Word study
Heal
2 Hebrew and 7 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: healed, heal, healing, heals. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “heal” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- רָפָא râphâhealtranslated this way 46 times of its 65 uses · Strong’s H7495Verb · Translated: heal 22, healed 16, heals 5, physicians 3Full study and all 61 verses →
Genesis 20:17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children —
Exodus 15:26 saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
- מַרְפֵּא marpêhealing, cure, healthtranslated this way 8 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s H4832Noun · Translated: healing 6, brings healing 2Full study and all 14 verses →
Proverbs 12:18 Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Jeremiah 8:15 We hoped for peace, but no good has come, for a time of healing, but there was only terror.
Greek words (New Testament)
- θεραπεύω therapeúōI care for, attend, serve, healtranslated this way 40 times of its 43 uses · Strong’s G2323Verb · Translated: healed 25, heal 12, healing 3, cure 1Full study and all 42 verses →
Matthew 4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
Mark 1:34 And He healed many who were ill with various diseases and drove out many demons. But He would not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.
- ἰάομαι iáomaiI healtranslated this way 26 times of its 26 uses · Strong’s G2390Verb · Translated: healed 16, heal 6, healing 2, immediately been healed 1Full study and all 26 verses →
Matthew 8:8 The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
Mark 5:29 Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
- σώζω sṓzōI save, healtranslated this way 14 times of its 108 uses · Strong’s G4982Verb · Translated: saved 50, save 36, healed 14Full study and all 99 verses →
Matthew 9:21 She said to herself, “If only I touch His cloak, I will be healed.”
Mark 5:23 and pleaded with Him urgently, “My little daughter is near death. Please come and place Your hands on her, so that she will be healed and live.”
- ἴασις íasisa cure, healingtranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G2392Noun · Translated: healing 1, healed 1, heal 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Luke 13:32 But Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I will keep driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach My goal.’
Acts 4:22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
- ἴαμα íamahealing, curingtranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G2386Noun · Translated: healing 3Full study and all 3 verses →
1 Corinthians 12:9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,
1 Corinthians 12:28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues.
- διασώζω diasṓzōI save, bring safely totranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G1295Verb · Translated: saved 2Full study and all 8 verses →
Matthew 14:36 and begged Him just to let them touch the fringe of His cloak. And all who touched Him were healed.
Luke 7:3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to ask Him to come and heal his servant.
- θεραπεία therapeíacare, attention, healingtranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G2322Noun · Translated: healing 2, charge 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Luke 9:11 But the crowds found out and followed Him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and He healed those who needed healing.
Revelation 22:2 down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.