Hebrew Anatomy Part 1: The Heart

We have all read the Scriptures before that speak of the "heart of man" or about
King David being a "man after God's own heart." Yet generally, due to our Western
(Greco-Roman) mindset and worldview, we think of this in an emotional sense. We
think of "heart" as the seat of the emotions. But did you know that according to the
example set in the Hebrew Scriptures, that is actually not true? In this brief article
series, we're going to examine some anatomical terminology that the Scriptures
use, and see how we can dig up the deeper meaning. These articles will explain how
the physical parts of humans (heart, kidney, liver, etc.) is related to a deeper
spiritual meaning. This was understood thousands of years ago, but due to
translating the Word so many time, we have seemingly lost it.
To begin, I thought it best to start with perhaps the most prevalent example of all:
the heart. Let's define this word first, so we can build on its definition and
foundation.
In Hebrew, the word most often translated as "heart" is ( lev). The other common
word is actually derived from the same root, which is ( le-vav). In its most strictly
defined sense, this word refers to the heart, the organ that pumps blood. However,
it is actually translated a myriad of ways. For instance, the NASB translates it the
following ways (note: the number in parentheses next to the word indicates how
many times lev is translated as that word in the NASB):
accord (1), attention (4), attention* (1), bravest* (1), brokenhearted* (3), care* (2),
celebrating* (1), chests* (1), completely* (1), concern* (1), concerned* (1),
conscience (1), consider* (2), considered* (2), courage (1), decided* (1), determine*
(1), discouraged* (1), discouraging* (1), doing* (1), double heart (1), encouragingly*
(1), heart (396), heart's (2), hearts (40), Himself (1), himself (6), imagination (1),
inspiration (2), intelligence (1), kindly (5), life (1), merry-hearted* (1), middle (2),
midst (1), mind (36), minds (3), myself (6), obstinate* (2), planned* (1), presume*
(1), pride* (1), recalls* (1), reflected* (1), regard* (1), self-exaltation* (1), sense
(10), senseless* (1), seriously (1), skill* (1), skilled* (1), skillful man* (1), skillful
men* (1), skillful persons* (1), skillful* (3), spirits (1), stouthearted* (1), stubbornminded* (1), tenderly (2), thought (3), understanding (7), undivided* (1), well (2),
willingly* (1), wisdom (2), yourself (1), yourselves (1).
Note that of all these translations, "heart(s)" accounts for more than 400 of the 593
occurrences.
Now then, to further define the word, we're going to examine its usage in context in
a number of passages.
Of course, we have the simplest sort of examples, which refer to the "midst" of
something, or even the organ itself.
Deut. 4:11 "You came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain
burned with fire to the heart of the heavens, with darkness, cloud, and thick
darkness." [The "midst" of the heavens]

2 Sam. 18:14 "Then Joab said, "I'm not going to wait like this with you." He took
three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he
was yet alive in the midst of the oak."
There are other examples, to be sure, but these two fully illustrate my point. In both
verses, the word translated as "heart" is lev. But apart from the obvious "physical"
aspect of the heart (ie. the organ), this word plays a much larger role in the Hebraic
context. Let's examine this.
We'll start by looking at the first time the word lev is used in the Torah.
Gen. 6:5-6 "5 YHWH saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and
that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6
Yahweh relented that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him in His
heart."
While the second use here is easy to understand (it grieved Him in His heart, His
"innermost" part) we still have to wonder about the former usage. What does it
even mean to have "thoughts of the heart"? How does the heart think?
In our Western worldview, we look at it this way: thoughts occur in the mind, and
the mind is in the brain (head). But Hebraically, that simply is not the case. Rather,
the thoughts occur in the HEART. To the Hebrew worldview, the heart is the seat of
the mind, not the brain. The "mind" if you will, is in the heart. More to illustrate this.
Num. 16:28 "Moses said, "Hereby you shall know that YHWH has sent me to do all
these works; for I have not done them of my own mind."
Num. 24:13 "'If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can't go
beyond the word of YHWH, to do either good or bad of my own mind. I will say what
YHWH says'?"
1 Sam. 9:20 "As for your donkeys who were lost three days ago, don't set your
mind on them; for they are found. For whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not
for you, and for all your father's house?"
Neh. 4:6 "So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half the
height of it: for the people had a mind to work."
Psa. 83:5 "For they have conspired together with one mind. They form an alliance
against You."
As you can see, each of these Scriptural examples has the word "mind." Yet glance
at a Hebrew Tanakh or an Interlinear, and you'll find that each occurrence of the
word "mind" noted above is translated from the Hebrew lev, or "heart"!
So the heart is the seat of the mind, it deals with thoughts and intentions. Just as it
is used the very first time in Gen. 6, describing the "intent of the heart" of man. It is
not the seat of emotions. We will discuss that in the next article, but for now, let's
look at one more verse from Psalms.
Psa. 26:2 "Examine me, YHWH, and prove me. Try my heart and my mind."

If "heart" and "mind" are the same thing in Hebrew, why do both appear here? Well
the word translated as "heart" above is actually not lev. No, lev is rendered as
"mind" here. "Heart" is actually a very poor translation of ( kil-yah) which
actually means "kidneys." We'll look at that in Part 2. But back to heart to wrap it
all up.
Simply put, the "heart" in the Scriptures refers to the mind, the will, the intentions.
Now I am not big on the pictographic meanings of the pre-Paleo Hebrew alphabet
(commonly called Early Semitic, but also sometimes mistaken for Paleo), but I do
believe there is some merit in them, especially when dealing with just two and three
letter root words. In this cases, we have : lamed bet. In pictographs, this is a
staff (lamed) and a house (bet). The staff is the symbol of leadership, such as with a
shepherd leading his flock. The house is, of course, the house, or home.
Here is an excerpt from Jeff Benner's Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible:
"The pictograph [lamed] is a picture of the shepherd staff representing authority,
the [bet] is a picture of a tent representing what is inside. Combined these mean
"authority inside". The consciousness of man is seen as coming from deep inside
the chest, the heart."
It may also be worth noting (you can decide for yourself if it is mere coincidence or
not) that lev is actually connected to the entire Torah. In Gen. 1:1, the very first
word of Scripture is ( B'reshiyt), which starts with a bet. In the end of Deut.
34:12, the very last word of the Torah is ( Yisra'el), which ends with a lamed.
See what I'm getting at? The last letter is lamed, the first letter is bet, lev? Perhaps
a coincidence. On a greater scale, the book of Vayyiqra (Leviticus) is the center of
the Torah, and it describes all the ways we show love for YHWH. It is also the book
that tells us to love our neighbor (19:18). To take it to an even further level, Moses
ben Aaron ben Asher, a Masorete who worked to standardized the vowels and
cantillation of the Torah, took notes on the number of words and letters. ben Asher
was an incredible scribe (sofer), and reviewed and edited many Hebrew Scriptures,
including the Aleppo Codex. Some contend that he also emended the Leningrad
Codex, though this is disputed.
At any rate, Moses ben Aaron ben Asher noted that the middle of all the letters in
the Torah was found in Leviticus 8:28; the middle of all words is Lev. 8:26, and the
middle of all verses is 8:8. Note that this, essentially, means that Leviticus 8 is the
middle of the Torah, or the "heart" of the Torah. We find in Leviticus 8 the
consecration of Aaron and his sons as priests, making them "holy" unto YHWH.
Can we say that it is the "heart" of YHWH for His people to become priests? For His
people to be set apart unto Him?
Ex. 19:5-6 "5 'Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant,
then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is
Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These
are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel."

1 Pet. 2:9 "9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
people for Elohim's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of Him
who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light:"
Rev. 5:9-10 "9 They sang a new song, saying, 'You are worthy to take the book,
and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for Elohim with your blood,
out of every tribe, language, people, and nation, 10 and made us kings and
priests to our Elohim, and we will reign on earth.""
Perhaps this gives a slightly better understanding of what it truly means to
"circumcise" your heart. Circumcision is a symbol of submission, and of dedication.
Men are circumcised as a way of saying, "everything that comes forth from my loins
has been dedicated to You, O YHWH." Similarly, we need to circumcise our hearts,
and cut away the flesh of our own will, our own thoughts, and our own intentions.
We need to be conformed more and more into His Will, and His plan. THAT is what it
meant for David to be a "man after YHWH's own heart." Not that David felt upset
about the things that upset YHWH (which happened too, of course), but that David
was willing to conform his mind, his thoughts, and his desires to those of The Father.
Be Berean. Shalom.