{{Short description|Archaic word for hemorrhoids}} '''''<nowiki/>'Emerods'''''' is an archaic term for hemorrhoids. Derived from the Old{{nbsp}}French word {{lang|fro|emoroyde}}, it was used as the common English term until the nineteenth century, after which it was replaced in medicine by a direct transliteration of the Ancient Greek etymon, {{langx|grc|αἱμορροΐς|haimorrhoḯs|label=none}}.{{zwj}}<ref>{{cite book| title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English |author= Fowler FG |edition=7th |year=1919 }}</ref>
The word is most commonly encountered in the King{{nbsp}}James Bible{{nbsp}}({{abbr|KJV|King James Version}}), where it appears in the First Book{{nbsp}}of Samuel describing a plague that afflicted the Philistines who had captured the Ark{{nbsp}}of the Covenant from the Israelites. Chapter{{nbsp}}5 of 1{{nbsp}}Samuel describes a "plague of emerods" that smote the people of Ashdod in their "secret parts", causing many to die.{{zwj}}<ref>{{Bibleverse|1 Sam|5:6|KJV}}</ref> According to chapter{{nbsp}}6, the plague was not relieved until the Philistines returned the Ark{{nbsp}}of the Covenant to the Israelites, along with a trespass offering of "five golden emerods and five golden{{nbsp}}mice" (the "plague of emerods" occurred simultaneously with a plague of mice).{{zwj}}<ref>{{Bibleverse|1 Sam|6:4|KJV}}</ref> The concept of "golden hemorrhoids" has on occasion given rise to puzzlement or humor.{{zwj}}<ref>{{cite journal |title=A Bible Disease |journal=Freethinker |author=Forder R |volume=10 |year=1890 |page=39 |publisher=G. W. Foote & Co. Ltd. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W1wvAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA39 }}</ref>
Modern scholars have pointed out that the Hebrew{{nbsp}}term {{langx|he|עפלים|apholim|label=none|rtl=yes}}, translated "emerods" in the{{nbsp}}{{abbr|KJV|King James Version}}, could also be translated as "tumors", as is done in the {{nowr|19th-century}} Revised Version of the{{nbsp}}{{abbr|KJV|King James Version}}.{{zwj}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.internationalstandardbible.com/E/emerods.html |title=Emerods |encyclopedia=International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Online |author=Alex. Macalister |access-date=8 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240815033412/http://www.internationalstandardbible.com/E/emerods.html |archive-date=2024-08-15 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the fourth {{nowr|century A.D.}}, Jerome in the Vulgate translated it as "swellings of the secret parts".{{zwj}}<ref>{{cite journal |author=Conrad LI |title=The biblical tradition for the plague of the Philistines |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=104 |issue=2 |year=1984 |pages=281–7|doi=10.2307/602172 |jstor=602172 }}</ref> It has often been speculated that the "plague of emerods" was actually an outbreak of bubonic plague, and that the "plague of mice" was actually a plague of rats, which are not distinguished from mice in Ancient Hebrew.{{zwj}}<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Khan IA |title=Plague: the dreadful visitation occupying the human mind for centuries |journal=Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. |volume=98 |issue=5 |pages=270–7 |year=2004 |pmid=15109549 |doi=10.1016/S0035-9203(03)00059-2 }}</ref> Other scholars have identified the "plague of emerods" with other medical conditions, such as bilharziasis,{{zwj}}<ref>{{cite journal|author=King DF |title=The biblical plague of 'hemorrhoids' An outbreak of bilharziasis |journal=The American Journal of Dermatopathology |year=1985 |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=341–6 |doi=10.1097/00000372-198508000-00005 |pmid=3939579 }}</ref> or the bites of camel spiders.{{zwj}}<ref>{{cite book| author=Punzo F |title=The Biology of Camel-Spiders: Arachnida, Solifugae |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2012 |page=3 |isbn=978-1-4615-5727-2 |oclc=851704983 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4615-5727-2 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * {{wikt-inline}}
Category:Archaic English words and phrases Category:Bible versions and translations Category:Diseases of veins, lymphatic vessels and lymph nodes Category:Obsolete medical terms