Varga Benedek szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 145-146. (Budapest, 1994)
KISEBB KÖZLEMÉNYEK - STUDIES, LECTURES - Huszár, György: A fog a Bibliában
SUMMARY In his short essay the author investigates from the view of pathology, physiology and dentistry those chapters of the Bible where human or animal teeth occur. Regarding the number of occurrences of teeth in the Bible there are 36 cases in the Old Testament and // in the New Testament. Out of this number 39 is about human teeth and 8 about those of the animals. The paper starts with the consideration of the talio-law (Lev 24.20: ,,Ifhe knocks out a tooth, one of his teeth shall be knocked out") , which is regarded to be originated in the Babilonian King Hammurabi's compendium (B. C. 19th century), which was asserted by the king to have been delivered to him by Marduk. Comparing the habit of gnashing, grinding, or gritting of teeth, or showing the white of one's teeth, the author points out that whereas the first is a passive concomitant of pain (either mental — in which case it is called bruxomania, or otherwise: based on physical reasons) the second type is a phenomenon of an imminent action (i. e. threat or attack). Periodontics (or parodontology that is to say the branch that deals with diseases of the supporting and investing structures of the teeth including the gums, the cementum peridontal membranes and alveolar bone), regards the grinding of the teeth to be a parafunction. Grinding occur in Matthew (8.12—13) when Jesus declares that: , ,they will cry and grind their teeth". And in Luke ,,How you will cry and grind your teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, while you are thrown out". In these cases »grinding« is obviously used for presenting frightening or scare. Whereas in Mark (9.17—18) we find this with another word (gritting) as follows: ,,Teacher I brought my son to you, because he has an evil spirit and cannot talk. Whenever the spirit attacks him, it throws him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, grits his teeth, and becomes stiff all over". So here the action, »gritting«, is used among the characteristic symptoms of epilepsy. In the Song of Songs (4.2) we find healthy teeth among the attributes of female beauty: ,,Your teeth are as white as sheep I that have just been washed. I None of them is missing; / they are all perfectly matched." In the Old Testament sour grapes (or gooseberry) are mentioned which may cause tooth decay: ,,Instead, whoever eats sour grapes will have his own teeth set on edge" (Jer 31.30), and ,,The parents ate the sour grapes I But the children got the sour taste" (Ezek 18.2). These verses refer to the fact that sour grapes, or rather gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa) contains 1—5% free acid which can attack the enamel. Vinegar, another acidic liquid, is also mentioned among the harmful matters in respect of tooth: ,,He [the lazy man] will be as irritating as vinegar on your teeth or smoke in your eyes" (Prov 10.26). In the Proverbs at another occasion we can find a parallel between loose teeth and abasia: ,,Depending on an unreliable person in a crisis is like trying to chew with a loose tooth or walk with a crippled foot" (25.19). The parallel was justified by the fact that both were hardly curable in Biblical times. But tooth decay comes about among the desires for divine punishment of wicked rulers and unfair judges in Psalms as well: „Break the teeth of these fierce lions, O God" (58.6).
