The Hebrew verb chabash (חָבַשׁ) means to bind, wrap, or bandage — most often in the context of wound-binding and healing. It is used for saddling an animal (binding a saddle) but carries its greatest theological weight in the context of God binding up the wounds of the brokenhearted and crushed. It pictures attentive, hands-on care for injury.
The prophets use chabash to describe God's healing ministry toward Israel and the coming work of the Servant-Messiah. Isaiah 61:1 — the passage Jesus read in the synagogue at Nazareth — declares: 'He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted' (Luke 4:18). This is chabash — the wrapping of a wound with care. Ezekiel laments shepherds who failed to bind up the injured sheep (Ezekiel 34:4), making chabash a measure of shepherding faithfulness. God Himself promises: 'I will bind up the injured' (Ezekiel 34:16). In Psalm 147:3, God binds up the brokenhearted — placing the divine healer as the one who wraps the wounds of grief.