Fractures

The treatment of a fracture is named once in scripture, and there only as a figure. Ezekiel's oracle on Egypt describes a broken arm by way of the medical procedure that would normally follow — and points out that it has not been done.

Treatment of a Broken Arm

The word comes against Pharaoh: "And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first [month], in the seventh [day] of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, Son of Man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, look, it has not been bound up, to apply [healing] medicines, to put a bandage to bind it, that it is strong to hold the sword" (Eze 30:20-21). The negation walks through the standard procedure as it itemizes what was not done: bind up the limb, apply medicines, put a bandage on it. The figurative point is the military disablement of Egypt — the arm is the sword-arm, and the unset fracture means the sword cannot be wielded again. The oracle continues with a doubled break: "Look, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong [arm], and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand" (Eze 30:22).