For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

JEREMIAH 30:17KJV
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Jeremiah 30:17 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 30:17 mean?

Jeremiah 30:17 promises that God will restore health and heal wounds for His people, even though others have rejected and labeled them as outcasts. The verse assures that despite being called forsaken, God Himself declares their restoration and care.

In this verse, God is speaking through the prophet Jeremiah to the people of Israel, who have suffered greatly and been scorned by surrounding nations. The situation is one of exile and deep pain, with Israel feeling abandoned and unwanted. God’s words directly address their shame and hurt, promising not just physical healing but also a reversal of their rejected status.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 30:17

  • "Restore" (עָלָה, alah): This word often means "to bring up" or "to cause to rise." Here, it suggests not just healing but lifting the people out of their low, broken state.
  • "Health" (עֲרֻכָּה, arukhah): This word can mean "healing" or "restoration to soundness," emphasizing a return to wholeness, not just the absence of sickness.
  • "Outcast" (נִדָּחָה, niddachah): This word means someone driven away or banished. The verse highlights that Israel has been treated as unwanted, but God’s response is to gather and heal them.
  • "After" (דָּרַשׁ, darash): This word means "to seek" or "to care for." The phrase "whom no man seeketh after" underlines how completely Israel was neglected, making God’s promise of attention and restoration even more striking.

Why Jeremiah 30:17 matters

  • This verse clarifies that God’s healing is not only physical but also social and emotional, addressing both wounds and the shame of being outcast.
  • Jeremiah 30:17 stands out in its context as a turning point from judgment to hope, showing God’s commitment to restore even those whom everyone else has given up on.
  • The verse helps correct the idea that being rejected by people means being abandoned by God; here, God’s care is shown to be steadfast even when human support disappears.

Where else these words appear

“health” Hebrew H724 · used in 6 verses

  • 2 Chronicles 24:13 So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.
  • Nehemiah 4:7 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,
  • Jeremiah 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

“wounds” Hebrew H4347 · used in 46 verses

  • Leviticus 26:21 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.
  • 1 Samuel 19:8 And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him.
  • Isaiah 14:6 He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.

“Outcast” Hebrew H5080 · used in 51 verses

  • Deuteronomy 4:19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
  • Nehemiah 1:9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
  • Jeremiah 27:15 For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.

“heal” Hebrew H7495 · used in 62 verses

  • Genesis 20:17 So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.
  • 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
  • Jeremiah 3:22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.