UNSANITARY CONDITIONS
62Cleanliness is next to Godliness so say most Christians. Think about this seriously. Today it is easy to to that with all the disinfectants,around clean water, filters, regulations on what can and cannot be passed in the waters and so on and so forth. We have separate rooms to bath in and do our business in and it is all in a safe manner. Third world nations still do not have these amenities and therefore pass around sicknesses over and over again. The most common cause is their water. Almost every disease is passed in water.
In biblical days they did not have sanitation rules and regulations. So where do you think they did their business? They wore long garments in Jesus's places that dragged on the ground which dragged stuff around with them and into the very waters they bathed and drank from. How in the world could they be clean. Oh they thought they were. I won't even go into what they would pick up from walking in animal excretement. Jesus gave his diciples power to heal this sick and vanish unclean spirits, bu what were those unclean spirits and demons they were to eradicate. I will shed some light on these things from how and what they used to treat these unsanitary conditions.
Unsanitary Conditions
So where do you supposed people in Jesus's times went to the bathroom. No one ever talks about these things or what they were and how they cured them, if they were even cured. Those things were left out of the Bible.
They made small pits in the desert. They used a tool to dig out a pit about 6 inches deep. It was shallow because a small shovel could not dig very deep into the hard ground they walked on. They did have select areas that this was done in so that was a little sanitary BUT, think about it. When one goes number 2 sometimes it is loose or sprays if they are sick and the same with number 1. Where would this excretement or fecal matter land? It would land on their very clothing. After burying it they would walk over it and possibly, most likely more like it, they would step in someone elses that was burrieed days or weeks before. What grows in tht stuff? Diseases and many of them. Now think a bit further and think about where they swent next and what was being carried on their shoes and clothing. No we certainly don't do this in today's world. The waters flow over us and into a septic system. They idn't have that back then. They had no place to wash their hands and no disinfectant soaps like we have today. So what was Jesus healing and what Demons was he vanishing out of the bodies of the posessed?
Diseases From Contaminated Water
Fecal mater, as we just discussed came along with the people as they emorsed themselves in the public baths in the streams and in the rivers where they visited. Talk about baptising. Not cleansing but adding to the health problems instead.
Diseases tht come from Fecal Matter are: Hepatitis, Legionarres Disease, cancers, will make women abort children, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, Giardia and Cryptosporidium , E-coli, and many more. Some of which we still do not have cures for.
Worms are a very frequent problem found in human Feces and love our digestive tracts. Some of them actually love to have their babies in our intestinal tracts and they cause a myriad of diseases and problems too. There are other ways in which worms would enter the bodies and you can get read up on those and they have pictures to look at on the site Parasites - Gross Pictures and Videos
Some of these conditions and diseases would clear up in a person who had them within a week or two. Some of them never cleared up. Some of them like in the pictres on that site look like things they would discribe as in the bleeding of the eyes and such things people had no idea what they really were. They used the only description they could think of.
I bet Jesus knew this. Heck he went to Egypt and India and all over the world and he would have known about all these dieases and conditions and ways to treat them. Not once it is told in the Bible that Jesus carried a medicin bag with him and not once does it say that they used certain herbs or plants that could diminish the effects of these diseases or even cure them. They were though and he had to have given the disciples them too as he gave them the power to do so.
Herbs And Cures
To cure someone in Jesus's time was consider witchery. Jesus even told many not to tell others that he cured them. Many herbs were used in his day and many knew of the herbs and what would cure wha. It was all natural then. We have the same problem today with the Natral versus Chemical cures. The two don't seem to mix. Christians would rather think of these things as demons, but they really aren't. Some of those demons are things people can't see or understand. I wrote an article about that and you can read it here
Jesus knew very much about all these herbs and plants and what properties they had and what they could do to certain ailments and diseases of humans.
Just a few of the herbs and plants that he used are:
"Aloe (Aquilari agalloche) is believed to be the only tree descended to man from the Garden of Eden.
(Numbers 24:6) Like valleys that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the Lord has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters.
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) is referenced several times in the Old Testament.
(Exodus 16:31) Now the house of Israel called its name manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
Cumin (Cuminum cyminum) is an herb native to the upper areas of the Nile, mentioned in the Bible, along with Mint (Mentha sp.), when Jesus reproved the scribes.
(Matthew 23:23) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others."
Garlic (Allium sativum) is mentioned only once in the Bible. It was held in great esteem by the ancient Egyptians.
(Numbers 11:5) "We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic."
Hyssop (Sorghum vulgare) is known as the holy herb. Hyssop was used to cleanse the temples and other sacred places of the Egyptians. David mentions hyssop in Psalms 51:7. Hyssop as we know it may or may not be the hyssop mentioned by David. There is some debate since the derivation of the name hyssop is in the Greek word hussopos and the Hebrew esob, meaning simply, "holy herb."
(Psalms 51:7) Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Mustard (Brassica nigra) is described in Matthew 13:31 as "the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof."
Rose (Rosa spp.) The name for a rose is almost the same in every European language. Dried roses have been found in Egyptian tombs.
(Isaiah 35:1) The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the rose.
Rue (Ruta graveolens) has long been the symbol of sorrow and repentance, and may have been nicknamed the "herb of grace" in Christian times for the grace given by God following repentance for one’s sins. Brushes made from rue were once used to sprinkle holy water at the ceremony preceding High Mass.
(Luke 11:42) "But woe to you Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others."
Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) is frequently mentioned in Scripture, always for its bitterness. According to legend, wormwood grew up in the trail left by the serpent’s tail as it slithered out of the Garden of Eden.
(Jeremiah 23:15) Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets: "Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and give them poisoned water to drink; for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone forth into all the land."
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a symbol of fidelity and remembrance once used in the holiest of Christian ceremonies, the wedding and the funeral. For centuries people thought that the rosemary plant would never grow higher than 6 feet in 33 years so as not to stand taller than Christ. Another story tells that the flowers were originally white, but changed to blue when the Virgin Mary hung her cloak on the bush while fleeing from Herod’s soldiers with the Christ child.
Costmary (Chrysanthemem balsamita) is also known as Bible leaf because in Colonial times a leaf served as a bookmark in Bibles and prayer books. When drowsiness set in, the sleeper treated himself to the minty leaf to stay awake.
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) and Dill (Anethum graveolens) were carried to prayer meetings in Colonial times in small pouches. The seeds were used to curb the appetite. They were called "meeting seeds."
Read more about thise things at: http://www.herbsociety-stu.org/bible_herbs.htm
- Ancient Medicine: In Case of Emergency, Contact Your Local Prophet - Biblical Archaeology Review
Ancient Medicine: In Case of Emergency, Contact Your Local Prophet - Bible Topics: Diseases
- Biblical Leprosy: Shedding Light on the Disease that Shuns - Answers in Genesis
Leprosy has terrified humanity since ancient times and was reported as early as 600 BC in India, China, and Egypt. Hansen’s disease is still a major health problem. - Herbal Remedies- Medicinal Uses of Common Herb Garden Herbs
Medicinal properties of common “herb garden” herbs. Herbal remedies, health benefits of basil, lemon balm, oregano, parsley, peppermint, rosemary, thyme.
Unclean Animals
Leviticu 11 tells NOAH and his sons what they could and couldn't eat and how to clean themselves if they did touch unclean animals. Nowhere does it state that they would die if they touched or ate of them. It only states that they would be unclean until EVENING. When there was the flood all the animal and human excretement flowed into the waters. That in itself would make anything that swam, drank or washed in those waters unclen and full of diseases, worm and other parasites. Therefore don't eat of anything that drank in or swam in or touched the waters that were contaminated. They did have to wash to clean themselves p did they not? What water did they do that with if all waters were bad., Well they knew about fire and how to build one and they had bowls and such. They could have boild some waters that would clean things. Most things that were in the dirty wters or washed or drank from them would already be contaminated and spread it through to the humans. Common Sense here. Back in the days of NOAH they did not know about how to cook Pork or any fish or other food to well done. Not enough to kill off any parasites that would be in it. Hence the warning of not eating such things. We know of these things now so it is safe to eat such animals. We also have a myriad of cures for such things and we also know about good sanitation.
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I love to read your work,Thank you for touching topics some wont dare to write about.Especially where religion is concerned.I enjoyed reading this.Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs.
Does not make me want to live back in those days. Thank goodness for modern medicine!
Very interesting, and full of great detail, but I still prefer to believe in the truth of miracles, having seen their operation in my own life.
Jesus wasn't just a herbalist.
I'll vote up. Interesting list of herbs. To the list of problems facing people in Biblical times I would also add the freshness of the meat they were eating. No refrigeration in desert conditions basically meant the meat had to be prepared for table quickly after the beast had been slaughtered. This did not always happen. It certainly did not always happen in Europe in medieval times. The poor had to make do with less than perfect meat. Hence the spice trade. It developed around the idea that if the meat tasted good it wouldn't be that bad for you. As for fish, I know there was a drying out process. I also know there was a sauce made from fish that was popular in Constantinople in Crusader times that was no doubt popular much earlier on. How good was the drying out process or the sauce I don't know but legend has it that the smell of fish in Constantinople was so strong you could smell it for ten miles in any direction before entering the city. Leprosy was rampant in biblical times because of unsanitary conditions. It certainly was around during the Crusades. There was one Crusader king of Jerusalem who contracted leprosy as a child. I have never personally seen the effects of leprosy but I have seen the effects of full blown skin cancer. I had an uncle who died from it. What it can do to a person's face is horrific. I do wonder if skin cancer wasn't also around in Jesus' time. I can't see the locals getting in but I can imagine people from parts of Italy maybe coming down with it. I also believe that skin cancer would have been rampant among European Crusaders not born and bred to desert conditions. Aloe is something from biblical times and earlier you have mentioned that wouldn't cure skin cancer but would at least sooth the affected skin. I sometimes wonder if skin cancer wasn't sometimes mistaken for leprosy even though any competent medic today could easily tell them apart. My thoughts at any rate.
You're welcome. You are right about leprosy. Some forms are highly contagious while others are not contagious or are only contagious during certain stages of the disease. The king of Jerusalem I mentioned is featured in the film Kingdom of Heaven starring Orlando Bloom. I had come across references to him earlier in a book on the Knights Templar but there was no mention of him wearing an ornate mask to hide his facial disfigurement as he did in the movie. The mask, however, does make sense.
What I am referring to as something I personally was a witness to was a person who suffered a severe brain haemorage, and was given up on totally by the doctors, making a sudden and complete recovery after being prayed for. No medical explanation could be given for this.
About a year later the exact same scenario was repeated in the case of the same person. The doctors were again left incredulous.
I am a rational person, but I believe both those were instances of divine intervention.
If miracles could occur in Ireland in the nineteen seventies, they certainly could in Palestine in the first century.
Faith in the power of God is the key.
If it is faith in yourself he was talking about solely, how is it that miracles occur by the power of God, or was I hallucinating when I witnessed it happening?
This is a subject that we will never agree on.
"One man/woman's meat is another man/woman's poison". I can say no more.
very interesting. I'd never really thought about this before...
well, a new perspective is always nice. Keeps things fresh :-)




















Deborah Brooks 4 months ago
Wow great and interesting hub...the herbs are great idea...I love the scripture too...great read..debbie