Bible Dictionaries
Emerods

Holman Bible Dictionary

An archaic form of the word hemorrhoids used by the KJV for the disease(s) in Deuteronomy 28:27 and 1 Samuel 5-6 . It is impossible to identify the disease with certainty. Whatever its precise nature, the disease was regarded as incurable and fatal. Modern speech translations are agreed that the malady is likely not hemorrhoids. The underlying Hebrew term is rendered tumors except for the passage in Deuteronomy where NRSV and TEV opt for ulcers or sores. The presence of tumors associated with an infestation of mice has suggested bubonic plague to some interpreters. On the basis of the earliest Greek Old Testament reading, the NIV includes the margin reading “tumors of the groin.”