Bible Dictionary: Boil

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Smith's Bible Dictionary

Boil

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(rendered "botch" in Deuteronomy 28:27, 35), an aggravated ulcer, as in the case of Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:7; Isaiah 38:21) or of the Egyptians (Exodus 9:9, 10, 11; Deuteronomy 28:27, 35). It designates the disease of Job (2:7), which was probably the black leprosy.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (v.) To be agitated, or tumultuously moved, as a liquid by the generation and rising of bubbles of steam (or vapor), or of currents produced by heating it to the boiling point; to be in a state of ebullition; as, the water boils.

2. (v.) To be agitated like boiling water, by any other cause than heat; to bubble; to effervesce; as, the boiling waves.

3. (v.) To pass from a liquid to an aeriform state or vapor when heated; as, the water boils away.

4. (v.) To be moved or excited with passion; to be hot or fervid; as, his blood boils with anger.

5. (v.) To be in boiling water, as in cooking; as, the potatoes are boiling.

6. (v. t.) To heat to the boiling point, or so as to cause ebullition; as, to boil water.

7. (v. t.) To form, or separate, by boiling or evaporation; as, to boil sugar or salt.

8. (v. t.) To subject to the action of heat in a boiling liquid so as to produce some specific effect, as cooking, cleansing, etc.; as, to boil meat; to boil clothes.

9. (v. t.) To steep or soak in warm water.

10. (n.) Act or state of boiling.

11. (n.) A hard, painful, inflamed tumor, which, on suppuration, discharges pus, mixed with blood, and discloses a small fibrous mass of dead tissue, called the core.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

BOIL (1)

(noun) (shechin; helkos): A localized inflamed swelling. The Hebrew word is derived from a root probably meaning "to burn," and is used as a generic term for the sores in the sixth plague of Egypt (Exodus 9:9-11); for a sore which might be confounded with leprosy (Leviticus 13:18-23); for Job's malady (Job 2:7) and Hezekiah's disease (2 Kings 20:1 Isaiah 38:21). Our English word is derived from the verb "to beal," i.e. to suppurate, now obsolete except as a dialect word in Scotland and Ireland. Wyclif uses the name for Lazarus' sores (Luke 16:20), "houndis lickeden his bylis." The Egyptian word schn is the name of an abscess, and occurs in the reduplicated form chnchnt in Papyr. Ebers, CV. The plague of boils in Egypt came without warning immediately after the insect plagues of kinnim (sandflies) and that of `arobh or flies, and followed the epizootic murrain, which is suggestive in the light of the transmission of toxic germs by insects. It has been supposed by some to be elephantiasis, as Pliny says that this di sease was peculiar to Egypt (xxvi.5). A stronger case has been made out for its identity with confluent smallpox; but as it is not described as being a fatal disease, it may more probably have been an aggravated form of the ordinary gregarious furuncles or boils, due to the microbe streptococcus pyogenes.

Job's body is said to have been covered with itchy, irritating sores which made his face unrecognizable, Job 2:12, caused continual burning pain (Job 3:24; Job 6:4), and which were infested with maggots (Job 7:5) and exhaled a nauseous fetor (Job 19:17). His sleep was destroyed and his nervous system enfeebled (Job 3:26) so that he required assistance to move, as he sat in the ashes (Job 2:8). Various diagnoses have been made of his malady, but it is most probable that it was a form of the disease known as "oriental sore," or "Bagdad boil," called in Algeria "Biskra batton," in which the intensely itchy sores are often multiple, affecting the face, hands, and other exposed parts. The cases which I have seen have been very intractable and disfiguring.

Hezekiah's boil was apparently more localized, and the indefinite description would accord with that of a carbuncle. It seems to have rendered him unclean (Isaiah 38:22), though the reference may be to the practice referred to in Leviticus 13:18. The "botch" of Egypt (Deuteronomy 28:27, 35 the King James Version) is translation of the same word, as is "boil" in the Revised Version (British and American). Botch is an old English name for boil and occurs in Piers Plowman, and the adjective "botchy" is used in Troilus and Cressida (II, 1, 6). The word is cognate to the old French boche or poche, a form of our later word "pock." The sores of Lazarus (Luke 16:20) were probably old varicose ulcers, such as are as common on the legs of the old and poor in the East as they are in the West.

Alex. Macalister

BOIL (2)

(verb) (bashal, rathach): "Boil" is the translation of bashal, "to bubble up," "to boil," "to be cooked," Piel, "to cause to boil," "to cook" (Leviticus 8:31 1 Kings 19:21 2 Kings 6:29 Ezekiel 46:20, 24 bis); of rathach, "to be hot," "to boil," "to be made to boil," "to be greatly moved" under strong emotion (the bowels), Hiphil "to cause to boil" (Job 30:27 the King James Version "My bowels boiled, and rested not," the English Revised Version "My bowels boil." the American Standard Revised Version "My heart is troubled"; Job 41:31, "He maketh the deep to boil like a pot"; Ezekiel 24:5, "make it boil well"); of ba`ah, "to bubble" or "well up" (Isaiah 64:2 (1, in Hebrew) "The fire causeth the waters to boil"); in King James Version, margin of Psalm 45:1 ("My heart is inditing a good matter") we have Hebrew "boileth" or "bubbleth up" (rachash, "to boil" or "bubble up," the Revised Version (British and American) text, "My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter").

"Boiling-places," occurs in Ezekiel 46:23 as the translation of mebhashsheloth, "hearths," "boiling-places." The American Standard Revised Version has "boiling-houses" for "places of them that boil" (Ezekiel 46:24), "boil well" for "consume" (Ezekiel 24:10). the American Standard Revised Version has "boiling over" for "unstable" (Genesis 49:4; the English Revised Version, margin "bubbling over").

W. L. Walker

Greek

2204. zeo -- to boil, be hot
... to boil, be hot. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: zeo Phonetic Spelling:
(dzeh'-o) Short Definition: I burn in spirit Definition: (lit: I boil, am boiling ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2204.htm - 7k

3582. xestes -- a sextarius (about a pint), a pitcher (of wood or ...
... As if from xeo (properly, to smooth; by implication, (of friction) to boil or heat);
a vessel (as fashioned or for cooking) (or perhaps by corruption from the ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3582.htm - 6k

2205. zelos -- to have warmth of feeling for or against, to be ...
... 2205 (an omamopoeic term that mimics the sound of water bubbling over from heat
and perhaps derived from 2204 , "to boil") -- properly, burning emotion (inner ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2205.htm - 7k

5396. phluareo -- to talk nonsense
... Cognate: 5396 (from 5397 , "to bubble up, boil over") -- overflowing with speech
"that is " (, 562). It is used only in 3 Jn 10. See 5397 (). ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5396.htm - 7k

5397. phluaros -- babbling
... 5397 (an adjective, derived from , "to boil, bubble over") -- properly, what bubbles
over (like a seething, boiling pot). 5397 () is only used in 1 Tim 5:13. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5397.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

1310. bashal -- to boil, seethe, grow ripe
... 1309, 1310. bashal. 1311 . to boil, seethe, grow ripe. Transliteration: bashal
Phonetic Spelling: (baw-shal') Short Definition: boil. Word Origin a prim. ...
/hebrew/1310.htm - 6k

7570. rathach -- to boil
... to boil. Transliteration: rathach Phonetic Spelling: (raw-thakh') Short Definition:
boil. ... root Definition to boil NASB Word Usage boil (2), seething (1). boil. ...
/hebrew/7570.htm - 5k

7822. shechin -- a boil, eruption
... 7821b, 7822. shechin. 7823 . a boil, eruption. Transliteration: shechin Phonetic
Spelling: (shekh-een') Short Definition: boils. ... boil, botch. ...
/hebrew/7822.htm - 6k

1158. baah -- to inquire, cause to swell or boil up
... baah. 1159 . to inquire, cause to swell or boil up. Transliteration: baah Phonetic
Spelling: (baw-aw') Short Definition: inquire. Word Origin a prim. ...
/hebrew/1158.htm - 6k

2560a. chamar -- to ferment, boil or foam up
... 2560, 2560a. chamar. 2560b . to ferment, boil or foam up. Transliteration:
chamar Short Definition: troubled. Word Origin a prim. ...
/hebrew/2560a.htm - 5k

2102. zud -- to boil up, seethe, act proudly or presumptuously or ...
... to boil up, seethe, act proudly or presumptuously or rebelliously. Transliteration:
zud or zid Phonetic Spelling: (zood) Short Definition: arrogantly. ...
/hebrew/2102.htm - 6k

2560. chamar -- to ferment, boil or foam up
... chamar. 2560a . to ferment, boil or foam up. Transliteration: chamar Phonetic
Spelling: (khaw-mar') Short Definition: daub. daub, befoul, be red, trouble ...
/hebrew/2560.htm - 5k

7571. rethach -- a boiling
... Word Origin from rathach Definition a boiling NASB Word Usage vigorously (1). boil
well. From rathach; a boiling -- X (boil) well. see HEBREW rathach. ...
/hebrew/7571.htm - 6k

1730. dod -- beloved, love, uncle
... Or (shortened) dod {dode}; from an unused root meaning properly, to boil, ie
(figuratively) to love; by implication, a love- token, lover, friend; specifically ...
/hebrew/1730.htm - 6k

7874. sid -- to whitewash
... plaister. A primitive root probably meaning to boil up (compare shuwd); used only
as denominative from siyd; to plaster -- plaister. see HEBREW shuwd. ...
/hebrew/7874.htm - 6k

Library

A Triplet of Graces
... the fire of the Holy Spirit will naturally have its temperature raised, and will
be moved by the warm touch as heat makes water in a pot hung above a fire boil ...
/.../maclaren/romans corinthians to ii corinthians chap v/a triplet of graces.htm

Persecution Every Christian's Lot
... folly (says he) shall be made manifest unto all men, as theirs (the Magicians) also
was," when they could not stand before Moses because of the boil; for the ...
/.../selected sermons of george whitefield/persecution every christians lot.htm

On Genesis.
... my first-born, thou art my strength, and the first of my children; hard to bear
with, and hard and self-willed: thou hast waxed wanton as water; boil not over. ...
/.../hippolytus/the extant works and fragments of hippolytus/on genesis.htm

Of those who While Still Imperfect Retire into the Desert.
... and, when they have even for a little while broken through their habit of retirement
owing to the accident of a visit from some of the brethren, boil over with ...
/.../cassian/the conferences of john cassian/chapter x of those who.htm

The Oration of Moses at the Rehearsal of the Blessing and the ...
... The LORD shall smite thee with the boil of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with
the scurvy, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. ...
/.../various/select masterpieces of biblical literature/i the oration of moses.htm

Satan Considering the Saints
... at such a heat, and another at a different temperature; as those who have to deal
with chemicals know that at a certain heat one fluid will boil, while another ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 11 1865/satan considering the saints.htm

Whether There was any Reasonable Cause for the Ceremonial ...
... cooked. Consequently there seems to be no reason in what is said,
Ex.23:19: "Thou shalt not boil a kid in the milk of its dam.". ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether there was any reasonable.htm

Sinners Bound with the Cords of Sin
... he wills, and to give his lusts unbridled headway, and you have secured him boundless
misery; only allow the seething caldron of his corruptions to boil at its ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 16 1870/sinners bound with the cords.htm

Obedience
... Romans 12:11. Quae ebullit prae ardore. As water that boils over; so the heart
must boil over with hot affections in the service of God. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/the ten commandments/1 1 obedience.htm

The Test of Courage
... Such meanness and injustice must have made the boy's blood boil. But he mastered
himself and said nothing. That afternoon Paul was going out riding. ...
/.../chapter vii the test of.htm

Thesaurus

Boil (29 Occurrences)
... 6. (vt) To heat to the boiling point, or so as to cause ebullition; as,
to boil water. 7. (vt) To form, or separate, by boiling ...
/b/boil.htm - 23k

Seethe (8 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary To boil (Exodus 16:23). Noah Webster's Dictionary. 1.
(vi) To be a state violent agitation; to be hot; to boil over. ...
/s/seethe.htm - 9k

Blains (2 Occurrences)
... BLAINS. blanz (abha`bu`ah: only in Exodus 9:9, 10): Pustules containing fluid around
a boil or inflamed sore. ... See BOIL. Multi-Version Concordance ...
/b/blains.htm - 7k

Knees (47 Occurrences)
... and his knees smote one against another" (compare Nahum 2:10). The "sore
boil. in the knees, and in the legs," a disease announced ...
/k/knees.htm - 23k

Feeble (147 Occurrences)
... and his knees smote one against another" (compare Nahum 2:10). The "sore
boil. in the knees, and in the legs," a disease announced ...
/f/feeble.htm - 38k

Festering (7 Occurrences)
... Exodus 9:9 It shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a
boil breaking forth with boils on man and on animal, throughout all the land ...
/f/festering.htm - 8k

Boils (6 Occurrences)
... Exodus 9:9 It shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a
boil breaking forth with boils on man and on animal, throughout all the land ...
/b/boils.htm - 8k

Boiled (15 Occurrences)
... 1. (imp. & pp) of Boil. 2. (a.) Dressed or cooked by boiling; subjected to the action
of a boiling liquid; as, boiled meat; a boiled dinner; boiled clothes. ...
/b/boiled.htm - 11k

Plaster (13 Occurrences)
... The Arabic word for mortar is Tin, which really means "clay." The Hebrew sidh,
literally, "to boil up," refers to the boiling of the water with which the lime ...
/p/plaster.htm - 13k

Bake (13 Occurrences)
... Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all
that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.'" (WEB ...
/b/bake.htm - 12k

Bible Concordance

Boil (29 Occurrences)

Exodus 9:9 It shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with boils on man and on animal, throughout all the land of Egypt."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 9:10 They took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward the sky; and it became a boil breaking forth with boils on man and on animal.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 9:11 The magicians couldn't stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were on the magicians, and on all the Egyptians.
(Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 16:23 He said to them, "This is that which Yahweh has spoken,'Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to Yahweh. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.'"
(WEB ASV WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Exodus 23:19 The first of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of Yahweh your God. "You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
(WEB ASV DBY YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 29:31 "You shall take the ram of consecration, and boil its flesh in a holy place.
(WEB ASV DBY YLT NAS RSV)

Exodus 34:26 "You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground to the house of Yahweh your God. "You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk."
(WEB ASV DBY YLT NAS RSV)

Leviticus 8:31 Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, "Boil the flesh at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and there eat it and the bread that is in the basket of consecration, as I commanded, saying,'Aaron and his sons shall eat it.'
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Leviticus 13:18 "When the body has a boil on its skin, and it has healed,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Leviticus 13:19 and in the place of the boil there is a white rising, or a bright spot, reddish-white, then it shall be shown to the priest;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Leviticus 13:20 and the priest shall examine it; and behold, if its appearance is lower than the skin, and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. It has broken out in the boil.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Leviticus 13:23 But if the bright spot stays in its place, and hasn't spread, it is the scar from the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 11:8 The people went around, gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it. Its taste was like the taste of fresh oil.
(Root in WEB ASV BBE DBY YLT NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 14:21 You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself: you may give it to the foreigner living among you who is within your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to a foreigner: for you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
(WEB ASV DBY YLT NAS RSV)

Deuteronomy 16:7 You shall roast and eat it in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose: and you shall turn in the morning, and go to your tents.
(See RSV)

Deuteronomy 28:27 Yahweh will strike you with the boil of Egypt, and with the tumors, and with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 28:35 Yahweh will strike you in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, of which you can not be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.
(WEB JPS ASV NAS RSV NIV)

2 Kings 4:38 Elisha came again to Gilgal. There was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, "Set on the great pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets."
(WEB ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

2 Kings 6:29 So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day,'Give your son, that we may eat him;' and she has hidden her son."
(Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

2 Kings 20:7 Isaiah said, "Take a cake of figs." They took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Job 30:27 My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.
(Root in KJV JPS WBS YLT)

Job 41:31 He makes the deep to boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 38:21 Now Isaiah had said, "Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover."
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 64:2 as when fire kindles the brushwood, and the fire causes the waters to boil; to make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence!
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 24:5 Take the choice of the flock, and also a pile of wood for the bones under the caldron; make it boil well; yes, let its bones be boiled in its midst.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 24:10 Heap on the wood, make the fire hot, boil well the flesh, and make thick the broth, and let the bones be burned.
(WEB ASV BBE DBY NAS RSV)

Ezekiel 46:20 He said to me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, and where they shall bake the meal offering; that they not bring them forth into the outer court, to sanctify the people.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Ezekiel 46:24 Then said he to me, These are the boiling houses, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people.
(Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Zechariah 14:21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holy unto Jehovah of hosts; and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and boil therein: and in that day there shall be no more a Canaanite in the house of Jehovah of hosts.
(ASV BBE YLT NAS RSV)

Subtopics

Boil

Boil of Hezekiah, Healed

Boil of Job

Boil of the Philistines (Rv , Tumors)

Boil: Levitical Ceremonies Prescribed For

Boil: Plague of Egyptians

Related Terms

Seethe (8 Occurrences)

Blains (2 Occurrences)

Knees (47 Occurrences)

Feeble (147 Occurrences)