דברים, פרק כ״ח, פסוק ל״ה

The threat of severe, unrelenting boils presents a devastating physical and mental affliction that compounds an already deep national crisis. The sudden reappearance of this skin disease right before the threat of exile serves a specific purpose. It reveals that the people will be driven into foreign lands while suffering from this agonizing condition, making their existence among their enemies entirely unbearable [רש ר הירש]. Alternatively, this physical torment serves a surprising psychological function. Following the threat of madness brought on by witnessing horrific events, God provides a distracting physical affliction to keep the mind occupied, thereby preventing total insanity [שפתי כהן].

Historically, this specific curse hints at the exile of Edom, a punishment brought about by the sins of gossip and baseless hatred [אלשיך]. The disease itself is entirely incurable [אלשיך], biologically resulting from a buildup of salty fluids within the body [רלב״ג].

The affliction specifically targets the knees and legs. Naturally, this disease tends to erupt in the lower extremities, much like the plagues in Egypt where the sorcerers could no longer stand [בכור שור]. Medically, the body naturally pushes its weaknesses toward its edges [רלב״ג]. Furthermore, because the legs are in constant motion, external wounds in these areas are notoriously difficult to heal [אבן עזרא, ביאור יש״ר, שפתי כהן]. On a symbolic level, striking the legs serves as a direct, measure for measure consequence for using one's feet to travel and spread harmful gossip [אלשיך].

A tension arises when the affliction is initially pinpointed on the legs but is immediately described as covering the individual from the sole of the foot to the top of the head. The primary approach among commentators is that this depicts a progressive spread. The disease begins at the extremities, and if the people fail to repent, it expands upward and downward until it consumes the entire body [העמק דבר, רלב״ג, אלשיך]. Another perspective suggests that the physical wounds remain isolated on the legs, but the agonizing pain radiates outward, overwhelming the person from head to toe [ברכת אשר בשם רס״ג]. A final approach divides the affliction's severity. While the entire body is indeed covered in boils, only the wounds on the restless legs are truly incurable, whereas the sores elsewhere can heal more easily. Read allegorically, this spread reflects society itself. The legs represent the ordinary and prominent individuals, while the full body infection symbolizes a total collapse across every level of the nation [שפתי כהן].