The Mind vs. the Heart: A Biblical Hebrew Perspective

And he said unto them, “Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.”

Deuteronomy 32:46

One of the things I love most about studying linguistics is learning how East vs. West cultural and world-view differences often surface in language.

For example, in Western thinking it’s the mind that’s most often referenced in literature as the controlling agent of human thought, desires, and behavior. On the other hand, in Middle Eastern culture and language it’s primarily the heart that takes on these duties. This becomes especially evident in the use of adverbs and in certain figures of speech. In Romance (Latin origin) languages, variations of the Latin word for “mind” (mens) are regularly attached to the end of adjectives in order to create adverbs that end in -ly in English. I’ve highlighted the suffixed variations of mens in the following Romance language translations for happily:

French – heureusement

Italian – felicemente

Spanish and Portuguese – felizmente

These Latin-based words literally mean “happy minded” or “of a happy mind”. Other examples of adverbs in Spanish that follow this same formula of adjective + variant of mens (mente) = adverb include:

lentamente = slowly, or literally “of a slow mind” or “slow-minded”

completamente = completely, or lit. “complete-minded”

lógicamente = logically, or lit. “of a logical mind”

In contrast, Hebrew adverbs are built much more often around the word “heart” (לֵב lev) than the word for "mind" (נֶפֶשׁ NEH-fesh). Here are some common examples:

בְּחֵפֶץ לֵב be-KHE-fetz lev – willingly, or lit. “with a desiring heart”

בְּתוֹם לֵב be-TOHM lev – in good faith, lit. “with a complete, perfect heart”

When discussing matters of the heart in Hebrew and other Semitic languages, it's rarely associated with romantic interest, which is more of a Western cultural-linguistic association. As seen in the examples I provided above, in Hebrew the heart is most often linked to the human will, motives, desires, thoughts, and mental attention or focus – the core of what influences our behavior(s). So when Biblical Hebrew writers used the word heart, it was rarely linked to emotions.

Here's an example that helps underline this point. The following is a common phrase in both Biblical and Modern Hebrew that literally means “to set or place one’s heart on (something or someone)”, but its figurative, practical meaning is “to focus intently on, to regard, or to pay close attention to.”

…לְ לָשִׂים לֵב (lah-SEEM lev leh…)

One of many examples of this saying that appear in the Old Testament can be found in Exodus 9:21. In the original Hebrew, this passage literally reads "And he that placed not his heart on...", but as you'll see below, this idiomatic phrase was translated here into the common meaning "regarded not".

And he that regarded not (שָׂם לִבּוֹ לֹא loh sahm lee-BOH) the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field.

Again, this metaphorical use of the word "heart" has little to do with emotional attachment or love; instead it centers on the mind, and mental and spiritual exertions of will. In the verse from Deuteronomy that I included at the top of this post, the Hebrew meaning of “set your hearts” is to focus unwaveringly on and to pay close attention “unto all the words which I testify among you this day.” One of the few exceptions to this rule of disconnection between emotion/affection(s) and the Hebrew-based figure of speech “to place, set one’s heart on” (lah-SEEM lev leh…) appears in the Book of Mormon. 

Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever. (Alma 37:36, emphasis added)

Here the figure of speech still works, though, since the prophet-writer is communicating the idea that our affections or love should always be focused on the Lord. In other places where this metaphor appears in the Book of Mormon, and throughout the Old Testament for that matter, it’s usually associated with the spiritual danger of focusing our attention inappropriately on material wealth. I’ve listed several examples below.

Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart (i.e., don’t focus inordinately) upon them. (Psalms 62:10) 

And thus, in their prosperous circumstances, they did not send away any who were naked, or that were hungry, or that were athirst, or that were sick, or that had not been nourished; and they did not set their hearts upon riches; therefore they were liberal to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, whether out of the church or in the church, having no respect to persons as to those who stood in need. (Alma 1:30)

(Also see Mosiah 12:29, Alma 5:53, Alma 7:6, Helaman 7:21, and Helaman 12:4.)

My final illustration of the Hebrew usage of  the heart as a fountain of rational thought, knowledge and wisdom appears in Exodus 36:2. The English translation reads:

And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man (אִישׁ חֲכַם-לֵב ish khah-KHAHM lev), in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it.

So evidently it's not just the mind (brain) that acts as the repository of rational thought or intelligence, unless the Lord is only speaking metaphorically in these types of passages. On the other hand, if this verse and others like it are to be taken literally, this may be a case of science finally catching up with spiritual and scriptural truth. Some recent heart function studies now indicate that not only does the brain send neural and chemical transmissions to the heart, but the opposite is also true - the heart communicates with the brain and directly influences its activities by these same means. See the link below for an interesting read on this topic.

Let Your Heart Talk to Your Mind