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 Yahweh smelled the soothing fragrance, and Yahweh said {to himself}, "{Never again will I curse} the ground for the sake of humankind, because the inclination of the heart of humankind [is] evil from his youth. {Nor will I ever again destroy} all life as I have done.
Did not he himself say to me, 'She [is] my sister'? And she herself said, 'He [is] my brother.' With integrity of my heart and with cleanness of my hands I did this." Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you did this, and I also {kept you from sinning} against me. Therefore, I did not allow you to touch her.
And you shall love Yahweh your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your might.
"This day Yahweh your God is commanding you to do these rules and regulations, {and you must observe them diligently} with all your heart and with all your soul.
behold, I do hereby do according to your word. I hereby give you a wise and discerning heart; there was no one like you before you, nor afterwards will one like you arise.
For look: The wicked {string the bow}. They have fitted their arrow to [the] string, to shoot from [the] darkness at the upright of heart.
He who is innocent of hands and pure of heart, who does not lift up his soul to falseness, and does not swear deceitfully.
Create a clean heart for me, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit {within me}. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. read more. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and with a willing spirit sustain me. [Then] I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation; [then] my tongue will sing aloud [of] your righteousness.
Their eye bulges from fat. Imaginings overflow [their] heart.
And he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and led them by the skillfulness of his hands.
"Do not harden your heart as [at] Meribah, as [in] the day of Massah in the wilderness,
Happy is the person who fears continuously, but he who is stubborn of heart, will fall into calamity.
Because sentence against an evil deed is not carried out quickly, the heart of {humans} fills up within them to do evil.
And I will give to them one heart, and a new spirit I will give in their inner parts. And I will remove their heart of stone from their body, and I will give to them a heart of flesh,
And I will give a new heart to you, and a new spirit I will give into your inner parts, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and I will give to you a heart of flesh.
Blessed [are] the pure in heart, because they will see God.
Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say good things [when you] are evil? For from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these defile the person.
And he said to him, " 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
And you shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength.'
And to love him from your whole heart and from your whole understanding and from your whole strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."
But the [seed] on the good soil--these are the ones who, [after] hearing the word, hold fast to [it] with a noble and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.
who show the work of the law written on their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts [one] after another accusing or even defending them
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 more than anything else, and it [is] disastrous. Who can understand it?
Ephraim was like a dove, silly, {without sense}; they call [to] Egypt, they go [to] Assyria.
If anyone wants to do his will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or I am speaking from myself.
For [although they] knew God, they did not honor [him] as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasoning, and their senseless hearts were darkened.
(the eyes of your hearts having been enlightened), so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what [are] the riches of the glory of his inheritance among the saints,
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/leb'>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 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.
And Yahweh smelled the soothing fragrance, and Yahweh said {to himself}, "{Never again will I curse} the ground for the sake of humankind, because the inclination of the heart of humankind [is] evil from his youth. {Nor will I ever again destroy} all life as I have done.
And Yahweh smelled the soothing fragrance, and Yahweh said {to himself}, "{Never again will I curse} the ground for the sake of humankind, because the inclination of the heart of humankind [is] evil from his youth. {Nor will I ever again destroy} all life as I have done.
And they spoke to him, saying, "Joseph [is] still alive, and he [is] ruler over all the land of Egypt." And his heart {went numb}, because he did not believe him.
And Yahweh said to Moses, "When you go to return to Egypt, see all of the wonders that I have put in your hand, and do them before Pharaoh, and I myself will harden his heart, and he will not release the people.
And it was told to the king of Egypt that the people fled, and the heart of Pharaoh was changed and [that of] his servants toward the people, and they said, "What [is] this we have done, that we have released Israel from serving us!"
But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing to let us cross through his [territory] because Yahweh your God hardened his spirit and {made him obstinate} {in order to give him} into your hand, {just as he has now done}.
[It is] not because of your righteousness and because of the uprightness of your heart [that] you [are] coming to take possession of their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your God [is] driving them {before you}, and in order to confirm the {promise} that Yahweh swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
[He does this] lest the avenger of blood might pursue after the killer, because {he is hot with anger} and he overtakes him, because it is a long distance [to the city of refuge], and [so] {he kills him}, but {he did not deserve a death sentence}, because he [was] not hating him {before}.
For it was Yahweh that {hardened their hearts}, to meet Israel in war in order to utterly destroy them without mercy, that they would destroy them just as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Then Hannah prayed and said, "My heart exults in Yahweh, my strength [is] exalted in Yahweh; {I grin} over my enemies, for I rejoice over your salvation.
When he came, {there was} Eli sitting on his chair {by the side of the road} watching, because his heart was anxious about the ark of God. Now the man had come {to give his report} in the city, and all the city cried out. When Eli heard the noise of the outcry, he said, "What [is] the noise of this commotion?" Then the man {came quickly} and told Eli. read more. Now Eli [was] {ninety-eight years old} and his eyes {stayed fixed ahead} and he was not able to see. And the man said to Eli, "I am the [one] who has come from the battle line! I have fled today from the battle line!" And he said, "{What exactly happened}, my son?" Then the messenger answered and said, "Israel has fled before [the] Philistines. There has been a great defeat among the troops. Also, your two sons have died, Hophni and Phinehas, and the ark of God has been captured." Just as he mentioned the ark of God, he fell from his chair backwards against the side of the gate. He broke his neck and died, because the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.
He waited seven days according to the appointed time Samuel determined, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and {the army started to slip away from him}.
But Yahweh said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For [God does] not [see] what man sees, for a man {looks on the outward appearance}, but Yahweh {looks on the heart}."
{Then Saul immediately fell prostrate} to the ground, and he was very afraid because of the words of Samuel; there was no more strength in him, for he had not eaten food all day and all night.
I hold fast to my righteousness, and I will not let it go; my heart will not blame [any] of my days.
"Therefore, listen to me, {people who have sense}: far be it from God {that he should commit wickedness} and that Shaddai {should do wrong}.
[The] afflicted will eat and will be satisfied. Those who seek him will praise Yahweh. May your heart live forever.
I have become forgotten like [one] dead, out of {mind}. I am like a destroyed vessel.
Create a clean heart for me, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit {within me}.
[The] afflicted will see [and] rejoice. O God seekers, let your heart revive,
and wine [that] makes glad [the] heart of man, so that [their] faces shine from oil, and bread [that] strengthens the heart of man.
With all vigilance, keep your heart, for from it [comes] the source of life.
The heart knows the bitterness of its soul, but in its joy, it will not share itself with a stranger.
A heart of tranquility [is] life [to the] flesh, but causes bones of passion to rot.
Every way of a man is upright in his [own] eyes, but Yahweh weighs hearts.
{The wise man can see where he is walking}, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also realized that both of them suffer the same fate.
The heart of the wise [inclines] to his right, but the heart of the fool [inclines] to his left.
Why do you want to be beaten again? You continue [in] rebellion. [The] whole of [the] head [is] sick, and [the] whole of [the] heart [is] faint.
Make the heart of this people insensitive, and make its ears unresponsive, and shut its eyes so that it may not look with its eyes and listen with its ears and comprehend [with] its mind and turn back, and it may be healed [for] him."
But he does not think this, and his heart does not plan this. For [it is] in his heart to destroy and to cut off not a few nations.
{You shall have a song} as [in] [the] night when a holy festival is kept, and a gladness of heart like one who goes with the flute, to go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the rock of Israel.
And I will give to them one heart, and a new spirit I will give in their inner parts. And I will remove their heart of stone from their body, and I will give to them a heart of flesh,
Throw {away from yourselves} all of your transgressions that you committed, and make {for yourselves} a new heart and new spirit, and [so] why will you die, house of Israel?
And I will give a new heart to you, and a new spirit I will give into your inner parts, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and I will give to you a heart of flesh.
Rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to Yahweh your God, because he [is] gracious and compassionate, {slow to anger} and great in loyal love, and relenting from harm.
Blessed [are] the pure in heart, because they will see God.
Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say good things [when you] are evil? For from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
"You, therefore, listen to the parable of the sower:
But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these defile the person.
And these are the ones beside the path where the word is sown, and whenever they hear [it], immediately Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. And these are like the ones sown on the rocky ground, who whenever they hear the word immediately receive it with joy. read more. And they have no root in themselves, but are temporary. Then [when] affliction or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones sown among the thorn plants--these are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other [things] come in [and] choke the word and it becomes unproductive. And those are the ones sown on the good soil, who hear the word and receive [it] and bear fruit--one thirty and one sixty and one a hundred [times as much]."
He has done a mighty deed with his arm; he has dispersed the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
And all those who heard kept [these things] in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be? For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him!"
But Mary treasured up all these words, pondering [them] in her heart.
And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was submitting to them. And his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
The good person out of the good treasury of his heart brings forth good, and the evil person out of [his] evil [treasury] brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
But the [seed] on the good soil--these are the ones who, [after] hearing the word, hold fast to [it] with a noble and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.
And he said to them, "You are the ones who justify themselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts! For [what is] [considered] exalted among men [is] an abomination in the sight of God.
who show the work of the law written on their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts [one] after another accusing or even defending them
And the one who searches our hearts knows what the mindset of the Spirit [is], because he intercedes on behalf of the saints according to [the will of] God.
But he who stands firm in his heart, not having necessity, but has authority concerning his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin, he will do well.
For God who said, "Light will shine out of darkness," [is the one] who has shined in our hearts for the enlightenment of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
(the eyes of your hearts having been enlightened), so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what [are] the riches of the glory of his inheritance among the saints,
by the hypocrisy of liars, who are seared in their own conscience,
But flee from youthful desires, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, [and] peace, in company with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart.
"This [is] the covenant that I will decree for them after those days, says the Lord: I am putting my laws on their hearts, and I will write them on their minds."
but the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable [quality] of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is highly valuable in the sight of God.
that if our heart condemns us, that 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
See Verses Found in Dictionary
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.
And Yahweh smelled the soothing fragrance, and Yahweh said {to himself}, "{Never again will I curse} the ground for the sake of humankind, because the inclination of the heart of humankind [is] evil from his youth. {Nor will I ever again destroy} all life as I have done.
For from within, from the heart of people, come evil plans, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders,
But the [seed] on the good soil--these are the ones who, [after] hearing the word, hold fast to [it] with a noble and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.
that if you confess with your mouth "Jesus [is] Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a faith without hypocrisy,
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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Therefore we will not fear though [the] earth change, and though the mountains totter into [the] {midst} of [the] sea,
The heart [is] deceitful more than anything else, and it [is] disastrous. Who can understand it?
"Son of man, prophesy to the prophets of Israel {who are prophesying}, and you must say to [those who are] prophets out of their own {imagination}, 'Hear the word of Yahweh!'
In [the] heart of [the] seas [are] your boundaries; your builders perfected your beauty.
Ephraim was like a dove, silly, {without sense}; they call [to] Egypt, they go [to] Assyria.
And he will bring back [the] hearts of [the] fathers to [the] sons, and the hearts of [the] sons to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land [with] a ban."
For the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they hear with difficulty, and they have shut their eyes, so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them."
But the [seed] on the good soil--these are the ones who, [after] hearing the word, hold fast to [it] with a noble and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.
And he said to them, "O foolish and slow in heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
Now there was a man of the Pharisees {whose name was} Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to him at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that [you are] a teacher who has come from God, for no one is able to perform these signs that you are performing unless God were with him." read more. Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless someone is born from above, he is not able to see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born [when he] is an old man? He is not able to enter into his mother's womb for the second time and be born, [can he]?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless someone is born of water and spirit, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'It is necessary for you to be born from above.' The wind blows wherever it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus answered and said to him, "How can these [things] be?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and you do not understand these [things]? Truly, truly I say to you, we speak what we know, and we testify [about] what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony!