Heart. Vital bodily organ; however, all modern assumptions concerning circulation of the blood, the intellectual and directive functions of brain and nervous system, must be set aside when considering Scripture’s remarkably consistent physiological language. “Heart” (Hebrew léb; Greek kardia) occurs approximately 1000 times, often disguised in translation, and the range of meaning is immense.
Physical Heart. That the beating heart indicates life seems implied in 1 Samuel 25:37, 38 despite the delay in Nabal’s death; perhaps “heart” means “midriff” (cf. 2 Sm 18:14; 2 Kgs 9:24). Physical food and wine affect the heart (Jgs 19:5; Ps 104:15; Acts 14:17), and the heart can “faint,” and “tremble.” The heart’s position yields an obvious metaphor for “the center” (Dt 4:11; Mt 12:40).
Psychological Heart. The heart attends intellectually (e.g., Jer 12:11); it also perceives (Jn 12:40), understands (1 Kgs 3:9), debates (Mk 2:6), reflects (Lk 2:19), remembers (Lk 2:51), thinks (Dt 8:17), imagines (Lk 1:51), is wise (Eccl 1:17 KJV) or mad (Eccl 9:3), has technical skill (Ex 28:3 KJV), and much more.
Emotionally, the heart experiences intoxicated merriment (1 Sm 25:36), gladness (Is 30:29), joy (Jn 16:22), sorrow (Neh 2:2), anguish (Rom 9:2), bitterness (Prv 14:10), anxiety (1 Sm 4:13), despair (Eccl 2:20), love (2 Sm 14:1), trust (Ps 112:7), affection (2 Cor 7:3), lust (Mt 5:28), callousness (Mk 3:5), hatred (Lv 19:17), fear (Gn 42:28), jealousy (Jas 3:14), desire (Rom 10:1), discouragement (Nm 32:9), sympathy (Ex 23:9), anger (Dt 19:6 KJV), irresolution (2 Chr 13:7 KJV), and much besides.
Volitionally, the heart can purpose (1 Cor 4:5), incline to (1 Sm 14:7), prompt (2 Kgs 12:4; cf. Prv 4:23), be steadfast (Acts 11:23), willing (Ex 35:22), or willful (Ez 13:2 KJV), contrive evil (Acts 5:4), or follow its “treasure” (Mt 6:21).
Morally, the heart can be gentle, lowly (Mt 11:29), holy (1 Thes 3:13), faithful (Neh 9:8), upright (Ps 97:11), pure, singleminded (Jas 4:8), clean (Acts 15:9), loving toward God (Mk 12:30) and others (1 Pt 1:22), or hardened or sensitive (Ez 11:19). Scripture’s emphasis falls upon the heart’s evil (Gn 6:5 and throughout), as self-deceiving (Jas 1:26), deceitful (Jer 17:9), avaricious (Mt 6:19–21), lustful (Mt 5:28), arrogant (Is 9:9), impious (Acts 7:51), perverse (Ps 101:4), and impenitent (Rom 2:5). Nothing defiles a man but his own heart (Mk 7:18, 19).
Yet, as conscience the heart can smite (1 Sm 24:5; cf. Acts 2:37). Moreover, out of the heart can come good (Lk 6:45; 8:15). Even when frustrated by circumstances or by fear, the heart’s good intention remains good, its evil intent, bad (1 Kgs 8:18; Mt 5:28).
Being so complex, man’s heart is sadly divided, and Scripture often extols a perfect, whole, true (i.e., united) heart (Gn 20:5; Acts 8:37 mg; Ps 86:11). For “heart” signifies the total inner self, a person’s hidden core of being (1 Pt 3:4), with which one communes, which one “pours out” in prayer, words, and deeds (Gn 17:17; Ps 62:8; Mt 15:18, 19). It is the genuine self, distinguished from appearance, public position, and physical presence (1 Sm 16:7; 2 Cor 5:12; 1 Thes 2:17). And this “heart-self” has its own nature, character, disposition, “of man” or “of beast” (Dn 7:4 KJV; 4:16; cf. Mt 12:33–37).
Religious Heart. The heart is especially important in biblical religion. The mystery of the hidden self is fully known to God and to Christ (Jer 17:10; Lk 9:47; Rom 8:27; and throughout), and the heart is the seat of our knowledge of God (2 Cor 4:6). The state of heart governs the vision of God (Mt 5:8); from the heart one speaks to God (Ps 27:8); the heart is the locus of divine indwelling (2 Cor 1:22; Gal 4:6; Eph 3:17).
On the other hand, moral evil in the heart is seen in biblical perspective as sin against God. Senseless hearts are darkened, often secretly idolatrous, far from God, “not right” before God (Dt 29:18, 19; Mt 15:8; Acts 8:21; Rom 1:21). Yet the Lord will not despise a broken, contrite heart (Ps 51:17); if when one’s heart is turned toward God, he promises to make it sensitive to divine things, renewed and purified (Dt 4:29; 2 Kgs 23:25; Ps 51:10; Jl 2:13; Ez 36:25–27). God’s law shall then be written on the heart, as the inward guide and incentive (Jer 31:33; Heb 8:10; cf. 2 Cor 3:2, 3).
In Christian terms, such transformation involves believing the gospel from the “honest and good heart” that provides fruitful soil for the Word of God (Lk 8:15; Rom 10:9). The true heart draws near to God, loves him with all its intellect, feeling, and will (Lk 10:27; Heb 10:22). Then God becomes to the heart strength, reward, renewal, grace, peace, and joy (Ps 73:26; Is 57:15; Acts 2:46; Phil 4:7; Heb 13:9). So the ancient ideal becomes possible again, that of being “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Sm 13:14; Acts 13:22).
The high value which Scripture places upon such heart-religion does not discourage corporate worship and prayer, nor the uniting of individual hearts in spiritual fellowship (Jer 32:39; Ez 11:19; Acts 4:32). But it is directed against the external legalism, which judges according to visible outward acts rather than inward dispositions (Mt 5:21–48); against the heartless “hardness” of prevailing regulations concerning the sabbath, marriage, religious obligations (Mk 3:5; Mt 19:8; 23:4); against hypocrisy and self-display that belie the true state of heart (Is 29:13; Jer 3:10; Mt 6:1–18).
One fundamental assumption of Scripture is that the human heart is constantly open to influences from above and from below. God would “lay hold of [human] hearts” (Ez 14:5), “incline hearts” to his truth and ways (Ps 119:36), “put into … hearts to carry out his purposes,” both for judgment and for salvation (Rv 17:17). The alternative to divine “possession” is the demonic influence that can drag the heart down to utmost evil (Jn 13:2; Acts 5:3). The same heart that can be “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer 17:9) can also become the shrine of divine love and the Spirit (Rom 5:5).
In that openness to infinite good or evil, the scriptural dimensions of the human heart are revealed.
Bibliography. R. Bultmann, Theology of the NT, vol 1, pp 220–27; R. Jewett, Paul’s Anthropological Terms; A.R. Johnson, The Vitality of the Individual in the Thought of Ancient Israel; H.W. Wolf, Anthropology of the OT, pp 40–58.
Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Heart. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, pp. 938–940). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
The Heart
Heart. Vital bodily organ; however, all modern assumptions concerning circulation of the blood, the intellectual and directive functions of brain and nervous system, must be set aside when considering Scripture’s remarkably consistent physiological language. “Heart” (Hebrew léb; Greek kardia) occurs approximately 1000 times, often disguised in translation, and the range of meaning is immense.
Physical Heart. That the beating heart indicates life seems implied in 1 Samuel 25:37, 38 despite the delay in Nabal’s death; perhaps “heart” means “midriff” (cf. 2 Sm 18:14; 2 Kgs 9:24). Physical food and wine affect the heart (Jgs 19:5; Ps 104:15; Acts 14:17), and the heart can “faint,” and “tremble.” The heart’s position yields an obvious metaphor for “the center” (Dt 4:11; Mt 12:40).
Psychological Heart. The heart attends intellectually (e.g., Jer 12:11); it also perceives (Jn 12:40), understands (1 Kgs 3:9), debates (Mk 2:6), reflects (Lk 2:19), remembers (Lk 2:51), thinks (Dt 8:17), imagines (Lk 1:51), is wise (Eccl 1:17 KJV) or mad (Eccl 9:3), has technical skill (Ex 28:3 KJV), and much more.
Emotionally, the heart experiences intoxicated merriment (1 Sm 25:36), gladness (Is 30:29), joy (Jn 16:22), sorrow (Neh 2:2), anguish (Rom 9:2), bitterness (Prv 14:10), anxiety (1 Sm 4:13), despair (Eccl 2:20), love (2 Sm 14:1), trust (Ps 112:7), affection (2 Cor 7:3), lust (Mt 5:28), callousness (Mk 3:5), hatred (Lv 19:17), fear (Gn 42:28), jealousy (Jas 3:14), desire (Rom 10:1), discouragement (Nm 32:9), sympathy (Ex 23:9), anger (Dt 19:6 KJV), irresolution (2 Chr 13:7 KJV), and much besides.
Volitionally, the heart can purpose (1 Cor 4:5), incline to (1 Sm 14:7), prompt (2 Kgs 12:4; cf. Prv 4:23), be steadfast (Acts 11:23), willing (Ex 35:22), or willful (Ez 13:2 KJV), contrive evil (Acts 5:4), or follow its “treasure” (Mt 6:21).
Morally, the heart can be gentle, lowly (Mt 11:29), holy (1 Thes 3:13), faithful (Neh 9:8), upright (Ps 97:11), pure, singleminded (Jas 4:8), clean (Acts 15:9), loving toward God (Mk 12:30) and others (1 Pt 1:22), or hardened or sensitive (Ez 11:19). Scripture’s emphasis falls upon the heart’s evil (Gn 6:5 and throughout), as self-deceiving (Jas 1:26), deceitful (Jer 17:9), avaricious (Mt 6:19–21), lustful (Mt 5:28), arrogant (Is 9:9), impious (Acts 7:51), perverse (Ps 101:4), and impenitent (Rom 2:5). Nothing defiles a man but his own heart (Mk 7:18, 19).
Yet, as conscience the heart can smite (1 Sm 24:5; cf. Acts 2:37). Moreover, out of the heart can come good (Lk 6:45; 8:15). Even when frustrated by circumstances or by fear, the heart’s good intention remains good, its evil intent, bad (1 Kgs 8:18; Mt 5:28).
Being so complex, man’s heart is sadly divided, and Scripture often extols a perfect, whole, true (i.e., united) heart (Gn 20:5; Acts 8:37 mg; Ps 86:11). For “heart” signifies the total inner self, a person’s hidden core of being (1 Pt 3:4), with which one communes, which one “pours out” in prayer, words, and deeds (Gn 17:17; Ps 62:8; Mt 15:18, 19). It is the genuine self, distinguished from appearance, public position, and physical presence (1 Sm 16:7; 2 Cor 5:12; 1 Thes 2:17). And this “heart-self” has its own nature, character, disposition, “of man” or “of beast” (Dn 7:4 KJV; 4:16; cf. Mt 12:33–37).
Religious Heart. The heart is especially important in biblical religion. The mystery of the hidden self is fully known to God and to Christ (Jer 17:10; Lk 9:47; Rom 8:27; and throughout), and the heart is the seat of our knowledge of God (2 Cor 4:6). The state of heart governs the vision of God (Mt 5:8); from the heart one speaks to God (Ps 27:8); the heart is the locus of divine indwelling (2 Cor 1:22; Gal 4:6; Eph 3:17).
On the other hand, moral evil in the heart is seen in biblical perspective as sin against God. Senseless hearts are darkened, often secretly idolatrous, far from God, “not right” before God (Dt 29:18, 19; Mt 15:8; Acts 8:21; Rom 1:21). Yet the Lord will not despise a broken, contrite heart (Ps 51:17); if when one’s heart is turned toward God, he promises to make it sensitive to divine things, renewed and purified (Dt 4:29; 2 Kgs 23:25; Ps 51:10; Jl 2:13; Ez 36:25–27). God’s law shall then be written on the heart, as the inward guide and incentive (Jer 31:33; Heb 8:10; cf. 2 Cor 3:2, 3).
In Christian terms, such transformation involves believing the gospel from the “honest and good heart” that provides fruitful soil for the Word of God (Lk 8:15; Rom 10:9). The true heart draws near to God, loves him with all its intellect, feeling, and will (Lk 10:27; Heb 10:22). Then God becomes to the heart strength, reward, renewal, grace, peace, and joy (Ps 73:26; Is 57:15; Acts 2:46; Phil 4:7; Heb 13:9). So the ancient ideal becomes possible again, that of being “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Sm 13:14; Acts 13:22).
The high value which Scripture places upon such heart-religion does not discourage corporate worship and prayer, nor the uniting of individual hearts in spiritual fellowship (Jer 32:39; Ez 11:19; Acts 4:32). But it is directed against the external legalism, which judges according to visible outward acts rather than inward dispositions (Mt 5:21–48); against the heartless “hardness” of prevailing regulations concerning the sabbath, marriage, religious obligations (Mk 3:5; Mt 19:8; 23:4); against hypocrisy and self-display that belie the true state of heart (Is 29:13; Jer 3:10; Mt 6:1–18).
One fundamental assumption of Scripture is that the human heart is constantly open to influences from above and from below. God would “lay hold of [human] hearts” (Ez 14:5), “incline hearts” to his truth and ways (Ps 119:36), “put into … hearts to carry out his purposes,” both for judgment and for salvation (Rv 17:17). The alternative to divine “possession” is the demonic influence that can drag the heart down to utmost evil (Jn 13:2; Acts 5:3). The same heart that can be “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer 17:9) can also become the shrine of divine love and the Spirit (Rom 5:5).
In that openness to infinite good or evil, the scriptural dimensions of the human heart are revealed.
Bibliography. R. Bultmann, Theology of the NT, vol 1, pp 220–27; R. Jewett, Paul’s Anthropological Terms; A.R. Johnson, The Vitality of the Individual in the Thought of Ancient Israel; H.W. Wolf, Anthropology of the OT, pp 40–58.
Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Heart. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, pp. 938–940). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.