Pestilence

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

Pestilence ( λοιμός).—The word is found twice in the Gospels, in both cases in the prophecy of Christ regarding the last days ( Matthew 24:7 [Authorized Version; Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885, following WH [Note: H Westcott and Hort’s text.] and others, omits],  Luke 21:11). In the OT the word is used in a generic sense, and usually indicates a direct Divine visitation ( Leviticus 26:25,  Numbers 14:12,  1 Chronicles 21:14,  Psalms 78:50 etc.). The disease, whatever its nature, is not rarely associated with war and its consequences ( Jeremiah 24:10;  Jeremiah 29:17;  Jeremiah 34:17,  Ezekiel 6:11 etc.). Thus it seems to be used by Christ in the texts quoted.

The specific meaning of the word λοιμός is not easily determined. It seems to indicate a swiftly-developing and mortal illness, contagious or infectious in its nature, as we may infer from  Acts 24:5. It may point to the glandular or bubonic plague, well known and universally dreaded by the ancients, and the great scourge of the world in the Middle Ages. (See Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible, iii. pp. 324, 755).

Henry E. Dosker.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words

Deber ( דֶּבֶר , Strong'S #1698), “pestilence.” The meaning of the cognate word varies in other Semitic languages from the Hebrew. In Ugaritic, dbr probably signifies “death.” The Arabic word dabrat means “misfortune,” similar to the Akkadian dibiru , “misfortune.” The word occurs fewer than 60 times in the Old Testament, and mainly in the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

The meaning of deber is best denoted by the English word “pestilence” or “plague.” A country might be quickly reduced in population by the “plague” (cf. 2 Sam. 24:13ff.). The nature of the “plague” (bubonic or other) is often difficult to determine from the contexts, as the details of medical interest are not given or are scanty. In the prophetical writings, the “plague” occurs with other disasters: famine, flood, and the sword: “When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence” (Jer. 14:12).

The Septuagint gives the following translation: thanatos (“death”).

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Exodus 9:15 Jeremiah 15:2 Habakkuk 3:5 Amos 4:10 2 Samuel 24:16 1 Chronicles 21:15 Numbers 14:12 Deuteronomy 24:24 Deuteronomy 28:21 Amos 4:10 Exodus 9:16 1 Kings 8:37 Jeremiah 14:12 Exodus 5:3 Leviticus 26:25 Amos 4:10 Luke 21:11

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Or Plague in the Hebrew tongue, as in most others, expresses all sorts of distempers and calamitites. The Hebrew word which properly signifies "the plague" is extended to all epidemical and contagious diseases. The prophets generally connect together the sword, the pestilence, and the famine, as three evils, which usually accompany each other.

The glandular plague, which in modern times has proved so fatal in the East, is the most virulent and contagious of diseases. In the fourteenth century it overran Europe, Asia, and Africa, and 25,000,000 are estimated to have died of it within three years. Like the Asiatic cholera, it is one of the most appalling scourges sin has brought on this world; and may in this point of view correspond with the "plagues" referred to in the Bible,  Exodus 9:14   11:1   1 Kings 8:37 .

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) Specifically, the disease known as the plague; hence, any contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating.

(2): ( n.) Fig.: That which is pestilent, noxious, or pernicious to the moral character of great numbers.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

This is often mentioned along with the sword and the famine as punishment from God upon His rebellious people. It is represented as being sent directly by God Himself. When David had numbered the people, the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel, and there died 70,000 men.  2 Samuel 24:15,16 .

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

or plague, generally is used by the Hebrews for all epidemic or contagious diseases. The prophets usually connect together sword, pestilence, and famine, being three of the most grievous inflictions of the Almighty upon a guilty people. See Diseases .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Pestilence. See Plague, The.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

PESTILENCE . See Medicine, p. 598b.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

pes´ti - lens ( דּבר , debher  ; λοιμός , loimós ): Any sudden fatal epidemic is designated by this word, and in its Biblical use it generally indicates that these are divine visitations. The word is most frequently used in the prophetic books, and it occurs 25 times in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, always associated with the sword and famine. In 4 other passages it is combined with noisome or evil beasts, or war. In   Amos 4:10 this judgment is compared with the plagues of Egypt, and in   Habakkuk 3:5 it is a concomitant of the march of God from the Arabian mountain. There is the same judicial character associated with pestilence in   Exodus 5:3;  Exodus 9:15;  Leviticus 26:25;  Numbers 14:12;  Deuteronomy 28:21;  2 Samuel 24:21;  1 Chronicles 21:12;  Ezekiel 14:19 ,  Ezekiel 14:21 . In the dedication prayer of Solomon, a special value is besought for such petitions against pestilence as may be presented toward the temple ( 2 Chronicles 6:28 ). Such a deliverance is promised to those who put their trust in God ( Psalm 91:6 ). Here the pestilence is called noisome, a shortened form of "annoysome," used in the sense of "hateful" or that which causes trouble or distress. In modern English it has acquired the sense of loathsome. "Noisome" is used by Tyndale where the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) have "hurtful" in  1 Timothy 6:9 .

The Latin word pestilentia is connected with pestis , "the plague," but pestilence is used of any visitation and is not the name of any special disease; debher is applied to diseases of cattle and is translated "murrain."

In the New Testament pestilence is mentioned in our Lord's eschatological discourse ( Matthew 24:7 the King James Version;   Luke 21:11 ) coupled with famine. The assonance of loimós and limós in these passages ( loimos is omitted in the Revised Version (British and American) passage for Mt) occurs in several classical passages, e.g. Herodotus vii. 171. The pestilence is said to walk in darkness (  Psalm 91:6 ) on account of its sudden onset out of obscurity not associated with any apparent cause.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

is the invariable rendering in the A.V. (except in  Exodus 9:3, "murrain," and in  Hosea 13:14, "plagues") of the Heb. דֶּבֶר , Deber (Sept. usually Θάνατος ) , which originally seems to mean simply Destruction, but is regularly applied to that common Oriental epidemic The Plague (q.v.). The same term is also used in the Hebrew Scriptures for all epidemic or contagious diseases ( Leviticus 26:25). The writers everywhere attribute it either to the agency of God himself or of that legate or angel whom they denominate מלא , malak; hence the Sept. renders the word דבר , Deber, or pestilence, in  Psalms 91:6, by Δαιμόνιον Μεσήμβρινον , "the daemon of noonday," and Jonathan also renders the same word in the Chaldee Targum ( Habakkuk 3:5) by the Chaldee word לא , angel or messenger. The prophets usually connect together sword, pestilence, and famine, being three of the most grievous inflictions of the Almighty upon a guilty people ( 2 Samuel 24:19). In the N.T. the term rendered "pestilence" is Λοιμός ( Matthew 24:7;  Luke 21:11; "pestilent fellow,"  Acts 24:5). (See Disease).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

The terms pestilence and plague are used with much laxity in our Authorized Version. The latter, however, is by far the wider term, as we read of 'plagues of leprosy,' 'of hail,' and of many other visitations. Pestilence is employed to denote a deadly epidemic. In our time however, both these terms are nearly synonymous; but plague is, by medical writers at least, restricted to mean the glandular plague of the East. There is indeed no description of any pestilence in the Bible, which would enable us to form an adequate idea of its specific character. Severe epidemics are the common accompaniments of dense crowding in cities, and of famine; and we accordingly often find them mentioned in connection (;;;; ). But there is no better argument for believing that 'pestilence' in these instances means the glandular plague, than the fact of its being at present a prevalent epidemic of the East. It is also remarkable that the Mosaic law, which contains such strict rules for the seclusion of lepers, should have allowed a disease to pass unnoticed, which is above all others the most deadly, and, at the same time, the most easily checked by sanitary regulations of the same kind.