Emerods
Emerods is an archaic term for hemorrhoids. Derived from the OldFrench word emoroyde, it was used as the common English term until the nineteenth century, after which it was replaced in medicine by a direct transliteration of the Ancient Greek etymon,.
The word is most commonly encountered in the KingJames Bible, where it appears in the First [Book of Samuel|First Bookof Samuel] describing a plague that afflicted the Philistines who had captured the Arkof the Covenant from the Israelites. Chapter5 of 1Samuel describes a "plague of emerods" that smote the people of Ashdod in their "secret parts", causing many to die. According to chapter6, the plague was not relieved until the Philistines returned the Arkof the Covenant to the Israelites, along with a trespass offering of "five golden emerods and five goldenmice". The concept of "golden hemorrhoids" has on occasion given rise to puzzlement or humor.
Modern scholars have pointed out that the Hebrewterm, translated "emerods" in the, could also be translated as "tumors", as is done in the Revised Version of the. In the fourth, Jerome in the Vulgate translated it as "swellings of the secret parts". It has often been speculated that the "plague of emerods" was actually an outbreak of bubonic plague, and that the "plague of mice" was actually a plague of rats, which are not distinguished from mice in Ancient Hebrew. Other scholars have identified the "plague of emerods" with other medical conditions, such as bilharziasis, or the bites of camel spiders.