Psalms 30:2

30:2 O Lord my God,

I cried out to you and you healed me. ¹ 

Psalms 38:1-7

Psalm 38 ² 

A psalm of David, written to get God’s attention. ³ 

38:1 O Lord, do not continue to rebuke me in your anger!

Do not continue to punish me in your raging fury! ⁴ 

38:2 For your arrows pierce ⁵  me,

and your hand presses me down. ⁶ 

38:3 My whole body is sick because of your judgment; ⁷ 

I am deprived of health because of my sin. ⁸ 

38:4 For my sins overwhelm me; ⁹ 

like a heavy load, they are too much for me to bear.

38:5 My wounds ¹⁰  are infected and starting to smell, ¹¹ 

because of my foolish sins. ¹² 

38:6 I am dazed ¹³  and completely humiliated; ¹⁴ 

all day long I walk around mourning.

38:7 For I am overcome with shame ¹⁵ 

and my whole body is sick. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 41:3-4

41:3 The Lord supports ¹⁷  him on his sickbed;

you completely heal him from his illness. ¹⁸ 

41:4 As for me, I said: ¹⁹ 

“O Lord, have mercy on me!

Heal me, for I have sinned against you!

Psalms 41:8

41:8 They say, ²⁰ 

‘An awful disease ²¹  overwhelms him, ²² 

and now that he is bed-ridden he will never recover.’ ²³ 

Psalms 107:17-22

107:17 They acted like fools in their rebellious ways, ²⁴ 

and suffered because of their sins.

107:18 They lost their appetite for all food, ²⁵ 

and they drew near the gates of death.

107:19 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;

he delivered them from their troubles.

107:20 He sent them an assuring word ²⁶  and healed them;

he rescued them from the pits where they were trapped. ²⁷ 

107:21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,

and for the amazing things he has done for people! ²⁸ 

107:22 Let them present thank offerings,

and loudly proclaim what he has done! ²⁹ 

Psalms 147:3

147:3 He heals ³⁰  the brokenhearted,

and bandages their wounds.

Exodus 15:26

15:26 He said, “If you will diligently obey ³¹  the Lord your God, and do what is right ³²  in his sight, and pay attention ³³  to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all ³⁴  the diseases ³⁵  that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Lord, am your healer.” ³⁶ 

Numbers 12:13

12:13 Then Moses cried to the Lord, “Heal her now, O God.” ³⁷ 

Numbers 21:7-9

21:7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away ³⁸  the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

21:8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks ³⁹  at it, he will live.” 21:9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived. ⁴⁰ 

Isaiah 33:24

33:24 No resident of Zion ⁴¹  will say, “I am ill”;

the people who live there will have their sin forgiven.

Isaiah 53:5

53:5 He was wounded because of ⁴²  our rebellious deeds,

crushed because of our sins;

he endured punishment that made us well; ⁴³ 

because of his wounds we have been healed. ⁴⁴ 

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. ⁴⁵ 

James 5:15

5:15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up – and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ⁴⁶ 

[30:2]  ¹ sn You healed me. Apparently the psalmist was plagued by a serious illness that threatened his life. See Ps 41.

[38:1]  ² sn Psalm 38. The author asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies. He confesses his sin and recognizes that the crisis he faces is the result of divine discipline. Yet he begs the Lord not to reject him.

[38:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew text reads simply, “to cause to remember.” The same form, the Hiphil infinitive of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”), also appears in the heading of Ps 70. Some understand this in the sense of “for the memorial offering,” but it may carry the idea of bringing one’s plight to God’s attention (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 303).

[38:1]  ⁴ tn The words “continue to” are supplied in the translation of both lines. The following verses make it clear that the psalmist is already experiencing divine rebuke/punishment. He asks that it might cease.

[38:2]  ⁵ tn The verb Hebrew נָחַת (nakhat) apparently here means “penetrate, pierce” (note the use of the Qal in Prov 17:10). The psalmist pictures the Lord as a warrior who shoots arrows at him (see Ps 7:12-13).

[38:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “and your hand [?] upon me.” The meaning of the verb נָחַת (nakhat) is unclear in this context. It is preferable to emend the form to וַתָּנַח (vattanakh) from the verb נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”). In this case the text would read literally, “and your hand rests upon me” (see Isa 25:10, though the phrase is used in a positive sense there, unlike Ps 38:2).

[38:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh from before your anger.” “Anger” here refers metonymically to divine judgment, which is the practical effect of God’s anger at the psalmist’s sin.

[38:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “there is no health in my bones from before my sin.”

[38:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “pass over my head.”

[38:5]  ¹⁰ sn The reference to wounds may be an extension of the metaphorical language of v. 2. The psalmist pictures himself as one whose flesh is ripped and torn by arrows.

[38:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my wounds stink, they are festering” (cf. NEB).

[38:5]  ¹² tn Heb “from before my foolishness.”

[38:6]  ¹³ tn The verb’s precise shade of meaning in this context is not entirely clear. The verb, which literally means “to bend,” may refer to the psalmist’s posture. In Isa 21:3 it seems to mean “be confused, dazed.”

[38:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”

[38:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for my loins are filled with shame.” The “loins” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. The present translation assumes that נִקְלֶה (niqleh) is derived from קָלָה (qalah, “be dishonored”). Some derive it instead from a homonymic root קָלָה (qalah), meaning “to roast.” In this case one might translate “fever” (cf. NEB “my loins burn with fever”).

[38:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh” (see v. 3).

[41:3]  ¹⁷ tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive, continuing the prayer of v. 2, but the parallel line in v. 3b employs the perfect, suggesting that the psalmist is again speaking in the indicative mood (see v. 1b). The imperfect can be understood as future or as generalizing (see v. 1).

[41:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “all his bed you turn in his illness.” The perfect is used here in a generalizing sense (see v. 1) or in a rhetorical manner to emphasize that the healing is as good as done.

[41:4]  ¹⁹ sn In vv. 4-10 the psalmist recites the prayer of petition and lament he offered to the Lord.

[41:8]  ²⁰ tn The words “they say” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to make it clear that v. 8 contains a quotation of what the psalmist’s enemies say about him (see v. 7a).

[41:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “thing of worthlessness.” In Ps 101:3 the phrase refers to evil deeds in general, but here it appears to refer more specifically to the illness that plagues the psalmist.

[41:8]  ²² tn Heb “is poured out on him.” The passive participle of יָצַק (yatsaq) is used.

[41:8]  ²³ tn Heb “and he who lies down will not again arise.”

[107:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “fools [they were] because of the way of their rebellion.”

[107:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “all food their appetite loathed.”

[107:20]  ²⁶ tn Heb “he sent his word.” This probably refers to an oracle of assurance which announced his intention to intervene (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 59).

[107:20]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he rescued from their traps.” The Hebrew word שְׁחִית (shekhit, “trap”) occurs only here and in Lam 4:20, where it refers to a trap or pit in which one is captured. Because of the rarity of the term and the absence of an object with the verb “rescued,” some prefer to emend the text of Ps 107:20, reading מִשַׁחַת חַיָּתָם (mishakhat khayyatam, “[he rescued] their lives from the pit”). Note also NIV “from the grave,” which interprets the “pit” as Sheol or the grave.

[107:21]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and [for] his amazing deeds for the sons of man.” See v. 8.

[107:22]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and let them proclaim his works with a ringing cry.”

[147:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the one who heals.”

[15:26]  ³¹ tn The construction uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of שָׁמַע (shama’). The meaning of the verb is idiomatic here because it is followed by “to the voice of Yahweh your God.” When this is present, the verb is translated “obey.” The construction is in a causal clause. It reads, “If you will diligently obey.” Gesenius points out that the infinitive absolute in a conditional clause also emphasizes the importance of the condition on which the consequence depends (GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[15:26]  ³² tn The word order is reversed in the text: “and the right in his eyes you do,” or, “[if] you do what is right in his eyes.” The conditional idea in the first clause is continued in this clause.

[15:26]  ³³ tn Heb “give ear.” This verb and the next are both perfect tenses with the vav (ו) consecutive; they continue the sequence of the original conditional clause.

[15:26]  ³⁴ tn The substantive כָּל־ (kol, “all of”) in a negative clause can be translated “none of.”

[15:26]  ³⁵ sn The reference is no doubt to the plagues that Yahweh has just put on them. These will not come on God’s true people. But the interesting thing about a conditional clause like this is that the opposite is also true – “if you do not obey, then I will bring these diseases.”

[15:26]  ³⁶ tn The form is רֹפְאֶךָ (rofÿ’ekha), a participle with a pronominal suffix. The word is the predicate after the pronoun “I”: “I [am] your healer.” The suffix is an objective genitive – the Lord heals them.

[12:13]  ³⁷ tc Some scholars emend אֵל (’el, “God”) to עַל(’al, “no”). The effect of this change may be seen in the NAB: “‘Please, not this! Pray, heal her!’”

[21:7]  ³⁸ tn The verb is the Hiphil jussive with a vav (ו) consecutive from the verb סוּר (sur); after the imperative this form may be subordinated to become a purpose clause.

[21:8]  ³⁹ tn The word order is slightly different in Hebrew: “and it shall be anyone who is bitten when he looks at it he shall live.”

[21:9]  ⁴⁰ sn The image of the snake was to be a symbol of the curse that the Israelites were experiencing; by lifting the snake up on a pole Moses was indicating that the curse would be drawn away from the people – if they looked to it, which was a sign of faith. This symbol was later stored in the temple, until it became an object of worship and had to be removed (2 Kgs 18:4). Jesus, of course, alluded to it and used it as an illustration of his own mission. He would become the curse, and be lifted up, so that people who looked by faith to him would live (John 3:14). For further material, see D. J. Wiseman, “Flying Serpents,” TynBul 23 (1972): 108-10; and K. R. Joines, “The Bronze Serpent in the Israelite Cult,” JBL 87 (1968): 245-56.

[33:24]  ⁴¹ tn The words “of Zion” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[53:5]  ⁴² tn The preposition מִן (min) has a causal sense (translated “because of”) here and in the following clause.

[53:5]  ⁴³ tn Heb “the punishment of our peace [was] on him.” שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) is here a genitive of result, i.e., “punishment that resulted in our peace.”

[53:5]  ⁴⁴ sn Continuing to utilize the imagery of physical illness, the group acknowledges that the servant’s willingness to carry their illnesses (v. 4) resulted in their being healed. Healing is a metaphor for forgiveness here.

[17:14]  ⁴⁵ 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.

[5:15]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “it will be forgiven him.”