PLAGUE.—The word ‘plague’ is used in the Gospels to render the Greek word μάστιξ, which means a whip or scourge (cf. Acts 22:24, Hebrews 11:36). In the Apocalypse the word πληγή, from which the English word is formed, is exclusively used. In the Gospels the word occurs only four times (Mark 3:10; Mark 5:29; Mark 5:34 and Luke 7:21). In each of these passages it is used of distressing bodily disease, and carries the implication that such afflictions are Divine chastisements. The word is therefore used in a figurative sense, and there is no reference to the bubonic disease which is the scourge of India to-day. See art. Disease.
W. W. Holdsworth.