Medicine is the area of study that deals with finding out what makes people sick, helping them get better, and keeping them from getting sick. It also includes the things used to do these tasks.
Ancient Near Eastern Medical Practices
In the period of the Old Testament, the Israelites did not focus much on medicine. However, medical knowledge was important in the nearby cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt. The Assyrian king Ashurbanipal had 800 tablets about medicine in his library. These writings show that medicine then mixed religion, fortune-telling, and belief in demons. Their medical texts were long and used tools like dog dung and human urine. Some physicians did surgeries. A way of diagnosing someone in Babylon was to compare the liver of a fresh animal with a clay model of a healthy liver. The differences between the two would diagnose the condition of the patient. Ezekiel 21:21 mentions this practice, along with divination.
Egyptian medicine was more like modern medicine and used logic and observation. The Edwin-Smith papyrus, the oldest surgical document, describes treatments for the following issues:
fractures
dislocations
wounds
tumors
ulcers
They also used certain tools to treat patients, like:
adhesive plaster (sticky bandages used to cover wounds)
surgical stitching (using stitches to hold the edges of a wound together)
cauterization (burning part of the body to close a wound)
Egyptians knew that the heart was the center of the circulatory system, and they would measure a patient's pulse.
The Ebers papyrus discusses how to treat internal problems and possible medicines, such as enemas. They used many substances in medicine, like:
castor oil
animal fat
hot sand
Other papyri (ancient Egyptian documents written on material made from the papyrus plant) discuss reproductive issues and contain a mixture of medicine and magical incantations to treat them. Egyptians were skilled at mummification. Special chemicals were used to treat dead bodies (known as embalming), and then the bodies were wrapped tightly with cloth. Even Joseph had his father Jacob embalmed (Genesis 50:2).
Medical Practices in Israel
The Israelites in Old Testament times understood disease differently from their neighbors. They did share their superstitions so they did not develop medical knowledge like the Egyptians and Babylonians. The Israelites believed sickness was a judgment from God (Exodus 15:26; Deuteronomy 28:22, 35, 60–61; John 9:2). As a result, recovery was also a work of God (Exodus 15:26; Psalms 103:3). Because of this, King Asa was judged for relying on physicians instead of on God (2 Chronicles 16:12). So, their medical knowledge was less developed than their neighbors.
However, their largest contribution was the hygienic measures in the Law, particularly Leviticus 11–15. These rules are primarily religious, but they improved the health and physical well-being of the people. The priest was not a physician-priest, as in other cultures. However, the Israelite priest did identify the physical conditions that made a person ceremonially unclean. However, there is no evidence that priests treated diseases.
Surgical Procedures in Scripture
The only surgery in Scripture is circumcision, a procedure where the foreskin of the male reproductive organ is removed. Once again, this was religious rather than medical. Circumcision was not done by a physician but by the head of the house (Exodus 4:25). Ezekiel 30:21 mentions treating a broken arm with a splint.
Midwives offered care in childbirth (Genesis 35:17). In Genesis 38:27–30, a midwife delivers a set of twins through a complicated birth. Even the most skilled doctor would have trouble with this birth, so the midwife was highly capable, and the mother and both babies survived. Exodus 1:15–21 mentions the use of birth stools. This was a tool to help deliver a baby.
Greek Influence on Medicine in the New Testament Era
In New Testament times, Greek medicine was influential in the Mediterranean world. Hippocrates and other Greek physicians created the foundation of modern medicine by offering a rational basis for medical treatment. Mark 5:26 shows that doctors were available in Israel. Rabbis ordered that every town must have a physician, and some rabbis were doctors.
Specific Biblical Remedies and Treatments
The Bible sometimes mentions specific medical remedies.
People used mandrakes to increase sexual desire or arousal (Genesis 30:14; Song of Solomon 7:13).
People used ashes to help with boils by drying the skin (Job 2:7–8).
People used balm, though it is unclear how they used it (Jeremiah 8:22; 46:11).
There are some less effective treatments listed:
Isaiah instructs Hezekiah to put a lump of figs on his boils (2 Kings 20:7).
Naaman cures his leprosy by dipping seven times in the Jordan.
Jesus heals blindness by applying mud to the eyes.
Spiritual and Physical Health
Proverbs 17:22 shows the positive effect of cheerfulness on mental health.
Wine was used as medicine several times in Scripture:
Proverbs 31:6 speaks positively of its ability to lift the mood
Sour wine was offered to Jesus on the cross to soothe his pain (John 19:29)
Paul suggests to Timothy that he drink wine to ease his stomach pain (1 Timothy 5:23). Medical experts today agree that wine in moderation can help with digestion and blood circulation. However, too much is unhealthy in many ways.
The good Samaritan used oil and wine to treat the wounds of the injured man (Luke 10:34). The alcohol in the wine would have cleansed the wound. But, it would also allow bacteria to spread under the surface of the wound. The oil would limit this spread and ease the pain. A dressing was put on the wound, and the patient was taken to rest.
In Revelation 3:18, the Laodicean church is told to use eye salve. Laodicea was famous for its local remedy for weak eyes. So, this was an appropriate metaphor to use to warn the church of its weakening spiritual vision.