the Greek historian Herodotus recounted that the Assyrian army was visited by a plague of mice, and that the mice ate their bowstrings, shields and other leather weapons. The army was most likely killed by a virulent plague. The next morning, they were mostly dead and defenseless so they ran.
Yeah, that’s one of the things I love about Herodotus, he records what he was told, sometimes expressing his own doubts about it, or, he’ll mention that he’d been told something but outright says, I don’t believe it and won’t record it. :^)
His discussion of the out-of-season flooding of the Nile is probably my favorite — he gives the three explanations that he was told, including the correct one, expresses doubt about all of them, then cooks up a whopper of a suggestion of his own. :^)
"The Ark of the Covenant, a sacred relic in the Hebrew Bible, is a gold-plated wooden chest containing the Ten Commandments. According to biblical accounts, the Philistines, who had captured the Ark, suffered a series of plagues, including “tumors and boils” (1 Samuel 5:6-7) and a “scourge of mice” (1 Samuel 6:4-5) that destroyed their grain. In response, the Philistines returned the Ark to the Israelites, accompanied by a trespass offering of “five golden emerods and five golden mice” (1 Samuel 6:4)."
Emerods and Mice
"The term “emerods” is an archaic word for hemorrhoids, while “mice” likely refers to rats or rodents. The plague of emerods and mice was a manifestation of God’s wrath against the Philistines for their treatment of the Ark. The golden replicas of these plagues served as a symbol of the Philistines’ acknowledgment of their wrongdoing and their desire to appease God."
There are two recorded instances of what is probably Bubonic Plague mentioned in connection with ancient Isreal in the Bible. (Pharaoh the Immune and the plagues of Egypt are Ex-Isreal.) I have no problem with miracles and science existing at the same time. (It irritates the atheist left so a good thing.)
Living in Kansas, one of the states that has occasional cases of bubonic plague, this is not a "dead" issue for the modern world!
Digression 1) The Egyptian fascination and worship of cats is easy to understand in context of Egypt's dependence on the production of grain for food. The cats were agents of protection which killed the mice and rats that depleted and destroyed their stores of grain.
Digression 2) "Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days." Ecclesiastes 11:1 should be understood in the context of Egyptian agriculture practices which involved planting your seed grain in the Nile delta just as the annual inundation of the Nile receded. Farmers in the Delta sowed your seed in the receding water and silt and it grew to maturity without any additional intervention. This saying survived from the time of the sojourn in Egypt and would not generally in the Dry Land farming practices in the hill country or plains of Jezreel. (You sow your seed and rely on rains to water your crop.)
**Note that modern translations seem to treat this as encouragement to engage in trade: "Put your grain in a boat and send it over seas where they will buy it and send you money" which is totally destructive to the historical agricultural connection.
"The Ark of the Covenant, a sacred relic in the Hebrew Bible, is a gold-plated wooden chest containing the Ten Commandments. According to biblical accounts, the Philistines, who had captured the Ark, suffered a series of plagues, including “tumors and boils” (1 Samuel 5:6-7) and a “scourge of mice” (1 Samuel 6:4-5) that destroyed their grain. In response, the Philistines returned the Ark to the Israelites, accompanied by a trespass offering of “five golden emerods and five golden mice” (1 Samuel 6:4)."
Emerods and Mice
"The term “emerods” is an archaic word for hemorrhoids, while “mice” likely refers to rats or rodents. The plague of emerods and mice was a manifestation of God’s wrath against the Philistines for their treatment of the Ark. The golden replicas of these plagues served as a symbol of the Philistines’ acknowledgment of their wrongdoing and their desire to appease God."
There are two recorded instances of what is probably Bubonic Plague mentioned in connection with ancient Isreal in the Bible. (Pharaoh the Immune and the plagues of Egypt are Ex-Isreal.) I have no problem with miracles and science existing at the same time. (It irritates the atheist left so a good thing.)
Living in Kansas, one of the states that has occasional cases of bubonic plague, this is not a "dead" issue for the modern world!
Digression 1) The Egyptian fascination and worship of cats is easy to understand in context of Egypt's dependence on the production of grain for food. The cats were agents of protection which killed the mice and rats that depleted and destroyed their stores of grain.
Digression 2) "Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days." Ecclesiastes 11:1 should be understood in the context of Egyptian agriculture practices which involved planting your seed grain in the Nile delta just as the annual inundation of the Nile receded. Farmers in the Delta sowed your seed in the receding water and silt and it grew to maturity without any additional intervention. This saying survived from the time of the sojourn in Egypt and would not generally in the Dry Land farming practices in the hill country or plains of Jezreel. (You sow your seed and rely on rains to water your crop.)
**Note that modern translations seem to treat this as encouragement to engage in trade: "Put your grain in a boat and send it over seas where they will buy it and send you money" which is totally destructive to the historical agricultural connection.