Plague of Philistines also known as Plague of Ashdod. The epidemic struck the Philistine when they tried unsuccessfully to conquer the Hebrews in the second half of the 11th century BC. It was the first plague epidemic described in the Bible.
The disease has been suggested by many authorities to the first epidemic of bubonic plague, but others attribute the episodes described in the Bible to bacillary dysentery or intestinal schistosomiasis.
The association of rodents with the disease, the location of the swellings, and the rapid spread and high mortality have led some scholars to identify the epidemic as bubonic plague. In the Old Testament, the first Book of Samuel mentions a plague suffered by the Philistines that had as one of its symptoms boils or tumors.
The ‘swelling in the groin’ experienced by the Philistine suggest the buboes, or swollen lymph glands of Yersinia infection.
The rapidity of transmission suggests this infection, as does the vector of transmission.
Plague of Philistines
