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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Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in his heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again strike everything living, as I have done.
Didn't he tell me, 'She is my sister?' She, even she herself, said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands have I done this." God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn't allow you to touch her.
and you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
This day Yahweh your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances: you shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart, and with all your soul.
behold, I have done according to your word. Behold, I have given you a wise and an understanding heart; so that there has been none like you before you, neither after you shall any arise like you.
For, behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrows on the strings, that they may shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully.
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. Don't throw me from your presence, and don't take your holy Spirit from me. read more. Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways. Sinners shall be converted to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation. My tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit.
So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands. A Psalm by Asaph.
Don't harden your heart, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
Blessed is the man who always fears; but one who hardens his heart falls into trouble.
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh;
I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man.
Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment.
and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."
That in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and bring forth fruit with patience.
in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing 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 above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?
"Ephraim is like an easily deceived dove, without understanding. They call to Egypt. They go to Assyria.
If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God, or if I am speaking from myself.
Because, knowing God, they didn't glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.
having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in 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/web'>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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Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in his heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again strike everything living, as I have done.
Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in his heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again strike everything living, as I have done.
They told him, saying, "Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." His heart fainted, for he didn't believe them.
Yahweh said to Moses, "When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go.
It was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?"
But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Yahweh your God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as at this day.
Not for your righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your God does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him mortally; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he didn't hate him in time past.
For it was of Yahweh to harden their hearts, to come against Israel in battle, that he might utterly destroy them, that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Hannah prayed, and said: "My heart exults in Yahweh! My horn is exalted in Yahweh. My mouth is enlarged over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.
When he came, behold, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. When Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, "What does the noise of this tumult mean?" The man hurried, and came and told Eli. read more. Now Eli was ninety-eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see. The man said to Eli, "I am he who came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army." He said, "How did the matter go, my son?" He who brought the news answered, "Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been also a great slaughter among the people. Your two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured." It happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell from off his seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck broke, and he died; for he was an old man, and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years.
He stayed seven days, according to the set time that Samuel [had appointed]: but Samuel didn't come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.
But Yahweh said to Samuel, "Don't look on his face, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for [Yahweh sees] not as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart."
Then Saul fell immediately his full length on the earth, and was terrified, because of the words of Samuel. There was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night.
I hold fast to my righteousness, and will not let it go. My heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
"Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness, from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.
I am forgotten from their hearts like a dead man. I am like broken pottery.
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
The humble have seen it, and are glad. You who seek after God, let your heart live.
wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to make his face to shine, and bread that strengthens man's heart.
Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.
The heart knows its own bitterness and joy; he will not share these with a stranger.
The life of the body is a heart at peace, but envy rots the bones.
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but Yahweh weighs the hearts.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness -- and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.
A wise man's heart is at his right hand, but a fool's heart at his left.
Why should you be beaten more, that you revolt more and more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed."
However he doesn't mean so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off not a few nations.
You will have a song, as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goes with a flute to come to Yahweh's mountain, to Israel's Rock.
I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh;
Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel?
I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man.
The ones by the road are the ones where the word is sown; and when they have heard, immediately Satan comes, and takes away the word which has been sown in them. These in the same way are those who are sown on the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy. read more. They have no root in themselves, but are short-lived. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they stumble. Others are those who are sown among the thorns. These are those who have heard the word, and the cares of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Those which were sown on the good ground are those who hear the word, and accept it, and bear fruit, some thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times."
He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
All who heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, "What then will this child be?" The hand of the Lord was with him.
But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.
And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth. He was subject to them, and his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings out that which is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings out that which is evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.
That in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and bring forth fruit with patience.
He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them)
He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit's mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God.
But he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no necessity, but has power over his own heart, to keep his own virgin, does well.
seeing it is God who said, "Light will shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
through the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron;
Flee from youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
"This is the covenant that I will make with them: 'After those days,' says the Lord, 'I will put my laws on their heart, I will also write them on their mind;'" then he says,
but in the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God very precious.
because if our heart condemns us, 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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Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in his heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again strike everything living, as I have done.
For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts,
That in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and bring forth fruit with patience.
that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
but the goal of this command is love, out of a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere 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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Therefore we won't be afraid, though the earth changes, though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas;
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?
Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, Hear the word of Yahweh:
Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders have perfected your beauty.
"Ephraim is like an easily deceived dove, without understanding. They call to Egypt. They go to Assyria.
He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse."
for this people's heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and should turn again; and I would heal them.'
That in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and bring forth fruit with patience.
He said to them, "Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to him by night, and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him." read more. Jesus answered him, "Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can't see the Kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" Jesus answered, "Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can't enter into the Kingdom of God! That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Don't marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born anew.' The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don't know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus answered him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and don't understand these things? Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have seen, and you don't receive our witness.