Isaiah 57:18

57:18 I have seen their behavior, ¹ 

but I will heal them and give them rest,

and I will once again console those who mourn. ² 

Jeremiah 3:22

3:22 Come back to me, you wayward people.

I want to cure your waywardness. ³ 

Say, ⁴  ‘Here we are. We come to you

because you are the Lord our God.

Jeremiah 17:14

17:14 Lord, grant me relief from my suffering

so that I may have some relief.

Rescue me from those who persecute me

so that I may be rescued. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 33:6

33:6 But I will most surely ⁶  heal the wounds of this city and restore it and its people to health. ⁷  I will show them abundant ⁸  peace and security.

Hosea 14:4

Divine Promise to Relent from Judgment and to Restore Blessings

14:4 “I will heal their waywardness ⁹ 

and love them freely, ¹⁰ 

for my anger will turn ¹¹  away from them.

Malachi 4:2

4:2 But for you who respect my name, the sun of vindication ¹²  will rise with healing wings, ¹³  and you will skip about ¹⁴  like calves released from the stall.

Mark 4:12

4:12 so that although they look they may look but not see,

and although they hear they may hear but not understand,

so they may not repent and be forgiven.” ¹⁵ 

Revelation 22:2

22:2 flowing down the middle of the city’s ¹⁶  main street. ¹⁷  On each side ¹⁸  of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds ¹⁹  of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year. ²⁰  Its leaves are for the healing of the nations.

¹ tn Heb “his ways” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); TEV “how they acted.”

² tn Heb “and I will restore consolation to him, to his mourners.”

³ tn Or “I will forgive your apostasies.” Heb “I will [or want to] heal your apostasies.” For the use of the verb “heal” (רָפָא, rafa’) to refer to spiritual healing and forgiveness see Hos 14:4.

⁴ tn Or “They say.” There is an obvious ellipsis of a verb of saying here since the preceding words are those of the Lord and the following are those of the people. However, there is debate about whether these are the response of the people to the Lord’s invitation, a response which is said to be inadequate according to the continuation in 4:1-4, or whether these are the Lord’s model for Israel’s confession of repentance to which he adds further instructions about the proper heart attitude that should accompany it in 4:1-4. The former implies a dialogue with an unmarked twofold shift in speaker between 3:22b-25 and 4:1-4:4 while the latter assumes the same main speaker throughout with an unmarked instruction only in 3:22b-25. This disrupts the flow of the passage less and appears more likely.

⁵ tn The translation fills in the details of the metaphor from a preceding context (15:18) and from the following context (17:18). The literal translation “Heal me and I will be healed. Rescue me and I will be rescued.” does not make much sense if these details are not filled in. The metaphor is filled in for clarity for the average reader.

⁶ tn Heb “Behold I am healing.” For the usage of the particle “behold” indicating certainty see the translator’s note on 1:6. These are the great and hidden things that the Lord promised to reveal. The statements in v. 5 have been somewhat introductory. See the usage of הִנְנִי (hinni) after the introductory “Thus says the Lord” in Jer 32:28, 37.

⁷ sn Compare Jer 30:17. Jerusalem is again being personified and her political and spiritual well-being are again in view.

⁸ tn The meaning and text of this word is questioned by KBL 749 s.v. עֲתֶרֶת. However, KBL also emends both occurrences of the verb from which BDB 801 s.v. עֲתֶרֶת derives this noun. BDB is more likely correct in seeing this and the usage of the verb in Prov 27:6; Ezek 35:13 as Aramaic loan words from a root meaning to be rich (equivalent to the Hebrew עָשַׁר, ’ashar).

⁹ sn The noun מְשׁוּבָתָה (mÿshuvatah, “waywardness”; cf. KJV “backsliding”) is from the same root as שׁוּבָה (shuvah, “return!”) in 14:1[2]. This repetition of שׁוּב (shuv) creates a wordplay which emphasizes reciprocity: if Israel will return (שׁוּבָה, shuvah) to the Lord, he will cure her of the tendency to turn away (מְשׁוּבָתָה) from him.

¹⁰ tn The noun נְדָבָה (nÿdavah, “voluntariness; free-will offering”) is an adverbial accusative of manner: “freely, voluntarily” (BDB 621 s.v. נְדָבָה 1). Cf. CEV “without limit”; TEV “with all my heart”; NLT “my love will know no bounds.”

¹¹ sn The verb שָׁב, shav, “will turn” (Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular from שׁוּב, shuv, “to turn”) continues the wordplay on שׁוּב in 14:1-4[2-5]. If Israel will “return” (שׁוּב) to the Lord, he will heal Israel’s tendency to “turn away” (מְשׁוּבָתָה, mÿshuvatah) and “turn” (שָׁב) from his anger.

¹² tn Here the Hebrew word צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah), usually translated “righteousness” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT; cf. NAB “justice”), has been rendered as “vindication” because it is the vindication of God’s people that is in view in the context. Cf. BDB 842 s.v. צְדָקָה 6; “righteousness as vindicated, justification, salvation, etc.”

¹³ sn The point of the metaphor of healing wings is unclear. The sun seems to be compared to a bird. Perhaps the sun’s “wings” are its warm rays. “Healing” may refer to a reversal of the injury done by evildoers (see Mal 3:5).

¹⁴ tn Heb “you will go out and skip about.”

¹⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10. Thus parables both conceal or reveal depending on whether one is open to hearing what they teach.

¹⁶ tn Grk “its”; the referent (the city, the new Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁷ tn The Greek word πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to a major (broad) street (L&N 1.103).

¹⁸ tn Grk “From here and from there.”

¹⁹ tn Or “twelve crops” (one for each month of the year).

²⁰ tn The words “of the year” are implied.