Grafted Biblical Concept · Concept

Heart / Lev

לֵב / לֵבָב · Lev / Levavκαρδία · kardía · G2588

The biblical heart refers to the inner center of human thought, desire, intention, loyalty, emotion, and decision-making.

149 Scripture references1 lexical sources0 supporting resources

Primary Study

Grafted Bible Dictionary

Definition

The biblical heart refers to the inner center of human thought, desire, intention, loyalty, emotion, and decision-making.
It is broader than the modern idea of the heart as merely the seat of feelings.

Hebrew Thought

The heart can:
• think
• reason
• plan
• remember
• desire
• harden
• understand
See:
• Deuteronomy 6:5
• Proverbs 4:23
• Jeremiah 17:9

Shema

Israel is commanded:
"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart..."
The heart therefore represents whole-person covenant loyalty.

Hardness of Heart

Pharaoh's hardened heart becomes a major Israel from slavery in Egypt under Torah.">Moses.">Exodus theme.
Hardness signifies stubborn resistance to God.

New Covenant

Jeremiah 31 promises Torah written on the heart.
Ezekiel 36 describes God replacing a heart of stone with a heart of flesh.

Yeshua

Yeshua emphasizes that evil actions proceed from the heart.
See:
• Mark 7:20–23

Hebrew and Greek Word Study

Hebrew Word Study

לֵב / לֵבָב

Lev / Levav

Original Word: לֵב / לֵבָב
Transliteration: Lev / Levav

Hebrew Bible Usage

View All Hebrew Occurrences

Greek Word Study

καρδία

kardía · G2588

Original Word: καρδία
Transliteration: kardía
Strong’s: G2588
Meaning: (+ broken-)heart(-ed)

Hebrew Source

לֵב / לֵבָב · Lev / Levav

Unified Lexical Definition

the heart, i.e. (figuratively) the thoughts or feelings (mind) also (by analogy) the middle

Related Words

Lexical Sources

STRONG'SStrong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon

the heart, i.e. (figuratively) the thoughts or feelings (mind) also (by analogy) the middle

View original lexicon entry

{
    "strongs": "G2588",
    "language": "greek",
    "lemma": "καρδία",
    "transliteration": "kardía",
    "pronunciation": "",
    "part_of_speech": "",
    "glosses": [
        "(+ broken-)heart(-ed)"
    ],
    "definitions": [
        "the heart, i.e. (figuratively) the thoughts or feelings (mind)",
        "also (by analogy) the middle"
    ],
    "administrator_commentary": "",
    "source": {
        "dataset": "Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon",
        "provider": "Open Scriptures",
        "url": "https://github.com/openscriptures/strongs",
        "license": "CC BY-SA"
    },
    "version": 1,
    "updated_at": "2026-08-05T10:42:01-05:00",
    "strong": "G2588"
}

New Testament Usage

156 occurrences

View All Greek Occurrences

Biblical Usage

Concordance and Scripture Usage

149Exact Lemma6Conceptual Relationship

Gospels · 53

Acts · 19

Acts 2:26Exact Lemma Acts 2:37Exact Lemma Acts 2:46Exact Lemma Acts 4:32Exact Lemma Acts 5:3Exact Lemma Acts 5:4Exact Lemma Acts 7:23Exact Lemma Acts 7:39Exact Lemma Acts 7:51Exact Lemma Acts 7:54Exact Lemma Acts 8:21Exact Lemma Acts 8:22Exact Lemma Acts 11:23Exact Lemma Acts 13:22Exact Lemma Acts 14:17Exact Lemma Acts 15:9Exact Lemma Acts 16:14Exact Lemma Acts 21:13Exact Lemma Acts 28:27Exact Lemma

Epistles · 74

Romans 1:21Exact Lemma Romans 1:24Exact Lemma Romans 2:5Exact Lemma Romans 2:15Exact Lemma Romans 2:29Exact Lemma Romans 5:5Exact Lemma Romans 6:17Exact Lemma Romans 8:27Exact Lemma Romans 9:2Exact Lemma Romans 10:1Exact Lemma Romans 10:6Exact Lemma Romans 10:8Exact Lemma Romans 10:9Exact Lemma Romans 10:10Exact Lemma Romans 16:18Exact Lemma 1 Corinthians 2:9Exact Lemma 1 Corinthians 4:5Exact Lemma 1 Corinthians 7:37Exact Lemma 1 Corinthians 14:25Exact Lemma 2 Corinthians 1:22Exact Lemma 2 Corinthians 2:4Exact Lemma 2 Corinthians 3:2Exact Lemma 2 Corinthians 3:3Exact Lemma 2 Corinthians 3:15Exact Lemma 2 Corinthians 4:6Exact Lemma 2 Corinthians 5:12Exact Lemma 2 Corinthians 6:11Exact Lemma 2 Corinthians 7:3Exact Lemma 2 Corinthians 8:16Exact Lemma 2 Corinthians 9:7Exact Lemma Galatians 4:6Exact Lemma Ephesians 1:18Exact Lemma Ephesians 3:17Exact Lemma Ephesians 4:18Exact Lemma Ephesians 5:19Exact Lemma Ephesians 6:5Exact Lemma Ephesians 6:22Exact Lemma Philippians 1:7Exact Lemma Philippians 4:7Exact Lemma Colossians 2:2Exact Lemma Colossians 3:15Exact Lemma Colossians 3:16Exact Lemma Colossians 3:22Exact Lemma Colossians 4:8Exact Lemma 1 Thessalonians 2:4Exact Lemma 1 Thessalonians 2:17Exact Lemma 1 Thessalonians 3:13Exact Lemma 2 Thessalonians 2:17Exact Lemma 2 Thessalonians 3:5Exact Lemma 1 Timothy 1:5Exact Lemma 2 Timothy 2:22Exact Lemma Hebrews 3:8Exact Lemma Hebrews 3:10Exact Lemma Hebrews 3:12Exact Lemma Hebrews 3:15Exact Lemma Hebrews 4:7Exact Lemma Hebrews 4:12Exact Lemma Hebrews 8:10Exact Lemma Hebrews 10:16Exact Lemma Hebrews 10:22Exact Lemma Hebrews 13:9Exact Lemma James 1:26Exact Lemma James 3:14Exact Lemma James 4:8Exact Lemma James 5:5Exact Lemma James 5:8Exact Lemma 1 Peter 1:22Exact Lemma 1 Peter 3:4Exact Lemma 1 Peter 3:15Exact Lemma 2 Peter 1:19Exact Lemma 2 Peter 2:14Exact Lemma 1 John 3:19Exact Lemma 1 John 3:20Exact Lemma 1 John 3:21Exact Lemma

Revelation · 3

Revelation 2:23Exact Lemma Revelation 17:17Exact Lemma Revelation 18:7Exact Lemma

Definition

Hebrew Thought

Shema

Hardness of Heart

New Covenant

Yeshua

Hebrew and Greek Word Study

Hebrew Bible Usage

Hebrew Source

Unified Lexical Definition

Related Words

Lexical Sources

New Testament Usage

Shema

New Covenant

Torah

Repentance

Spirit / Ruach

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