Bible Encyclopedias
Health

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

helth ( שׁלם , shālōm , ישׁוּעה , yeshū‛āh , רפאוּת , riph'ūth , ארוּכה , 'ărūkhāh ; σωτηρία , sōtērı́a , ὑγιαίνω , hugiaı́nō ): Shālōm is part of the formal salutation still common in Palestine. In this sense it is used in Genesis 43:28; 2 Samuel 20:9; the stem word means "peace," and is used in many varieties of expression relating to security, success and good bodily health. Yeshū‛āh , which specifically means deliverance or help, occurs in the refrain of Psalm 42:11; Psalm 43:5 , as well as in Psalm 67:2; in the American Standard Revised Version it is rendered "help." Riph'ūth is literally, "healing," and is found only in Proverbs 3:8 . Marpē' also means healing of the body, but is used in a figurative sense as of promoting soundness of mind and moral character in Proverbs 4:22; Proverbs 12:18; Proverbs 13:17; Proverbs 16:24 , as also in Jeremiah 8:15 , where the Revised Version (British and American) renders it "healing." 'Ǎrūkhāh is also used in the same figurative sense in Isaiah 58:8; Jeremiah 8:22; Jeremiah 30:17; Jeremiah 33:6; literally means "repairing or restoring"; it is the word used of the repair of the wall of Jerusalem by Nehemiah (chapter 4).

The word "health" occurs twice in the New Testament: in Paul's appeal to his shipmates to take food (Acts 27:34 ), he says it is for their sotēria , literally, "safety"; so the American Standard Revised Version, the King James Version "health." The verb hugianinō is used in 3 John 1:2 , in the apostle's salutation to Gaius.