Itching and Burning in Ekron

(20) The LORD will send upon thee cursing, discomfiture, and rebuke, in all that thou puttest thy hand unto to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the evil of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken Me. (21) 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. (22) The LORD will smite thee with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with drought, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. (23) And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. (24) The LORD will make the rain of thy land powder and dust; from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed. (25) The LORD will cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies; thou shalt go out one way against them, and shalt flee seven ways before them; and thou shalt be a horror unto all the kingdoms of the earth. (26) And thy carcasses shall be food unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and there shall be none to frighten them away. (27) The LORD will smite thee with the boil of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

(8) They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said: ‘What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?’ And they answered: ‘Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath.’ And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither. (9) And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great discomfiture; and He smote the men of the city, both small and great, and emerods broke out upon them. (10) So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying: ‘They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.’ (11) They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said: ‘Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, that it slay us not, and our people’; for there was a deadly discomfiture throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. (12) And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

Our Rabbis taught: Wherever a disgraceful expression is written in the text, we read it in a more polite way. [Thus for] yishgalenah [we read] yishkavenah (Deuteronomy 28:30); [for] ba’afolim [we read] batehorim (Deut 28:27); [for] hiryonim [we read] divyonim (II Kings 6:25); [for] le’ekhol et horehem velishtot et meme shinehem [we read] le’ekhol et zo’atham velishtot et meme raglehem (II Kings 18:27); [for] lamahara’ot [we read] lemoza’ot (II Kings 10:27). Joshua b. Korha says that the actual word lamahara’ot [is read] because it is a term of disgrace for idolatry. Nahman said: All mocking is forbidden except mocking idolatry, which is permitted, as it is written, “Bel is bowed, Nebo is cowering” and the text goes on, “They cowered, they bowed as well, they could not rescue the burden” (Isaiah 46:1-2). Jannai learns from here: The inhabitants of Samaria fear for the calf of Bet Aven, Indeed, its people and priestlings, whose joy it once was. Mourn over it for the glory that is departed from it” (Hosea 10:5). Do not read “for the glory” [kevodo], but “for the burden”. Huna b. Manoah said in the name of R. Aha the son of R. Ika: It is permitted to an Israelite to say to a non-Jew, “Take your idol and put it in your shin tof.” [One of the Hebrew words for buttocks is spelled shin, tav.] Ashi said: It is permissible to disgrace a person with the term gimel shin who has terrible reports about him. [meaning unclear, Rashi explains that it stands for gaifa shaya, "foolish harlot".] It is permissible to praise a person who has good reports about him and if one does praise him, “blessings shall rest upon his head.”