Compound Names with Jehovah
Jehovah-Rapha (יְהוָה רֹפְאֶךָ)
The LORD Who Heals
Description
The covenant name יְהוָה רֹפְאֶךָ (Jehovah-Rapha), meaning 'the LORD your healer,' was revealed at Marah ('bitterness'), the first stop after Israel's Red Sea deliverance where the people found only bitter, undrinkable water. Having witnessed Pharaoh's armies drown in the sea, Israel now faced death by thirst in the wilderness. The people murmured against Moses; Moses cried unto the LORD; and God showed him a tree which, when cast into the waters, made them sweet (Exodus 15:23-25). This miracle of healing the waters became the occasion for revealing God's identity as Israel's healer.
Immediately following this sign, the LORD declared, 'If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee' (Exodus 15:26). The revelation linked obedience to health, establishing a principle later developed in Deuteronomy's blessings and curses (Deuteronomy 28). Yet the name's significance transcends physical health; it encompasses spiritual, emotional, and relational healing—wholeness in every dimension.The Hebrew verb רָפָא (rapha) carries a rich semantic range: physical healing of disease or injury, emotional restoration from grief or trauma, spiritual renewal from sin's corruption, and even 'healing' of inanimate objects like water (2 Kings 2:21) or the land (2 Chronicles 7:14). God's healing touches every aspect of fallen creation's brokenness. The participial form רֹפְאֶךָ (rophe'kha) means 'your healer'—God is not merely able to heal but is Israel's designated, covenant healer. The name appears in contexts of physical illness (Exodus 15:26), spiritual restoration (Psalm 41:4, 'Heal my soul'), national repentance (Jeremiah 3:22), and eschatological renewal (Malachi 4:2).
Throughout Scripture, Jehovah-Rapha demonstrates His healing power: restoring Hezekiah from terminal illness (2 Kings 20:5), healing Miriam's leprosy (Numbers 12:13), curing Naaman's leprosy through Elisha (2 Kings 5:14), and renewing Job's health after testing (Job 42:10). Yet physical healing serves as sign and type of deeper spiritual healing. The Psalmist connects forgiveness and healing: 'Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases' (Psalm 103:3), recognizing that sin is the ultimate disease requiring divine remedy. Jeremiah pleads, 'Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved' (Jeremiah 17:14), acknowledging that only God's power can restore the soul.
Christ's earthly ministry revealed Jehovah-Rapha incarnate. Matthew notes, 'He healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses' (Matthew 8:16-17). Jesus healed paralytics, lepers, the blind, the deaf, the demon-possessed—demonstrating power over every form of affliction while declaring His authority to forgive sins (Mark 2:10). His healings were not merely compassionate acts but messianic signs revealing His identity as Jehovah-Rapha. Ultimately, Isaiah prophesied, 'With his stripes we are healed' (Isaiah 53:5)—spiritual healing purchased through Christ's atoning suffering. While believers may experience physical healing as foretaste of resurrection glory, the name's deepest fulfillment is redemption from sin's disease, healing of the soul, and ultimate bodily resurrection when 'there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain' (Revelation 21:4).
Immediately following this sign, the LORD declared, 'If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee' (Exodus 15:26). The revelation linked obedience to health, establishing a principle later developed in Deuteronomy's blessings and curses (Deuteronomy 28). Yet the name's significance transcends physical health; it encompasses spiritual, emotional, and relational healing—wholeness in every dimension.The Hebrew verb רָפָא (rapha) carries a rich semantic range: physical healing of disease or injury, emotional restoration from grief or trauma, spiritual renewal from sin's corruption, and even 'healing' of inanimate objects like water (2 Kings 2:21) or the land (2 Chronicles 7:14). God's healing touches every aspect of fallen creation's brokenness. The participial form רֹפְאֶךָ (rophe'kha) means 'your healer'—God is not merely able to heal but is Israel's designated, covenant healer. The name appears in contexts of physical illness (Exodus 15:26), spiritual restoration (Psalm 41:4, 'Heal my soul'), national repentance (Jeremiah 3:22), and eschatological renewal (Malachi 4:2).
Throughout Scripture, Jehovah-Rapha demonstrates His healing power: restoring Hezekiah from terminal illness (2 Kings 20:5), healing Miriam's leprosy (Numbers 12:13), curing Naaman's leprosy through Elisha (2 Kings 5:14), and renewing Job's health after testing (Job 42:10). Yet physical healing serves as sign and type of deeper spiritual healing. The Psalmist connects forgiveness and healing: 'Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases' (Psalm 103:3), recognizing that sin is the ultimate disease requiring divine remedy. Jeremiah pleads, 'Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved' (Jeremiah 17:14), acknowledging that only God's power can restore the soul.
Christ's earthly ministry revealed Jehovah-Rapha incarnate. Matthew notes, 'He healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses' (Matthew 8:16-17). Jesus healed paralytics, lepers, the blind, the deaf, the demon-possessed—demonstrating power over every form of affliction while declaring His authority to forgive sins (Mark 2:10). His healings were not merely compassionate acts but messianic signs revealing His identity as Jehovah-Rapha. Ultimately, Isaiah prophesied, 'With his stripes we are healed' (Isaiah 53:5)—spiritual healing purchased through Christ's atoning suffering. While believers may experience physical healing as foretaste of resurrection glory, the name's deepest fulfillment is redemption from sin's disease, healing of the soul, and ultimate bodily resurrection when 'there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain' (Revelation 21:4).
Key Verses
And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, and said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.