# Origin of the line "Physician, heal thyself!"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-line-physician-heal-thyself/284619>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 13, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-line-physician-heal-thyself/284619 "2005-01-13T23:25:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Paladud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Paladud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paladud)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-line-physician-heal-thyself/284619/1 "2005-01-13T23:25:04Z")

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Any idea as to where it comes from?

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**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-line-physician-heal-thyself/284619/2 "2005-01-13T23:29:21Z")

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Google is your friend:

Luke iv. 23 (the Christian Bible)

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**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-line-physician-heal-thyself/284619/3 "2005-01-13T23:32:13Z")

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Luke 4:23

And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.

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**Author:** ![Paladud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Paladud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paladud)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-line-physician-heal-thyself/284619/4 "2005-01-14T06:52:11Z")

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Thanks 🙂

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-line-physician-heal-thyself/284619/5 "2005-01-14T08:11:39Z")

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But hang on a sec… the implication is that Jesus is quoting a well-known (at the time) phrase - is there any record of it in writings predating the NT?

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**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-line-physician-heal-thyself/284619/6 "2005-01-14T13:41:37Z")

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It’s in one of AEsop’s fables. I originally didn’t post that because there are doubts about whether the fable was actually written by AEsop (who lived ca. 600 BC).

The fable is “The Quack Frog”.

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**Author:** ![SavageNarce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@SavageNarce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SavageNarce)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-line-physician-heal-thyself/284619/7 "2005-01-14T13:47:09Z")

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So Jesus was exposed to [Aesop’s Fables](http://www.4to40.com/folktales/fable.asp?article=q&counter=0) as a kid? Neat! 🙂