Pandemics Aren’t New—Just Look at Plagues in the Bible
Many Bible readers are familiar with the plague in Egypt at the time of the Exodus (Exod 7:14–12:32)—water turning to blood and infestations of frogs, lice, flies, locusts, and the like. With coronavirus on everyone’s mind, questions abound of whether the word “pandemic” appears in the Bible, too. The short answer is no—“pandemic” is not in the Bible. However, the words “plague” and “pestilence” are (no less than 122 times) and often reference individuals or nations1afflicted with a terrible illness.2 One Hebrew word often used is maggephah, which can mean slaughter (of battle), plague, pestilence (divine judgment), or a fatal blow, though there are other related words: neḡaʿ (Heb.) → plague, disease, stroke (metaphorical of disease) makkah (Heb.) → blow, wound, slaughter, plague, pestilence deber (Heb.) → pestilence, plague, murrain, cattle disease/plague mastix (Gr.) → a whip, scourge, plague (a calamity, misfortune) plēgē (Gr.) → a blow, str