Original Word: מַרְפֵא
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: marpe'
Pronunciation: mar-PAY
Phonetic Spelling: (mar-pay')
KJV: ((in-))cure(-able), healing(-lth), remedy, sound, wholesome, yielding
NASB: healing, remedy, brings healing, composure, health, soothing, tranquil
Word Origin: [from H7495 (רָפָא רָפָה - heal)]

1. (properly) curative
2. (literally, concretely) a medicine
3. (abstractly) a cure
4. (figuratively, concretely) deliverance
5. (abstractly) placidity

incurable, healing, remedy, sound, wholesome, yielding

From rapha'; properly, curative, i.e. Literally (concretely) a medicine, or (abstractly) a cure; figuratively (concretely) deliverance, or (abstractly) placidity -- ((in-))cure(-able), healing(-lth), remedy, sound, wholesome, yielding.

see HEBREW rapha'

Word Origin
from rapha
Definition
a healing, cure, health
NASB Translation
brings healing (1), composure (1), healing (8), health (1), incurable* (1), remedy (2), soothing (1), tranquil (1).

מַרְמֵּא, מַרְמֵּה noun masculine^{Ecclesiastes 10:4} healing, cure, health (usually figurative); — absolute מַרְמֵּא Jeremiah 14:19 +, מַרְמֵּה Jeremiah 8:15; construct מַרְמֵּא Proverbs 15:4; —

1 healing, cure, of national woes, Jeremiah 8:15; Jeremiah 14:19b ("" שָׁלוֺם), Jeremiah 36:6 (+ אֲרֻכָה); especially ׳אֵין לָנוּ מ Jeremiah 14:19a there is no cure for us, ׳עַד לְאֵין מ2Chronicles 36:16.

2 figurative of person, health, profit, Proverbs 4:22 ("" חַיִּים), Proverbs 12:18; Proverbs 13:17; Proverbs 16:24; with spiritual implication Malachi 3:20; ׳אֵין מ Proverbs 6:15 = Proverbs 29:1; ׳לֵב מ Proverbs 14:30 a mind of health (healthy, composed, mind), compare ׳מ alone = composure Ecclesiastes 10:4; לְשׁוֺן ׳מ Eccl 15:4 healing of the tongue, = a soothing tongue (Toy).

3 literally, of disease, ׳לְאֵין מ2Chronicles 21:18.

Overview

מַרְפֵא (marpe) gathers within a single Hebrew word the ideas of healing, health, remedy, restoration, and calmness. Across its sixteen Old-Testament occurrences the term is never limited to bodily cure; it embraces the wholeness that God intends for His covenant people in body, soul, community, and land.

Healing Originating in God

Both narrative and prophetic texts anchor marpe in the Lord’s initiative. After Jehoram’s rebellion, “the LORD struck him with an incurable disease of the bowels” (2 Chronicles 21:18), showing that when God withholds marpe no physician can supply it. Conversely, to a nation under judgment He promises, “I will bring to it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth” (Jeremiah 33:6). The word therefore testifies that health is neither incidental nor mechanistic; it flows from the covenant God whose chastisements and cures are equally purposeful.

Healing within Wisdom

Nine of the sixteen uses appear in Proverbs, where marpe functions as a seedbed for practical godliness:

• “They are life to those who find them and health to the whole body” (Proverbs 4:22) – divine instruction itself confers vitality.
• “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Proverbs 12:18). Speech becomes medicinal or destructive.
• “A tranquil heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones” (Proverbs 14:30). Inner attitudes either nourish or corrode physical well-being.
• “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24) – verbal grace ministers deep restoration.

The sage thus portrays marpe as a harvest reaped from fearing the Lord, guarding the heart, restraining the tongue, and cultivating gracious relationships.

Failure to Heed Correction

Marpe is withheld when hard-heartedness persists. “He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be shattered beyond healing” (Proverbs 29:1). Likewise, national refusal of prophetic warning provoked Babylonian exile: “They mocked the messengers of God… until the wrath of the LORD rose against His people, and there was no remedy” (2 Chronicles 36:16). Scripture warns that disregard for God’s corrective voice closes the door to marpe.

Political and Social Calm

Ecclesiastes 10:4 applies the term to relational stability: “If the ruler’s temper rises against you, do not abandon your position, for calmness sets great offenses to rest.” Here marpe is the soothing influence that de-escalates civic conflict, affirming that peaceable conduct has a healing effect on society.

Prophetic Lament and Hope

Jeremiah laments Judah’s shattered expectation: “We hoped for peace, but no good has come; for a time of healing, but there was only terror” (Jeremiah 8:15; 14:19). Yet even within judgment the promise of future marpe remains, culminating in Malachi’s picture of eschatological sunrise: “For you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings” (Malachi 4:2). The final appearance of marpe thus points beyond temporal relief to the Messianic restoration fulfilled in Jesus Christ, whose ministry manifestly linked physical cures with the forgiveness of sins and whose return will consummate unbroken wholeness.

Ministry Implications

1. Dependence: Believers seek medical means gratefully yet confess that ultimate health lies in God’s hand.
2. Speech Ethics: Churches are exhorted to wield words as instruments of marpe, rejecting damaging talk.
3. Pastoral Care: Emotional tranquility, encouraged by gospel truth, serves bodily wellbeing.
4. Discipline and Repentance: Heeding reproof preserves the possibility of restoration; obstinacy forfeits it.
5. Eschatological Hope: Present sufferings are framed by the assured dawn when the risen Christ brings perfect healing to creation.

Marpe therefore spans the canon as a reminder that the God who wounds also binds up, and that genuine health—personal, communal, and cosmic—is found in covenant fidelity and ultimately in the saving reign of the Son of Righteousness.

וּמַרְפֵּ֖א וּמַרְפֵּ֥א ומרפא מַרְפֵּ֑א מַרְפֵּ֔א מַרְפֵּ֖א מַרְפֵּ֖ה מַרְפֵּ֣א מַרְפֵּֽא׃ מרפא מרפא׃ מרפה mar·pê mar·pêh marPe marpê marPeh marpêh ū·mar·pê umarPe ūmarpêInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts