SWOLLEN

swol'-'-n (pimprasthai, only in Acts 28:6): The Melitans expected to see Paul poisoned by the viper's bite. the Revised Version (British and American) and the King James Version translate it "swollen," but the word is used by certain medical writers in the sense of inflammation; see Nicander, Theriaca, 306; Hesiod, Theogonia, 856, expressing thereby the burning up by a thunderbolt. Swelling accompanies the local lesion of snake-bite and often large purpuric exudation of blood, as well as paralysis, especially of the lower limbs.

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.