Bible Dictionary
Boil
A boil was an aggravated ulcer or painful skin eruption. Severe boils are recorded among the plagues of Egypt, in the judgments of Deuteronomy, and in Job’s affliction.
Definition
A boil is an aggravated ulcer or painful skin eruption. The term may describe the severe sores suffered by Hezekiah, the Egyptians, and Job, and is also rendered “botch” in Deuteronomy.
Biblical Usage
Boils appear in the sixth plague upon Egypt, among the judgments threatened in Deuteronomy, and in Job’s affliction. Job’s disease has been understood as black leprosy, though the supplied material presents this as probable rather than certain.
Historical Background
The supplied material identifies Job’s disease as probably the black leprosy.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
(rendered “botch” in Deut. 28:27, 35), an aggravated ulcer, as in the case of Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:7; Isa. 38:21) or of the Egyptians (Ex. 9:9, 10, 11; Deut. 28:27, 35). It designates the disease of Job (2:7), which was probably the black leprosy.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
[Medicine]