HEART (IN THE BIBLE)

In the Old Testament the word for heart is lēb or lēbāb; in the New Testament it is καρδία or νο[symbol omitted]ς. The definition and use of these terms will be treated in this article.

The Hebrew word lēb is derived probably from a root that etymologically means "agitated motion." It is seldom used in the proper sense, referring to the vital organ that pumps blood through the body (1 Sm 25.37; Jb 41.16; etc.). In the Bible the term "heart" is used mostly in a transferred sense, referring to the inner resources of the total person as capable of acting, with the accent more specifically on his will or intellect, less often his emotions; it is characteristic of Semitic thought that heart never prescinds from the total person.

In 1 Sm 16.7 heart refers specifically to the invisible inner man: "man seeth those things that appear; but the Lord beholdeth the heart." In Ps 83 (84).3 the Psalmist wishes to say that his total being yearns for God, and so he includes his heart together with his flesh and soul. Heart in this context is equivalent to the most noble inner part of man, i.e., his spirit (rûaḥ ), as is the sense of heart in the great commandment of love [Dt 6.5; see also Ps 118 (119).2].

Heart appears in the sense of person as source of thought in Nm 16.28: "Moses said 'This is how you shall know that it was the Lord who sent me to do all I have done and that it was not I who claimed it."' "Not I who claimed it," is literally "not from my heart" (see also Nm 24.13; 1 Kgs 12.33).

Heart is used in the sense of person as the source of volition in 1 Kgs 8.17; "And David my father would have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel." "And David my father would have" is literally "it was with the heart of David my father."

Heart is used less often to signify the emotions. In Jer 49.22 heart is used in the sense of courage: "on that day the hearts of Edom's heroes shall be like the heart of a woman in travail" (see also Dt 15.10; 28.47).

In the New Testament two words translate the Hebrew lēb, καρδία and νο[symbol omitted]ς. They both denote the inner person as the source of action; καρδία more specifically denotes volition and emotion while νο[symbol omitted]ς denotes intellect.

In Lk 16.15 καρδία specifically denotes the invisible inner man: "You are they who declare yourselves just in the sight of man, but God knows your heart (cf. 1 Thes2.4; Rom 8.27). However, καρδία is also used to refer to understanding (2 Cor 4.6; Mt 13.15) and to willing (2 Cor9.7; Lk 21.14).

In the New Testament νο[symbol omitted]ς is used for lēb only in Pauline literature with the exceptions of Lk 24.45; Rv 13.18; 17.9. In Rom 7.23 νο[symbol omitted]ς, parallel to "the inner man," signifies the higher mental part of the natural man; it is transformed by Baptism to a new mode of being (Rom 12.2; Eph 4.23).

Bibliography: Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible, tr. and adap. by l. hartman (New York 1963), from a. van den born, Bijbels Woordenboek 947–48. j. behm, g. kittel, Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament 3:609–16. j. p. e. pedersen, Israel: Its Life and Culture, 4 v. in 2 (New York 1926–40) 1:99–81. r. bultmann, Theology of the New Testament, tr. k. grobel (New York 1951–) 1:190–259. c. tresmontant, A Study of Hebrew Thought, tr. m. f. gibson (New York 1960) 83–124. m. baily, "Biblical Man and Some Formulae of Christian Teaching," Irish Theological Quarterly 27 (1960) 173–200.

[w. e. lynch]