11. Virgin. A favorite expression of Jeremiah in referring to the people of Israel (see Jer. 14:17; 18:13; 31:4, 21; Lam. 1:15; 2:13). Here it is applied to Egypt.
Shalt thou use. This may be translated in the present tense, “thou art taking” (see ), or in the past, “In vain you have used many medicines” (). The Egyptians were pre-eminent among the peoples of the ancient Near East in medical practice. Two important Egyptian medical treatises have been found, the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus and the Ebers Medical Papyrus. They indicate that the practical aspects of Egyptian medicine were on a remarkably high level at an early date. Physicians showed skill in the treatment of fractures and understood the value of the pulse in determining the condition of a patient. They came near discovering the circulation of the blood. Herodotus (iii. 1, 129) states that the Persian emperors Cyrus and Darius employed Egyptian physicians. The Greeks drew so heavily for their medical science upon Egyptian knowledge that they identified their god of medicine, Asclepius (called by the Romans Aesculapius), with the Egyptian physician and sage of the Third Dynasty, Imhotep. The prophet’s thought seems to be that although Egypt might produce the world’s greatest physicians, there was to be no healing of her own wounds in the day of visitation.