pestilence
part of speech
noun (a pestilence, pestilences)
meaning for a pupil
1) (old or formal) A deadly disease that spreads quickly through many people, such as the plague. tree →
2) (Bible) One of the disasters sent as punishment or warning, as in the plagues of Egypt; the rider "Pestilence" of the Book of Revelation. tree →
3) Something that is very harmful or annoying (old use). tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: It is one of the plagues in Egypt, and a threat in the warnings of what happens if Israel breaks the covenant. The prophets and psalms picture it as a messenger that walks before God or in the dark, and it struck Israel after David counted the people. Interpretation: Tradition reads such sickness as a call to turn back to God, and in Numbers Moses pleads and God forgives the people. The psalm's pestilence in darkness is read as a danger from which those who trust in God are protected. In the primary lessons: In history lessons, the Black Death of 1347-1351 was a pestilence that killed huge numbers of people in Europe. In Bible lessons and old stories, pestilence goes together with famine and war. The modern word is "epidemic" or "pandemic".
examples
- I will smite them with the pestilence, and destroy them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they.' (Torah NUM.14.12, JPS 1917) tree →
- Surely now I had put forth My hand, and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou hadst been cut off from the earth. (Torah EXO.9.15, JPS 1917) tree →
- The LORD will make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until He have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest in to possess it. (Torah DEU.28.21, JPS 1917) tree →
- Before him goeth the pestilence, and fiery bolts go forth at His feet. (Prophets HAB.3.5, JPS 1917) tree →
- Of the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor of the destruction that wasteth at noonday. (Writings PSA.91.6, JPS 1917) tree →
- So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel; and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men. (Writings 1CH.21.14, JPS 1917) tree →
- The pestilence swept through the town in 1665. tree →
- In the Bible, pestilence and famine are warnings. tree →
- The Black Death was a terrible pestilence. tree →
- People fled the city to escape the pestilence. tree →
- Rats and fleas helped spread the pestilence. tree →
- Old prayers asked God to keep people safe from pestilence. tree →
- But at last the gods afflicted the country with a grievous pestilence, which made terrible havoc among the people. tree →
note
Old-fashioned and formal; modern words: plague, epidemic, pandemic. Related: pest, pesticide. Pronounced "PES-ti-lunce".
In the corpora
- And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence.
- Before him goeth the pestilence, and fiery bolts go forth at His feet.
- He levelled a path for His anger; He spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;
- That He will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
- Of the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor of the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «pestilence» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.