Medicine

Concise Bible Dictionary:

On the banks of the future river that will flow from the sanctuary, trees will grow, of which it is said, “The fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine” (Ezek. 47:1212And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. (Ezekiel 47:12)). This agrees with Revelation 22:22In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:2). The prophet Jeremiah twice observes that when God brings His judgments upon a people, no medicine will cure them (Jer. 30:1313There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines. (Jeremiah 30:13); Jer. 46:1111Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured. (Jeremiah 46:11)). Proverbs 17:22A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren. (Proverbs 17:2)2 Says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine,” or “promoteth healing.”

“453. Oil Used Medicinally” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Oil is used in the East not only for anointing, but also for medicinal purposes. There are some complaints in the head which are supposed to be specially relieved by the use of certain oils. Other kinds of oil, however, are said to produce delirium. The “excellent oil” in the text was the kind that cured. Roberts adds to this statement of the medicinal use of oils on the head the fact that in Judea “the crown of the head is the place selected for chastisement. Thus, owners of slaves, or husbands, or schoolmasters, beat the heads of the offenders with their knuckles.” The Hindus have figurative forms of speech very similar to the text: “Let a holy man smite my head! and what of that? it is an excellent oil.” “My master has been beating my head, but it has been good oil for me.”

“480. Treatment of Wounds” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Isaiah 1: 6. They have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
The Hebrews had but little knowledge of surgery, less than the Egyptians. They seldom used inward remedies, but trusted mainly to outward applications. See note on Proverbs 3:88It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. (Proverbs 3:8) (#457). The text illustrates the treatment of wounds; they were “closed,” that is, the lips of the wound were pressed together and bound, that cohesion of the parts might be effected. “There was, and is, no sewing up of wounds in the East; and hence the edges, healing without being perfectly united, make the scar of a wound more conspicuous and disfiguring than with us. The only attempt to produce cohesion is by ‘binding up’ the wound, after the edges have been as far as possible ‘closed’ by simple pressure” (Kitto, Daily Bible Illus., vol. 6, 25).

Related Books and Articles:

453. Oil Used Medicinally
480. Treatment of Wounds