Big Healing Book - Strong's Concordance Proves That the Word for “Healed” in 1

Objection: Strong’s Concordance Proves That the Word for “Healed” in 1 Peter 2:24 Can Be Figurative

Strong did not address 1 Peter 2:24 directly. Here is his definition of iaomai (word G2390): “middle voice of an apparently a primary verb; to cure (literally or figuratively) –heal, make whole.” One could take this and claim that 1 Peter 2:24 must be figurative, but Strong did not say anything about that particular verse. Perhaps he had it in mind, but we have no proof of that.

This gets back to the idea of examining the Greek for ourselves rather than taking a commentator’s word for things. There is no dispute about where the Greek verb iaomai is used in Scripture. Many publicly available resources can establish that. The issue is whether certain uses of it must be taken “figuratively” rather than “literally.”

The only verses where (in my opinion) there could even seem to be any reasonable “shot” would be 1 Peter 2:24 and the multiple verses that quote Isaiah 6:10. The Isaiah 6:10 quotes are handled in a separate objection reply. Other replies (see below) handle 1 Peter 2:24 from various angles.

My conclusion is that there is no strong argument that iaomai is ever figurative. That comment was made based on Strong’s understanding of certain verses, which was a judgment call on his part, but NOT something that can be “proved” from the Greek. See “Healed” Defined for a complete list of where iaomai is used and you can draw your own conclusions based on the facts!

I understand that some reader will probably object that “physically healed” as opposed to “figuratively healed” in 1 Peter 2:24 is a meaning I am reading into the verse due to my own bias, so what’s the difference? The difference is that the word DOES mean “physically healed” all over the New Testament. If an objector had a slew of Scriptures proving that the predominant meaning is “figuratively healed,” that could be argued to be the meaning in 1 Peter 2:24, but there is no question that the word refers to physical healing in many other verses. Thus, the burden of proof is on anyone who thinks that the same word means something different in 1 Peter 2:24.