Objection: Isaiah’s Word for HEALED in Isaiah 53:5 Is Ambiguous
This objection is a convenient way to steer people away from divine healing (which is the idea) because very few people will ever bother checking out the facts about the Hebrew word rapha that was translated healed in Isaiah 53:5. However, you can refer to the section “Healed” Defined to see every single place in the Bible where the word rapha appeared in the Hebrew and how it was translated.
You will discover that rapha is the Hebrew word for physician as well as heal. So don’t you suppose it would be a good word to use to refer to physical healing? You will see all the places where it refers to healing as we would normally understand it. There are a few places where a thing is “healed,” but those are rare exceptions. But in Isaiah 53:5, it is not a thing that is healed – WE are healed.
Of course, there is another way to settle the ambiguity, and that is to see how Peter translated Isaiah’s prophecy into Greek. You can also refer to “Healed” Defined to ascertain for yourself that the Greek word iaomai is used in the New Testament to also refer to healing as we would normally understand it.
Another way to settle things is to realize that there is nothing ambiguous about the context of Isaiah 53:5, where immediately before we are told that we are healed by His stripes, we are told that the punishment that brought us shalom (the word translated peace) was upon Him. Shalom denotes general well-being, including but not limited to healing. In fact, shalom is even translated prosperity in Psalm 35:27! You can’t have well-being in every area if you’re sick! Furthermore, before that we are told that He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. Those words definitely state that Jesus endured physical punishment for our sins, so it is only fitting that we should be physically healed after He took the physical as well as spiritual penalty for sin in our place.
The words are clear enough that it would take a theologian to mess them up! And that’s what many theologians have done. I think that if you check out the facts for yourself in the “Healed” Defined section, you will reach the same conclusion that I did and the opposite conclusions of theologians who have a predisposition against divine healing and make objections like this one.
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