Heart (Bible)

Biblical Usage

The heart is a frequent term in both the Old and New Testaments and refers to the whole inner life of a person. Representative passages include the following:

• Deuteronomy 6:5 commands that God be loved "with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Jesus cited this as the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37).
• Proverbs 4:23 says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence."
• In 1 Samuel 16:7, the LORD looks not on the outward appearance but "on the heart." The New Korean Revised Version renders the same original word here as jungsim ("the inner center").
• Jeremiah 17:5–10 laments that the heart is deceitful and corrupt.
• In Ezekiel 36:25–27, God promises to take away the stony heart and to give a new heart and a new spirit.
• Matthew 5:8 pronounces a blessing on "the pure in heart," and Romans 10:10 states that "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness."

Original Languages and Background

The Old Testament Hebrew terms are lev and levav; the New Testament Greek term is kardia. The Septuagint also generally renders the Hebrew terms as kardia. In ancient Israel, the heart was the seat not only of emotion but also of thought, judgment, resolve, and memory. Today reason is commonly associated with the head and emotion with the chest, but the biblical heart encompasses the intellect and the will as well. When referring to a person's hidden inner being, Scripture also uses bodily terms such as the kidneys (rendered "reins" in the KJV), which Korean Bibles translate with words such as pyebu ("the inmost parts").

From the Old Testament to the New

The Old Testament views the heart as the place where a person's true character is revealed before God. Deuteronomy 30:6 declares that God will "circumcise thine heart," and Jeremiah 31:33 promises a new covenant in which the law is written on the heart.

The New Testament understands these promises to be fulfilled through Christ and the Holy Spirit. Jesus taught that what defiles a person comes out of the heart (Mark 7:21–23). Paul wrote that true "circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit" (Romans 2:29). He also spoke of an epistle written by the Spirit "in fleshy tables of the heart" (2 Corinthians 3:3). Hebrews 8 quotes Jeremiah's new covenant passage in full.

Interpretation and Issues

• The condition of the heart: The Reformed tradition appeals to passages such as Jeremiah 17:9, emphasizing that the fallen human heart cannot turn to God on its own. Wesleyan theology and Holiness denominations focus on the promises of Ezekiel and the New Testament. They emphasize "holiness of heart," in which the Holy Spirit cleanses the heart in this present life so that a person may love perfectly.
• Heart and soul: Scripture often uses heart, spirit, and soul in overlapping ways rather than distinguishing them strictly. Some therefore hold that caution is needed in using these terms as a basis for dividing the human person into constituent parts (Soul (Bible)).
• "Inviting Jesus into one's heart": This expression, common in evangelism, draws on passages such as Ephesians 3:17 and Revelation 3:20. Some interpreters, noting that Revelation 3:20 was originally addressed to the church in Laodicea, question its use as a basis for personally receiving Christ. Others regard the expression as a simple way of describing the inward reception of faith.

In the Korean Church

Proverbs 4:23 is frequently cited in preaching and is a common memory verse. The evangelistic booklet The Four Spiritual Laws, used by Korea Campus Crusade for Christ, pairs Revelation 3:20 with diagrams of the throne of the heart. The phrase "opening the door of one's heart and receiving Jesus" is commonly used in evangelism and in new-believer instruction.