Untranslatable
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5 NASB
Heart – One of the wonders of Hebrew is that it communicates on multiple levels. This fact is much more than the rabbinic PaRDeS approach. The structure of Hebrew (the way that the letters are written) also conveys a message. The rabbis note that since Hebrew is a language without vowels, every reading is an act of interpretation. But Hebrew itself offers the reader special insights when it is not written properly. These oddities in the text demand that the reader pay closer attention. Sometimes it requires that the reader unravel a riddle hidden in the structure of the word itself. Here, in this most famous of verses, is an example.
The usual spelling of the Hebrew word for “heart” is lev (bet plus lamed). For example, in Genesis 18:5, the plural is spelled lebkim. But in this verse the word is spelled with two occurrences of the letter bet, i.e., levav plus the possessive singular ending ka), i.e. LBBK rather than LBK. Why?
According to Rashi, angels, as described in Genesis 18:5, are spiritual beings with one purpose, to do the will of the Lord. But Man is created with two possibilities in his heart. He can follow the yetzer ha’ra or he can submit to the yetzer ha’tov. The double bet expresses this conflicting desire in Man, a conflict that pushes him in different directions. For this reason, Man alone is given the commandment to love YHVH with all of his levav, that is, with both inclinations of the heart. Man is unique in all creation in that he is commanded to love God with his yetzer ha’ra, with his inclination toward evil. “How can an ‘evil’ inclination serve God? If man indulges his body enough for it to be healthy and content, if he permits himself sufficient pleasure and relaxation for his mind to function well—then even his yetzer ha’ra is helping him serve God in a fuller way. By achieving such a balance in his life, the Jew serves God with his pleasures as with his pieties, for all aspects of his activity are directed toward the same lofty goal.”[1]
Now that you recognize this explanation for the “misspelled” form of lev, you might ask yourself, “How could this possibly be translated?” The word itself still means “heart,” but the structure of the word also communicates something deeper to the Hebrew reader. Is this just a trivial bit of information? I don’t think so. The suggestion that levav points to serving God with both yetzer ha’ra and yetzer ha’tov says something fundamental about the way Hebrew conceives of Man. Man is not a depraved, fallen being who is incapable of pleasing God. Nor is he such a being that anything good can only come after he is rescued from his evil inclination. These Platonic/Augustinian/Lutheran ideas cause us to think that the purpose of belief is to get rid of our evil desires, but Hebrew thinks differently. It recognizes that choice is the fundamental ingredient of human beings and that the goal of humanity is to make choices that lead toward God, not to get rid of the possibility of choosing the opposite. Lēbāb is the Hebrew equivalent of recognizing that life is really always a choice of direction.
Try translating that.
Topical Index: heart, lev, levav, Deuteronomy 6:5, choice
[1] Rabbi Michael Monk, The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet, p. 63.
Outstanding Skip. Clear, concise and correct. I’ve stood alone on this point in NW Florida for 10 years. Choice, the problem is choice. Thank you.
Larry, We are in NW Florida also. Would love to chat sometime. I know what its like to stand alone on some of these issues!
Yes! Let’s do it. larrylaroc@gmail.com
Very nice. If we were evil there would be nothing to redeem, only something to erase. We will have free choice forever, but we will have learned (that would be by experience) how not to desire wrongly.
If we would only remember, we have entered into a “blood-covenant relationship.’ That is all. I have entered into a blood-covenant relationship (she is my bride – we are His bride) with my spouse and I am to love her with 95% of all my heart-soul-mind-and strength?” Oh? 95% is “good enough?” Ludicrous and unthinkable! I am to love her – she is love me “exclusively!”
As we know (hopefully, by now) love is a choice. I choose her above all others.
~ You shall love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ~ (Deuteronomy 6:5)
Every choice, (it is true) contains a consequence. (I love this!) For what are the consequences of love? (Loving God and loving each other). One big happy and healthy family.
~ As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!! ~
There is a Name I love to hear,
I love to sing its worth.
It sounds like music in my ear,
the sweetest Name on earth!!
Could this help us see more clearly why YHWH COMMANDED that with the tithe we are to:
“…..spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your HEART DESIRES; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. “Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you. (Deuteronomy 14:26-27)
While heart here is the word, Nephesh. Nephesh, along with everything that Skip has taught us, also means “appetite or seat of appetites”
Reminding myself of what PaRDeS consisted of I found this this morning….ahhhhh…just as Skip says: This fact is much more than the rabbinic PaRDeS approach. I am always so in AWE of the finger of God!!!
http://rabbimichaelsamuel.com/2009/11/the-meaning-of-pardes-the-four-levels-of-scriptural-interpretation/
Happy are the righteous that look at Torah properly! As wine must sit in a jar so Torah must sit in this garment. So look only at what is under the garment! So… all those words and all those stories they are garments!”
Hello Skip and Others,
I like to think of your reflection as re-directing rather than ridding the evil inclination and the God-given capacity toward good. I would beg to differ with you on this historically and solely being a Lutheran/Augustinian convention, but have observed the “ridding the old adam” in most Protestant and or Evangelical denominations in my lifetime, almost 65 years. I will say though, the self-view of sinner vs saint is more apparent in denominations that adhere to a Sacrament theology. Otherwise, there would be little reason for – now, weekly Holy Communion in several Sacrament Oriented denominations. May Adonai enable us to choose wisely!
David Russell
Thanks for your clarification. I did not mean that Lutherans are the ONLY ones with this doctrinal view. I only meant that Augustine introduced it and Luther (and others) amplified and endorsed it. It is obviously found throughout Christianity.
Thanks agin “Marvelous comrades the faithful who dwell in the land”.
Again a great subject on the table. Thank you Skip.
But, if I may ask, where is the “dwelling place” of the “Yetzer”?
Is it not the mind (will)?
Then, some other dichotomy may be referred to through the -B-B!?
Pieter
Good question just to help me understand…
Does Yetzer refer to the inclination or spirit in us, Or does it refer to the life within a person?
Yetzer refers to your inclination or willful choice, which implies an act of the mind (not the heart).
Your spirit which dwells in your heart (=core; and not the same as your biological hart) and has been given to you by YHWH has to do with positive emotions (love, shalom, etc.).
Your life (soul) which is “in the blood” is a combination of the biological (body) and spirit and has also to do with negative emotions (survival): fear, greed, anger, etc.
Thank you Pieter.
Nice explanation of the things we must serve God with. Thoughts, desires, actions…. when focused on achieving God’s will we become his children…
Choose right to act right to progress in the right direction.
Dear Seeker,
I just wanted to let you know how my life is different and better because of you. Your earnest and refreshing take on everything gives me a new jump start every time you show up. Your unique view helps to focus mine and your voice is so fun! I am a better person and my day is just a little bit happier because you are in it. Thank you for being you!
Love in the Body,
Laurita
Laurita, thank you but your words are too kind, may I add that is a ditto for every contributor to the blog as this is the first group that really pulls things apart so that I can wash off my veil…
May God bless the blog with the wisdom we can handle and the knowledge we need to gain even more wisdom.
May we learn to walk humbly in the presence of God.
True-hearted, whole-hearted, faithful and loyal,
King of our lives, by thy grace will we be!
Under thy standard, exalted and royal,
Strong in thy strength, we will battle for Thee !
True-hearted, whole-hearted! Fullest allegiance
Yielding henceforth to our glorious King ;
Valiant endeavor and loving obedience
Freely and and joyously now would we bring.
True-hearted Savior, Thou knowest our story;
Weak are the hearts that we lay at Thy feet,
Sinful and treacherous ! yet for Thy glory,
Heal them, and cleanse them from sin and deceit.
Whole-hearted Savior, beloved and glorious,
Take Thy great power, and reign Thou alone,
Over our wills and affections victorious,
Freely surrendered, and wholly Thine own.
Half-hearted ! false-hearted ! Heed we the warning!
Only the whole can be perfectly true;
Bring the whole offering, all timid thought scorning,
True-hearted only if whole-hearted too.
Half-hearted! Savior, shall aught be witholden,
Giving Thee part who has given us all?
Blessings outpouring, and promises golden
Pledging, with never reserve or recall.
Half-hearted? Master, shall any who know Thee
Grudge Thee their lives, who hast laid down Thine own?
Nay; we would offer the hearts that we owe thee, —-
Live for Thy love and Thy glory alone.
Sisters, dear sisters, the call is resounding,
Will ye not echo the silver refrain,
Mighty and sweet, and in gladness abounding—
“True-hearted, whole-hearted!” ringing again?
Jesus is with us, His rest is before us,
Brightly His standard is waving above.
Brothers, dear brothers, in gathering chorus,
Peal out the watchword of courage and love!
Peal out the watchword, and silence it never,
Song of our spirits rejoicing and free!
“True-hearted, whole-hearted, now and for ever,
King of our lives, by Thy grace we will be !”
(Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879) in “Loyal Responses”
This interpretation reminded me of something else the rabbis have point out about humans. They noted that there are two accounts of the creation of man. In Genesis 1:27 God created man in His image. In Genesis 2:7 God created man from the dust of the ground. “What does this tell us?” asked the sages. Their answer: Because we are created in God’s image, He expects us to be righteous; but because we are but dust, He has also arranged for our Redemption. Baruk HaShem!
Thank you, Skip… I will be thinking and feeling somewhat differently as I say the “Shema” from now on.
Very good about our hearts. No wonder David prayed for Adonai to unite his heart to fear His name. (Ps. 86:11).