What is healing according to the Word of God? If we are to know what the Bible says about healing, we should define the terms. The Bible was written in Hebrew and Greek, and most of us don't understand those languages. I have taken the words in the original languages and defined them for us on this page, and then have given the Biblical references where these words were used. This is not a complete list of scriptures, but if you want one of these, you can consult any one of a number of concordances, but this is just to give you an idea of how these words were used.
sozo (sode'-zo); from a primary sos (contraction for obsolete saoz, "safe"); to save, i.e. deliver or protect (literally or figuratively):
KJV- heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Bible references using "sozo":
Mark 10:52 - And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
Acts 2:21 - And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Acts 4:12 - Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Romans 10:9 - That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
soteria (so-tay-ree'-ah); feminine of a derivative of NT:4990 as (properly, abstract) noun; rescue or safety (physically or morally): KJV - deliver, health, salvation, save, saving. (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Bible references using "soteria":
Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Acts 4:12 - Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
yeshuw`ah - salvation, deliverance
- welfare, prosperity
- deliverance
- salvation (by God)
- victory
(from The Online Bible Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Copyright (c)1993, Woodside Bible Fellowship, Ontario, Canada. Licensed from the Institute for Creation Research.)
Bible references using yeshuw`ah:
Isaiah 60:18 - Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.
Psalms 91:16 - With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
rapha' or raphah - to heal, to make healthful
(from The Online Bible Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Copyright (c)1993.)
Bible references using rapha' or raphah:
Ps 107:20 - He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered [them] from their destructions.
Psalms 103:3 - Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
TO HEAL - rapa' OT:7495, "to heal." This word is common to both ancient and modern Hebrew. It occurs approximately 65 times in the Hebrew Old Testament, appearing first in Gen 20:17: "...God healed Abimelech." To heal" may be described as "restoring to normal,"an act which God typically performs. Thus, appeals to God for healing are common: "...O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed" Ps 6:2; "Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed..." Jer 17:14. Not only are human diseases "healed," but bad water is restored to normal or "healed" 2 Kings 2:22; salt water is "healed" or made fresh Ezek 47:8; even pottery is "healed" or restored Jer 19:11. A large number of the uses of rapa' express the "healing" of the nation-- such "healing" not only involves God's grace and forgiveness, but also the nation's repentance. Divine discipline leads to repentance and "healing": "Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us..." Hos 6:1. God promises: "For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord..." Jer 30:17. Even foreign cities and powers can know God's "healing" if they repent Jer 51:8-9.
False prophets are condemned because they deal only with the symptoms and not with the deep spiritual hurts of the people: "They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying Peace, peace; when there is no peace" Jer 6:14; also 8:11.
(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright (c)1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
therapeuo (ther-ap-yoo'-o); from the same as NT:2324; to wait upon menially, i.e. (figuratively)
to adore (God), or (specially) to relieve (of disease): KJV - cure, heal, worship.
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Bible references for "therapeuo":
Matt. 12:22 - Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.
Matt. 15:30 - And great multitudes came unto him, having with them [those that were] lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them:
Luke 4:40 - Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.
iaomai (ee-ah'-om-ahee) middle voice of apparently a primary verb; to cure (literally or figuratively):
KJV - heal, make whole.
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Bible references:
1 Peter 2:24 - Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
