orgWhat is the Anthropic Principle? | GotQuestions.orgBoil: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
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