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In the Bible, ‘heart’ has a totally different meaning than how we think about it today.

In ancient times including when Yeshua walked the earth, the heart was NOT considered to be the place where our emotions came from. And, for that matter, nor was it considered to be the place where the spirit dwelled.

 

Deuteronomy 30:2 and you return to Yahweh and you listen to his voice according to all that I am commanding you today, both you and your children, with all your heart and with all your inner self. Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

Heart as Brain

In the Bible, heart represents the inner aspect of a man, made of the following parts all together:

1. Intellect (the ability to learn, to synthesize information and to reason; the capacity for knowledge and understanding). This is where action and reaction take place.

2. Wisdom and Creativity. This is where discerning and recognizing right from wrong and true from false take place. This is also where the creative energy of wisdom seeks to express itself in meaningful ways.

3. Will and Obedience. This is where making a voluntary choice and conscious decision-making take place.

4. Courage. This is where exercising a conscious choice (one motivated by virtuous emotions like compassion, concern, or love) takes place.

 

Back in those days, the heart was thought to function they way we believe the brain functions today.

 

Historically speaking, it was the Hellenists who gave us the idea that the heart was the seat of all our emotions including where our feelings of erotic love resided.

Before that, our emotions were believed to come from our liver and kidneys. Yup! But that’s a rabbit trail I am going to park for right now…

 

So, from here on out, whenever you come across the word “heart” in your Bible, take a pen, cross it out, and write the word “mind” instead. That will give you the proper understanding of what the text is trying to communicate.

 

The heart as the seat of the intellect:

Genesis 6:5 And Yahweh saw that the evil of humankind was great upon the earth, and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was always only evil. Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

Genesis 17:17 And Abraham fell upon his face and laughed. And he said in his heart, “Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old, or can Sarah bear a child at ninety?” Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

Deuteronomy 29:4  But Yahweh has not given to you a heart to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear, even to this day. Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

Isaiah 44:18 They do not know, and they do not understand, for their eyes are besmeared so that they cannot see, their minds [hearts] so that they have no insight [knowledge]. Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

Jeremiah 24:7 And I will give to them a heart to know me, that I am Yahweh, and they will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with the whole of their heart. Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

The heart as the seat of wisdom and creativity:

1 Kings 3:9, 12 Give to your servant a listening heart to judge your people, to discern between good and bad… I hereby give you a wise and discerning heart… Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

1 Kings 10:24 All of the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

Exodus 28:3 And you will speak to all the skilled of heart [wise in heart], whom I have given a gift of skill [spirit of wisdom], and they will make the garments of Aaron to consecrate him for his serving as my priest. Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

Exodus 35:10 And let all the skilled [wise] of heart among you come and make all that Yahweh has commanded. Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

The heart as the seat of the will and obedience (or, the seat of rebellion, defiance, pride and stubbornness):

Isaiah 32:6 For a fool speaks folly, and his mind [heart] does iniquity: to behave wickedly, and to speak error concerning Yahweh, to leave the throat of the hungry empty, and he deprives the thirsty of drink. Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

Jeremiah 7:24 Yet they did not obey, and they did not incline their ear, but they walked in their own plans, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and they became worse instead of better. Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

Jeremiah 13:10 This evil people, who refuse to listen to my words, who go in the stubbornness of their hearts, and have gone after other gods, to serve them, and to bow in worship to them... Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

2 Chronicles 36:12-13 And he [Zedekiah] did evil in the eyes of Yahweh his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for Yahweh. 13 And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to Yahweh, the God of Israel. Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

The heart as the seat of courage:

Psalms 27:14 Wait for Yahweh. Be strong and let your heart show strength [be courageous], and wait for Yahweh. Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

Psalms 31:24 Be strong and let your heart show strength [be courageous], all you who wait for Yahweh. Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

Psalms 112:7-8 He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is steadfast, secure in Yahweh. 8 His heart is sustained; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his enemies. Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

When intellect, wisdom, will and courage are divinely inspired and rooted in faith, reverence and awe come to reside in our heart:

Jeremiah 32:39-40 And I will give to them one heart and one way, to revere me forever, for good to them, and to their children after them. And I will make with them an everlasting covenant that I will not turn away from them, my doing good to them, and my reverence I will put in their hearts so that they will not turn aside from me. Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

Our Heart is More than Just a Pump

Once upon a time, scientists believed the heart is just a muscle whose job is to pump blood 100,000 times a day to all the organs of the body. They told us that the heart is just a vital (but fairly simple) bag of fleshy fibers. 

Proverbs 4:23 Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life. Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

Nowadays, researchers are learning that this marvelous organ, the size of a fist and weighing on average less than 10 ounces, also possess a level of intelligence they are only beginning to understand. 

 

Ponder this:

  • In the womb, the first organ to form before all else is the heart. It is the organizing factor for physical formation, including for brain formation. 
  • New research is showing that the heart controls the brain much more than previously thought. There is more information sent from the heart to the brain on a daily basis than vice versa. 
  • Indeed, the nervous system within the heart (or “heart brain”) enables it to learn, remember, and make functional decisions independent of the brain’s cerebral cortex.
  • The Heart’s electromagnetic frequency arcs out from the Heart and back in the form of a torus field. The axis of this Heart torus extends from the pelvic floor to the top of the skull, and the whole field is holographic, meaning that information about it can be read from each and every point in the torus.

 

Research by the HeartMath Institute in California has shown that the heart is the most powerful generator of electromagnetic energy in the human body:

  • The heart’s electrical field is about 60 times greater in amplitude than the electrical activity generated by the brain
  • The magnetic field produced by the heart is more than 5,000 times greater in strength than the field generated by the brain
  • The electromagnetic energy of the heart not only envelops every cell of the human body, but also extends out in all directions in the space around us
  • One person’s heart signal can effect another’s brainwaves, and heart-brain synchronization can occur between two people when they interact
  • The heart’s field is an important carrier of information

 

Experiments conducted at the Institute of HeartMath have found that the heart’s electromagnetic field can transmit information between people. They have been able to measure an exchange of heart energy between individuals up to 5’ apart. They have also found that one person’s brain waves can actually synchronize to another person’s heart.

 

The results of these experiments have led them to infer that the nervous system acts as an “antenna,” which is tuned to and responds to the electromagnetic fields produced by the hearts of other individuals.

 

In other words, energetic communication via the heart field facilitates development of an expanded consciousness in relation to our social world.

 

So, maybe our forefathers knew a thing or two after all… wink wink…

"Wisdom calls out in the streets, in the squares she raises her voice." (Proverbs 1:20)