H3824 H3824
Heart, inner self; the seat of thought, will, emotion, and moral character; rarely, the physical center or midst.
Lebab is the fuller, stylistically variant form of leb, and like its shorter twin it denotes far more than the blood-pumping organ. In Hebrew thought, the lebab is where a person thinks, decides, desires, and morally orients themselves — the unified center of consciousness that English must split awkwardly into 'mind,' 'will,' 'heart,' and 'conscience.' The Shema's command to love God 'with all your lebab' (Deut 6:5) addresses the whole inner person, not just emotion. Nearly every one of its 252 occurrences carries this inner-self meaning, making it one of the most theologically concentrated nouns in Scripture. Only two peripheral uses depart from this: a poetic spatial metaphor ('the heart of the seas,' Jonah 2:3) and a possible adverbial use meaning 'wholeheartedly' (1 Chr 12:39).
1. heart, inner self (mind/will/emotion) — The inner person as the seat of thought, understanding, volition, emotion, and moral character — an overwhelming 250 of 252 occurrences. This is the lebab of the Shema (Deut 6:5), of Solomon's request for a 'discerning lebab' (1 Kgs 3:9), and of the new-covenant promise that God will write his law on the lebab (Jer 31:33, using the form leb). All major target languages must pick a single organ-metaphor — Hindi hriday, Korean maeum, Spanish corazon, Arabic qalb — but none of them capture the full cognitive-volitional-emotional range the way Hebrew lebab does. Deuteronomy alone uses this word over 40 times, almost always in the command to align one's whole inner orientation toward God. 250×
AR["قَلْبَكَ","قَلْبُكَ","قَلْبِكَ"]·ben["তোমার-হৃদয়","তোমার-হৃদয়-দিয়ে","তোমার-হৃদয়ে","তোমার-হৃদয়ের"]·DE["dein-Herz"]·EN["your-heart"]·FR["ton-coeur","ton-cœur"]·heb["לבבך"]·HI["अपना-दिल","कि","को-मन-तेरे","तुम्हारे-हृदय","तेरा-हृदय","तेरे-हृदय","तेरे-हृदय-से","मन-तेरे","हृदय-तेरे-के","ह्रदय-तेरे"]·ID["hati-mu","hatimu"]·IT["il-tuo-cuore","tuo-cuore"]·jav["manah-panjenengan","penggalih-panjenengan"]·KO["너의-마음","너의-마음과","너의-마음으로","너의-마음을","너의-마음이","네-마음","네-마음-의","네-마음으로","네-마음을","네-마음의","네-마음이"]·PT["teu-coração"]·RU["-сердце-твоё","-сердце-твоём","-сердцем-твоим","сердца-твоего","сердце-твоё","сердце-твоём","сердцем-твоим"]·ES["tu-corazón"]·SW["moyo-wako","wa-moyo-wako","wote","ya-moyo-wako"]·TR["-yüreğine","-yüreğini","kalbin","kalbine","kalbini","kalbinin","yüreğin","yüreğinde","yüreğine","yüreğini","yüreğinin","yüreğinle"]·urd["اپنے-دل","اپنے-دل-سے","اپنے-دل-میں","تمہارا-دل","تمہارے-دل-کے","تیرا-دل","تیرے-دل","تیرے-دل-پر","تیرے-دل-کی","تیرے-دل-کے","دل-سے"]
Deut 4:29, Deut 4:39, Deut 6:5, Deut 6:6, Deut 8:5, Deut 8:14, Deut 9:5, Deut 10:12, Deut 15:7, Deut 15:9, Deut 15:10, Deut 26:16 (+38 more)
▼ 2 more senses below
Senses
2. sense 2 — The physical center or midst of something, used spatially — a single poetic occurrence in Jonah 2:3, where the drowning prophet cries out from 'the lebab of the seas.' Here the word functions as a spatial metaphor for the innermost depth, the very core of the ocean. Spanish en corazon de, German in-Herz, and French dans coeur all preserve the metaphorical extension. This is the same semantic shift seen in many languages where 'heart' can mean 'center' (English 'the heart of the city'). 1×
AR["فِي-قَلْبِ"]·ben["হৃদয়ে"]·DE["in-Herz"]·EN["into-the-heart-of"]·FR["dans-coeur"]·heb["ב-לבב"]·HI["ह्रदय-में"]·ID["ke-dalam-jantung"]·IT["in-cuore"]·jav["ing-telenging"]·KO["에서-가슴"]·PT["no-coração-de"]·RU["в-сердце"]·ES["en-corazon-de"]·SW["katikati-ya"]·TR["yüreğinde"]·urd["دل-میں"]
3. sense 3 — Wholehearted devotion or integrity — a single occurrence at 1 Chr 12:39 where warriors come with a 'complete/whole lebab' to make David king. The multilingual evidence splits: English glosses 'whole,' Spanish integro ('integrity'), while French and German stay with 'heart.' The sense is adverbial or qualitative — describing the manner of commitment rather than the organ itself — and stands at the boundary between the inner-self sense and an abstract moral quality. 1×
AR["سَلِيم"]·ben["পূর্ণ"]·DE["Herz"]·EN["whole"]·FR["coeur"]·heb["לב"]·HI["पूरे"]·ID["tulus"]·IT["cuore"]·jav["utuh"]·KO["온전한"]·PT["inteiro"]·RU["целом"]·ES["íntegro"]·SW["kamili"]·TR["tam"]·urd["کامل"]
Related Senses
H5921a 1. upon, on, over (spatial) (5443×)H0413 1. directional: to, toward (5366×)H1121a 1. son, male offspring, descendant (4914×)H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)H4428 1. king, human ruler (2518×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H6440 1. before, in front of (spatial) (1870×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H3027 1. physical hand (body part) (1596×)H1697 1. word, speech, utterance (1235×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)H3045 1. Qal: to know, perceive, understand (829×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† לֵבָב251 † לֵבָב251 n.m. ψ 104:15 inner man, mind, will, heart;—abs. ל׳ Dt 28:28 + 31 times; cstr. לְבַב Dt 20:8 + 22 times; sf. לְבָבִי Is 21:4 + 24 times; לְבָֽבְךָ Dt 4:29 + 35 times; לְבָבֶ֑ךָ Dt 4:39 + 21 times; לְבָבֵךְ 1 S 1:8 + 3 times; לְבָבוֹ Dt 2:30 + 37 times; לְבָבָהּ Zp 2:15 + 3 times; לְבָבֵנוּ Dt 1:28 + 3 times; לְּבַבְכֶם Dt 10:16 + 37 times; לְּבָבָם Lv 26:41 + 22 times; pl.…