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Going Biblical: Fascinating Divine Punishments Recounted in the Old Testament

Khalid Elhassan May 9, 2025 19 min

Punishment - The expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden — The expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Encyclopedia Britannica

5. Punishing the Philistines With Hemorrhoids?

Punishment - The Plague of Ashdod, by Nicholas Poussin — The Plague of Ashdod, by Nicholas Poussin. Wikimedia

The Old Testament adds that God next visited a devastating plague upon Ashdod’s population. Along with an infestation of mice, the text describes an outbreak of tumorous swellings. Some scholars see similarities to bubonic plague. Others saw similarities to the swellings caused by hemorrhoids. Whatever the affliction, it inflicted such intense suffering that the people of Ashdod demanded the Ark be removed from their city.

It was sent to other Philistine cities, Gath and Ekron, but wherever it went, the locals experienced similar afflictions. Death spread, and so did panic. Eventually, the Philistines accepted that keeping the Ark meant having to suffer continual catastrophe, and after seven months, they decided to return it to Israel.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.