Literally an epidemic plague or pestilence, but also used as a harsh insult for a troublesome person—a 'pest.' Jesus lists plagues among the signs preceding the end (Luke 21:11). A prosecutor viciously calls Paul 'a plague' (Acts 24:5), meaning a pestilent troublemaker infecting the whole world with his teaching. Homer used it for literal plagues; Plato and others applied it to people who were social 'infections.' The coupling with famine (λιμός/λοιμός) was traditional in Greek literature from Homer onward.