No, I am not suggesting that the phrase “כבד לב פרעה” alludes to the disease Covid, a disease that only surfaced in 2019, despite my intentional, and admittedly deceptive, mistransliteration. However, suggesting that phrases and episodes in the Torah refer to specific medical conditions is a centuries-old pastime pursued by rabbis, scholars and physicians, Jew and non-Jew
1 alike
3; Yaakov’s injury and limp due to hip dislocation?
4; Goliath’s poor peripheral vision and ultimate demise due to a pituitary tumor?
5
This idea of utilizing medical knowledge for biblical interpretation has also been applied to the condition from which Paraoh suffered, though we have been conditioned otherwise. Since childhood we have been taught to explain the biblical phrases about Paraoh’s condition exclusively in a metaphorical fashion. The simple meaning (peshat) of the text however could reflect otherwise, as scholars have noted, and may indicate the presence of a different ty