'Sick' in the Bible

Now some time after these things happened, Joseph was told, “Your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him [to go to Goshen].

and for the woman who is ill because of her monthly period, and for the one who has a discharge, whether man or woman, or for a man who lies with a woman who is [ceremonially] unclean.

Now the next generation, your children who come after you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, when they see the plagues of this land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it, will say,

And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”

David said to him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man from Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite; and my master abandoned me [as useless] when I fell sick three days ago.

Then Nathan went [back] to his home.And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s widow bore to David, and he was very sick.

Amnon was so frustrated because of his [half-] sister Tamar that he made himself sick, for she was a virgin, and Amnon thought it impossible for him to do anything to her.

Jonadab said to him, “Go to bed and pretend you are sick; and when your father [David] comes to see you, say to him, ‘Just let my sister Tamar come and serve me food, and let her prepare it in my sight, so that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’”

So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick; and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, so that I may eat from her hand.”

At that time Abijah the son [and crown prince, heir] of Jeroboam became sick.

And the Lord said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you about her son, because he is sick. You shall say such and such to her, for when she arrives, she will pretend to be another woman.”

It happened after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.

Ahaziah [the king of Israel] fell through the lattice (grid) in his upper chamber which was in Samaria, and became sick [from the injury]. So he sent messengers, saying to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will recover from this sickness.”

Now Elisha came to Damascus, and Ben-hadad king of Aram (Syria) was sick; and he was told, “The man of God has come here.”

King Joram returned to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

Then he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds they had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill; and he prayed to the Lord, and He answered him and gave him a [miraculous] sign.

So the king said to me, “Why do you look sad when you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very frightened,

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth (mourning garment);I humbled my soul with fasting,And I prayed with my head bowed on my chest.

Reproach and insults have broken my heart and I am so sick.I looked for sympathy, but there was none,And for comforters, but I found none.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,But when desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.

“Sustain me with raisin cakes,Refresh me with apples,Because I am sick with love.

“I command that you take an oath, O daughters of Jerusalem,If you find my beloved,As to what you tell him—[Say that] I am sick from love [sick from being without him].”

Why should you be stricken and punished again [since no change results from it]?You [only] continue to rebel.The whole head is sickAnd the whole heart is faint and sick.

The Lord will consume the glory of Assyria’s forest and of its fruitful garden, both soul and body,And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

And no inhabitant [of Zion] will say, “I am sick”;The people who dwell there will be forgiven their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing].

This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:

At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent [messengers with] letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that he had been sick and had recovered.

Yet the Lord was willingTo crush Him, causing Him to suffer;If He would give Himself as a guilt offering [an atonement for sin],He shall see His [spiritual] offspring,He shall prolong His days,And the will (good pleasure) of the Lord shall succeed and prosper in His hand.

Oh, that I (Jeremiah) could find comfort from my sorrow [for my grief is beyond healing],My heart is sick and faint within me!

“The heart is deceitful above all thingsAnd it is extremely sick;Who can understand it fully and know its secret motives?

Because of this our heart is faint,Because of these things our eyes are dim.

You have not strengthened those who are weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bandaged the crippled, you have not brought back those gone astray, you have not looked for the lost; but you have ruled them with force and violence.

“I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bandage the crippled, and strengthen the weak and the sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong [who have become hard-hearted and perverse]. I will feed them with judgment and punishment.

And I, Daniel, was exhausted and was sick for [several] days. Afterward I got up and continued with the king’s business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was no one who could explain it.

On the [special] day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine;The king stretched out his hand [in association] with scoffers (lawless people).

Who drink wine from sacrificial bowlsAnd anoint themselves with the finest oils [reflecting their unrestrained celebration];Yet they are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph (Israel).

“So also I will make you sick, striking you down,Desolating and devastating you, because of your sins.

When you [priests] present the blind [animals] for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Offer such a thing [as a blind or lame or sick animal] to your governor [as a gift or as payment for your taxes]. Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you graciously?” says the Lord of hosts.

You also say, ‘How tiresome this is!’ And you disdainfully sniff at it,” says the Lord of hosts, “and you bring what was taken by robbery, and the lame or the sick [animals]; this you bring as an offering! Should I receive it with pleasure from your hand?” says the Lord.