"Sores" or "Wounds"? Important new article on Luke 16:20-21 and context

This article just came out in the latest issue of the journal New Testament Studies. Strong makes what I consider a persuasive case that all those translations that suggest Lazarus suffered from "sores" are incorrect. Here are some of the innumerable examples of English translations that reflect that common understanding:

NRSV Luke 16:20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores.

NIV Luke 16:20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

ESV Luke 16:20 And at his gate awas laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with awhat fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.

NET Luke 16:20 But at his gate laya poor man named Lazaruswhose body was covered with sores, 21 who longed to eatwhat fell from the rich man's table. In addition, the dogscame and licked his sores.

CEB Luke 16:20 At his gate lay a certain poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. 21 Lazarus longed to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Instead, dogs would come and lick his sores.

KJV Luke 16:20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

Here are just a couple extended quotations from one of many important parts of the article:

• “By far the most important treatise for the proper understanding of ἕλκος is the eponymously titled De ulceribus, or On Wounds. Despite the treatise being precisely on the subject, for reasons unknown, De ulceribus does not appear in the BDAG entry for either ἕλκος or ἁελκόω. It is here that we find the surest evidence that we have been mistaken in assuming Lazarus’ ἕλκη are simply ‘sores’ or the result of disease. In the entire treatise, reference to the source of a ἕλκος is either unnamed or explicitly due to injury, whether from weapons, falls or burns (De ulceribus 1, 3, and 13, respectively). These injuries are all described with ἕλκος, and regardless of whether they are infected or not. This treatise also offers explicit confirmation that a state of infection or putrefaction is nowhere implied. After listing a series of ingredients to apply as a salve, the author writes: ‘These things in powder prevent recent wounds (ἱλκεά) from suppurating’ (De ulceribus 6). In other words, as the author explains, to prevent a ἕλκος from becoming a sore, one should apply the prescribed treatment.” (180-81).
• “[I]n his commentary on the above treatise, On Joints, Galen provides the reader with a definition of ἕλκος: ‘a break of continuity in part of the flesh is a ἕλκος, and in bone is called a fracture’ (Comm. Hipp. Joints 482). In other words, what a fracture is to a bone, a ἕλκος is to the skin. It is difficult to understate the importance of Galen’s comment: a physician and rough contemporary of Luke gives us an explicit medical definition for the term in question. Like the Hippocratic writers whom Galen strives to follow, he understands and employs the term broadly, using it to describe various wounds, whether fresh, healing or putrid, resulting from any number of causes.”

Besides providing a strong argument that means “wound” or “lesion” and not sores or the manifestation of a skin disease, Strong also demonstrates the ancient understanding that saliva was curative and, especially, the role of dogs and their licking as a well-known source of healing. Thus the dogs are not part of Lazarus’s plight, but are providing comfort that he does not receive from anyone else. The whole article is worth careful reading. Unfortunately, one will need to access it through a library, or subscription to the journal (or purchase it online for $25USD): https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/new-testament-studies/article/lazarus-and-the-dogs-the-diagnosis-and-treatment/32E2A1650FE1130B4E1B127BFFC3C53E