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RES OBSTETRICA IN THE BIBLE *
Author(s) -
Miller Douglas
Publication year - 1953
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1953.tb06406.x
Subject(s) - miller , citation , humanities , library science , philosophy , computer science , biology , ecology
In any approach to a study of medicine in the Bible three facts of fundamental importance must be borne in mind. The first is that from the days of Abraham until the revolutionary teaching of Jesus of Nazareth-“ God maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew v, 45) material prosperity and physical welfare were regarded essentially as signs of God’s favour and the reward of obedience to His law, just as adversity and sickness were accepted as divine visitations and the direct consequences of transgression. “ If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God . . . and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians : for I am the Lord that healeth thee” (Exodus xv, 26). And by contrast: “ If ye walk contrary unto me I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins . . . and upon them that are left alive of you I will send faintness into their hearts; the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them, and they shall flee as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth ” (Leviticus xxvi, 36). Since God was the one source of life and health so He was the only healer and, at least until the end of Solomon’s reign, there were no physicians among the Hebrews. The priesthood was the divine agent and the health of the community was its exclusive province and responsibility. The second fact to remember is that the Mosaic laws of health were designed with the primary object of increasing the manpower and developing the health and vigour of the people against the hazards of a prolonged sojourn in the desert and in preparation for the conquest