Reference: Heart
Easton
According to the Bible, the heart is the centre not only of spiritual activity, but of all the operations of human life. "Heart" and "soul" are often used interchangeably (De 6:5; 26:16; comp. Mt 22:37; Mr 12:30,33), but this is not generally the case.
The heart is the "home of the personal life," and hence a man is designated, according to his heart, wise (1Ki 3:12, etc.), pure (Ps 24:4; Mt 5:8, etc.), upright and righteous (Ge 20:5-6; Ps 11:2; 78:72), pious and good (Lu 8:15), etc. In these and such passages the word "soul" could not be substituted for "heart."
The heart is also the seat of the conscience (Ro 2:15). It is naturally wicked (Ge 8:21), and hence it contaminates the whole life and character (Mt 12:34; 15:18; comp. Ec 8:11; Ps 73:7). Hence the heart must be changed, regenerated (Eze 36:26; 11:19; Ps 51:10-14), before a man can willingly obey God.
The process of salvation begins in the heart by the believing reception of the testimony of God, while the rejection of that testimony hardens the heart (Ps 95:8; Pr 28:14; 2Ch 36:13). "Hardness of heart evidences itself by light views of sin; partial acknowledgment and confession of it; pride and conceit; ingratitude; unconcern about the word and ordinances of God; inattention to divine providences; stifling convictions of conscience; shunning reproof; presumption, and general ignorance of divine things."
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And Jehovah smelled a smell of sweetness; and Jehovah will say in his heart, I will not gather to curse the earth yet again on account of man; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth: and I will not gather yet again to smite every living thing according to which I did.
Did he not say to me, This my sister? and she also, she said he is my brother: in the uprightness of my heart, and in cleanness of my hands have I done this. And God will say to him in a dream, I knew also that in the uprightness of thy heart thou didst this; and I also will restrain thee from sinning against me: for this I suffered thee not to touch her.
And love thou Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might
This day Jehovah thy God commands thee to do these laws and judgments: and watch thou to do them with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
Behold, I did according to thy word, I gave to thee a wise and understanding heart; that there was not as thou before thee, and after thee there shall not arise like thee.
For behold, the unjust will bend the bow, they prepared their arrow upon the cord, they will shoot in darkness the upright of heart
The blameless one of hands and the clean of heart; who lifted not up his soul to vanity, and swore not for deceit
Create for me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in my midst, Thou wilt not cast me away from thy face, and thou wilt not take thy holy spirit from me. read more. Turn back to me the joy of thy salvation, and thy willing spirit shall uphold me. I will teach those transgressing, thy ways, and those sinning shall turn back to thee. Deliver me from bloods, O God the God of my salvation; my tongue shall rejoice in thy justice.
Their eye will come forth from fat: they passed over the imaginations of the heart
And he will feed them according to the integrity of his heart, and he will guide them in the understandings of his hands.
Ye shall not harden your heart as the strife, as the day of trial in the desert:
Happy the man fearing always: and he hardening his heart shall fall into evil
Because a decree was not done quickly upon an evil work, for this the heart of the sons of man was filled in them to do evil.
And I gave to them one heart, and a new spirit I will give in the midst of you; and I turned away the heart of stone from their flesh, and I gave to them a heart of flesh:
And I gave to you a new heart, and a new spirit will I give in the midst of you: and I turned away your heart of stone from your flesh, and I gave to you an heart of flesh.
Happy the pure in heart: tor they shall see God.
O generation of vipers! how can ye speak good things, being evil? for out of the abundance of the heart the month speaks.
But the things going forth out of the mouth come from the heart, and these pollute the man.
And Jesus said to him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God from thy whole heart, and from thy whole soul, and from thy whole mind, and from thy whole strength: this the first command.
And to love him from the whole heart, and from the whole understanding, and from the whole soul, and from the whole strength, and to love the neighbor as himself, is more than all the whole burnt offerrings, and the sacrifices.
And that in the good earth, they are they which, in a fair and good heart, having heard, keep the word, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Which show the work of the law Written in their hearts, their consciousness testifying together, and between one another thoughts accusing or also excusing;)
Fausets
Often including the intellect as well as the affections and will; as conversely the "mind" often includes the feeling and will as well as the intellect. Ro 1:21, "their foolish heart was darkened." Eph 1:18, "the eyes of your understanding (the Vaticanus manuscript; but the Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus manuscripts 'heart') being enlightened." Thus, the Scripture implies that the heart and the head act and react on one another; and in men's unbelief it is the will that perverts the intellectual perceptions. Joh 7:17, "if any man be willing to (Greek) do, he shall know." "Willingness to obey" is the key to spiritual knowledge. See Jer 17:9; Ho 7:11, "Ephraim is like a silly dove without heart," i.e. "moral understanding".
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The heart is deceitful above all, and man himself, who shall know him?
And Ephraim will be as an enticed dove, not a heart: they called Egypt, they went to Assur.
If any desire to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or I speak from myself.
Wherefore having known God, not as God did they honour or return thanks; but were rendered vain in their conversations, and their heart without understanding was darkened.
The eyes of your understanding enlightened; for you to know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the holy ones,
Hastings
1. Instances are not wanting in the OT of the employment of this word in a physiological sense, though they are not numerous. Jacob, for example, seems to have suffered in his old age from weakness of the heart; a sudden failure of its action occurred on receipt of the unexpected but joyful news of Joseph's great prosperity (Ge 45:26). A similar failure proved fatal in the case of Eli, also in extreme old age (1Sa 4:13-18; cf. the case of the exhausted king, 1Sa 28:20). The effect of the rending of the pericardium is referred to by Hosea as well known (1Sa 13:8); and although the proverb 'a sound (Revised Version margin 'tranquil') heart is the life of the flesh' (Pr 14:30) is primarily intended as a psychological truth, the simile is evidently borrowed from a universally recognized physiological fact (cf. Pr 4:23). The aphorism attributed to 'the Preacher' (Ec 10:2) may be interpreted in the same way; the 'right hand' is the symbol of strength and firmness, and the left of weakness and indecision (cf. Ec 2:14). Nor does it appear that OT writers were ignorant of the vital functions which the heart is called on to discharge. This will be seen by their habit of using the word metaphorically as almost a synonym for the entire life (cf. Ps 22:26; 69:32; Isa 1:5, where 'head' and 'heart' cover man's whole being).
2. The preponderating use of the word is, however, psychological; and it is in this way made to cover a large variety of thought. Thus it is employed to denote the centre of man's personal activities, the source whence the principles of his action derive their origin (see Ge 6:5; 8:21, where men's evil deeds are attributed to corruption of the heart). We are, therefore, able to understand the significance of the Psalmist's penitential prayer, 'Create in me a clean heart' (Ps 51:10), and the meaning of the prophet's declaration, 'a new heart also will I give you' (Eze 36:26; cf. Eze 11:19). The heart, moreover, was considered to be the seat of the emotions and passions (De 19:6; 1Ki 8:38; Isa 30:29; cf. Ps 104:15, where the heart is said to be moved to gladness by the use of wine). It was a characteristic, too, of Hebraistic thought which made this organ the seat of the various activities of the intellect, such as understanding (34/10/type/juliasmith'>Job 34:10,34; 1Ki 4:29), purpose or determination (Ex 14:5; 1Sa 7:3; 1Ki 8:48; Isa 10:7), consciousness (Pr 14:10, where, if English Version be an accurate tr of the original text, the heart is said to be conscious both of sorrow and of joy; cf. 1Sa 2:1), imagination (cf. Lu 1:51; Ge 8:21), memory (Ps 31:12; 1Sa 21:12; cf. Lu 2:19,51; 1:66). The monitions of the conscience are said to proceed from the heart (Job 27:6), and the counterpart of the NT expression 'branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron' (1Ti 4:2 RV) is found in the OT words 'I will harden his heart' (Ex 4:21; cf. De 2:30; Jos 11:20 etc.). Closely connected with the idea of conscience is that of moral character, and so we find 'a new heart' as the great desideratum of a people needing restoration to full and intimate relationship with God (Eze 18:31; cf. De 9:5; 1Ki 11:4). It is, therefore, in those movements which characterize repentance, placed in antithesis to outward manifestations of sorrow for sin, 'Rend your heart and not your garments' (Joe 2:13).
3. Moving along in the direction thus outlined, and not forgetting the influence of the Apocryphal writings on later thought (cf. e.g. Wis 8:19; Wis 17:11, Sir 42:18 etc.), we shall be enabled to grasp the religious ideas enshrined in the teaching of the NT. In the recorded utterances of Jesus, so profoundly influenced by the ancient writings of the Jewish Church, the heart occupies a very central place. The beatific vision is reserved for those whose hearts are 'pure' (Mt 5:8; cf. 2Ti 2:22; 1Pe 1:22 Revised Version margin). The heart is compared to the soil on which seed is sown; it containsmoral potentialities which spring into objective existence in the outward life of the receiver (Lu 8:15; cf., however, Mr 4:15-20, where no mention is made of this organ; see also Mt 13:18, in which the heart is referred to, as in Isa 6:10, as the seat of the spiritual understanding). Hidden within the remote recesses of the heart are those principles and thoughts which will inevitably spring into active life, revealing its purity or its native corruption (Lu 6:45; cf. Mt 12:34 f., Mt 15:18 f.). It is thus that men's characters reveal themselves in naked reality (1Pe 3:4). It is the infallible index of human character, but can be read only by Him who 'searcheth the hearts' (Ro 8:27; cf. 1Sa 16:7; Pr 21:2; Lu 16:15). Human judgment can proceed only according to the unerring evidence tendered by this resultant of inner forces, for 'by their fruits ye shall know them' (Mt 7:20). The more strictly Jewish of the NT writers show the influence of OT thought in their teaching. Where we should employ the word 'conscience' St. John uses 'heart,' whose judgments in the moral sphere are final (1Jo 3:20 f.). Nor is St. Paul free from the influence of this nomenclature. He seems, in fact, to regard conscience as a function of the heart rather than as an independent moral and spiritual organ (Ro 2:15, where both words occur; cf. the quotation Heb 10:16). In spite of the fact that the last-named Apostle frequently employs the terms 'mind,' 'understanding,' 'reason,' 'thinkings,' etc., to express the elements of intellectual activity in man, we find him constantly reverting to the heart as discharging functions closely allied to these (cf. 'the eyes of your heart,' Eph 1:18; see also 2Co 4:6). With St. Paul, too, the heart is the seat of the determination or will (cf. 1Co 7:37, where 'steadfast in heart' is equivalent to will-power). In all these and similar cases, however, it will be noticed that it is man's moral nature that he has in view; and the moral and spiritual life, having its roots struck deep in his being, is appropriately conceived of as springing ultimately from the most essentially vital organ of his personal life.
J. R. Willis.
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And Jehovah will see that great the evil of man in the earth, and every formation of the thoughts of his heart only evil all the days.
And Jehovah smelled a smell of sweetness; and Jehovah will say in his heart, I will not gather to curse the earth yet again on account of man; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth: and I will not gather yet again to smite every living thing according to which I did.
And Jehovah smelled a smell of sweetness; and Jehovah will say in his heart, I will not gather to curse the earth yet again on account of man; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth: and I will not gather yet again to smite every living thing according to which I did.
And they will announce to him, saying, Joseph is yet living, and that he the ruler over all the land of Egypt. And his heart will be cold for he believed them not
And Jehovah will say to Moses, In thy going to turn back to Egypt, see all the wonders which I put in thy hand: do them before Pharaoh; and I will bind fast his heart and he shall not send forth the people.
And it was announced to the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh will be turned, and his servants, against the people, and they will say, What this we did, that we sent forth Israel from serving us?
And Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass by him, for Jehovah thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart strong in order to give him into thy hand as this day.
Not for thy justice and for the straightness of thy heart thou goest in to possess this land, but for the injustice of these nations Jehovah thy God dispossesses them from before thee, and order to lift up the word which he sware to thy fathers, to Abraham and to Isaak and to Jacob.
Lest the nearest relative of blood shall pursue after the slayer when his heart shall be warm, and overtaking him, for the way shall be great, and he smote him in soul; and to him not the judgment of death for he hated him not from yesterday the third day
For from Jehovah it was to strengthen their heart to meet Israel in war in order to destroy them; no favor to be to them, but to destroy them as Jehovah commanded Moses.
And Hannah will pray and say, My heart rejoiced in Jehovah, my horn was lifted up in Jehovah; my mouth was enlarged over mine enemies; for I was glad in thy salvation.
And he will come, and behold, Eli sitting upon a seat of the side of the way, looking about: for his heart was trembling for the ark of God. And the man came to announce in the city, and all the city will cry out And Eli will hear the voice of the cry, and will say, What the voice of this noise? And the man hastened, and he will go in and announce to Eli read more. And Eli the son of ninety and eight years; and his eyes standing, and he will not be able to see. And the man will say to Eli, I came from the array, and I fled from the array this day; And he will say, What was the word, my son? And he bearing tidings will answer and say, Israel fled before Philisteim, and also a great slaughter was among the people, and also thy two sons died, Hophni and Phinehas; and the ark of God was taken. And it will be when he made mention of the ark of God, and he will fall from off the seat backwards by the side of the gate, and his neck will break, and he will die: for he was an old Man and heavy. And he judged Israel forty years.
And he will wait some days according to the appointment which was of Samuel: and Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.
And Jehovah will say to Samuel, Thou shalt not look upon his aspect or upon the height of his stature; for I rejected him: for not what man will see, for man will see with the eyes, and Jehovah will see at the heart
And Saul will hasten and fall with the fulness of his stature to the earth, and he will fear greatly from the words of Samuel: also strength was not in him, for he ate not bread all the day and all the night
My justice I held fast, and I will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach from my days.
For this, ye men of heart, hear to me: far be it to God from doing evil; and the Almighty from iniquity.
The humble shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise Jehovah they seeking him: your heart shall live forever.
I was forgotten as the dead from the heart: I was a vessel perishing.
Create for me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in my midst,
The poor saw, they shall be glad: and seeking Jehovah your heart shall live.
And wine will gladden the heart of man, to cause the face to shine from oil, and bread will support the heart of man.
Guard thy heart with all watching, for from it the goings forth of life.
The heart will know the bitterness of its soul, and in its joys the stranger shall not mingle.
A heart of healing, the life of the flesh: and jealousy the rottenness of the bones.
Every way of a man right in his eyes: and Jehovah will prepare hearts.
The wise, his eyes in his head; and the foolish one goes in darkness: and I knew, I also, that one event will meet with them all.
The heart of the wise one to his right, and the heart of the foolish one to his left.
For what shall ye be yet struck? will ye add apostasy? every head for sickness, and every heart sick
Make the heart of this people fat and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes, lest they shall see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and their heart shall understand and turn back and be healed to them.
And he will not thus purpose, and his heart will not reckon thus; for in his heart to destroy and to cut off nations not few.
The song shall be to you as by night, consecrating a festival and gladness of heart, as he going with a pipe to come into the mountain of Jehovah to the rock of Israel.
And I gave to them one heart, and a new spirit I will give in the midst of you; and I turned away the heart of stone from their flesh, and I gave to them a heart of flesh:
Cast away from you all your transgressions which ye transgressed against me, and make to you a new heart and a new spirit: and wherefore will ye die, O house of Israel?
And I gave to you a new heart, and a new spirit will I give in the midst of you: and I turned away your heart of stone from your flesh, and I gave to you an heart of flesh.
And rend your heart and not your garments, and turn back to Jehovah your God: for he is merciful and compassionate, slow of anger and of much kindness, and lamenting on account of the evil.
Happy the pure in heart: tor they shall see God.
O generation of vipers! how can ye speak good things, being evil? for out of the abundance of the heart the month speaks.
Therefore hear ye the parable of him sowing.
But the things going forth out of the mouth come from the heart, and these pollute the man.
And these are they by the way, where the word is sown; and when they hear, quickly comes Satan, and takes away the word sown in their hearts. And these are likewise they sown upon stony places; who, when they hear, quickly with joy receive it; read more. And have no root in themselves, but are temporary; then pressure having been or expulsion for the word, quickly are they scandalized. And these are they sown in thorns; these are they hearing the word. And the cares of this time, and the deceit of riches, and eager desires about remaining things, coming in, choke the word, and it is unfruitful. And these are they sown on good earth; who hear the word, and receive, and bear fruit, one thirty, and one sixty, and one a hundred.
He has done strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thought of their heart.
And all having heard, set in their heart, saying, What then shall this child be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.
And Mary kept together all these sayings, reflecting in her heart.
And he went dawn with them, and came to Nazareth, and was placed under them : and his mother kept all these words in her heart.
The good man out of the good treasure of his heart, brings forward the good thing; and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart, brings forward the evil thing: for out of the abundance of the heart does his month speak.
And that in the good earth, they are they which, in a fair and good heart, having heard, keep the word, and bring forth fruit with patience.
And he said to them, Ye are they justifying yourselves before men; and God knows your hearts: for the high with men is abomination before God.
Which show the work of the law Written in their hearts, their consciousness testifying together, and between one another thoughts accusing or also excusing;)
And he searching hearts knows what the thought of the Spirit, for according to God he supplicates for the holy ones.
And he who has stood firmly fixed in heart; not having necessity, and has power concerning his own will, and has judged this in his heart to keep his virgin, does well.
For God, having spoken light to shine out of darkness, who shone in our hearts, to the enlightening of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The eyes of your understanding enlightened; for you to know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the holy ones,
In the hypocrisy of speaking falsely; burned with a hot iron in their own consciousness;
And flee youthful, eager desires: and follow justice, faith, love, peace, with them calling upon the Lord from a pure heart.
This the covenant which I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord, giving my laws upon their heart, and upon their minds will I write them;
But the hidden man of the heart, in the uncorruptedness of a mild and quiet spirit, which is before God of great price.
For if our heart condemn us, for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
Morish
The heart is often referred to in scripture as the seat of the affections and of the passions, also of wisdom and understanding
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And Jehovah will see that great the evil of man in the earth, and every formation of the thoughts of his heart only evil all the days.
And Jehovah smelled a smell of sweetness; and Jehovah will say in his heart, I will not gather to curse the earth yet again on account of man; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth: and I will not gather yet again to smite every living thing according to which I did.
For within, out of the heart of men, go forth evil reflections, adulteries, fornications, murders,
And that in the good earth, they are they which, in a fair and good heart, having heard, keep the word, and bring forth fruit with patience.
For if thou confess in thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
(And the end of the proclamation is love out of a pure heart, and a good consciousness, and unfeigned faith:
Watsons
HEART. The Hebrews regarded the heart as the source of wit, understanding, love, courage, grief, and pleasure. Hence are derived many modes of expression. "An honest and good heart," Lu 8:15, is a heart studious of holiness, being prepared by the Spirit of God to receive the word with due affections, dispositions, and resolutions. We read of a broken heart, a clean heart, an evil heart, a liberal heart. To "turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers," Mal 4:6, signifies to cause them to be perfectly reconciled, and that they should be of the same mind. To want heart, sometimes denotes to want understanding and prudence: "Ephraim is like a silly dove, without heart," Ho 7:11. "O fools, and slow of heart," Lu 24:25; that is, ignorant, and without understanding. "This people's heart is waxed gross, lest they should understand with their heart," Mt 13:15; their heart is become incapable of understanding spiritual things; they resist the light, and are proof against all impressions of truth. "The prophets prophesy out of their own heart," Eze 13:2; that is, according to their own imagination, without any warrant from God.
The heart is said to be dilated by joy, contracted by sadness, broken by sorrow, to grow fat, and be hardened by prosperity. The heart melts under discouragement, forsakes one under terror, is desolate in affliction, and fluctuating in doubt. To speak to any one's heart is to comfort him, to say pleasing and affecting things to him. The heart expresses also the middle part of any thing: "Tyre is in the heart of the seas," Eze 27:4; in the midst of the seas. "We will not fear though the mountains be carried into the heart (middle) of the sea," Ps 46:2.
The heart of man is naturally depraved and inclined to evil, Jer 17:9. A divine power is requisite for its renovation, Joh 3:1-11. When thus renewed, the effects will be seen in the temper, conversation, and conduct at large. Hardness of heart is that state in which a sinner is inclined to, and actually goes on in, rebellion against God.
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For this we will not fear in the changing of the earth, and in the moving of the mountains into the heart of the seas.
The heart is deceitful above all, and man himself, who shall know him?
Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel prophesying, and say to them prophesying from their heart, Hear ye the word of Jehovah.
In the heart of the see thy bound; they building thee completed thy beauty.
And Ephraim will be as an enticed dove, not a heart: they called Egypt, they went to Assur.
And he turned back the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to the fathers, lest I shall come and strike the earth with utter destruction.
For the heart of this people has been thickened, and with their ears have they heard heavily, and their eyes have they closed; lest perhaps they should see with the eyes, and hear with the ears, and understand with the heart, and turn back, and I should heal them.
And that in the good earth, they are they which, in a fair and good heart, having heard, keep the word, and bring forth fruit with patience.
And he said to them, O ye unwise, and slow in heart to believe in all things which the prophets spake:
And there was a man of the Pharisees, Nicodemus the name to him, a ruler of the Jews: He came to Jesus by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou hast come a teacher from God: for none can do these signs which thou doest, except God be with him. read more. Jesus answered and said to him, Amen, amen, I say to thee, Except any one be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus says to him, How can a man be born, being an old man? he cannot come in a second time to his mother's belly, and be born. Jesus says to him, Truly, truly, I say to thee, Except any one be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot come into the kingdom of God. That born of flesh is flesh; and that born of the Spirit is spirit. Thou shouldest not wonder that I said to thee, Ye must be born from above. The wind, where it wills, blows, and its voice thou hearest, but thou knowest not whence it comes, and where it goes: so is every one having been born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said to him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him, Art thou a teacher of Israel, and knowest not these? Truly, truly, I say to thee, that what we know, we speak, and what we have seen we testify; and ye receive not our testimony.