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Traditionally, the human heart was considered the residence of the animated soul and numerous Biblical passages refer to that ancient belief:

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart..."
"And God said to him in the dream, “I knew that you did this with a blameless heart"
"... so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes and so that they do not fade from your heart as long as you live"
"Assuredly, thus said GOD: Because you have deemed your heart equal to a god’s"

Evidently, the heart is but a blood pump and has nothing to do with spirituality or intellect. Moses should have known this and use different, more physiologically correct allegories.

IIRC, after Galen's (c. 200AD) discovery of the nervous system, sages included the brain (מח) in the relation with the soul alongside the hears and the liver (earliest source needed).

Why does the Torah see the heart as the source of the mind and feelings as opposed to the head/the brain?

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    "Moses should have known this and use different, more physiologically correct allegories." Why? I know it and still speak of a "broken heart" after major emotional losses.
    – Double AA ♦
    Commented Jul 5, 2021 at 15:45
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    The wicked love God only with their lips, kidney and liver, not heart and soul.
    – Michael16
    Commented Jul 5, 2021 at 15:49
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    "Leiv", like the English word "heart" can also refer to a geometric point. As in, "the heart of the matter." Heart was associated with mind because it is a critical organ near the middle of the body. The geometry made the heart a good and natural metaphor. It would be normal to assume it was literally true as well, but the literal biological truth wasn't the point. The point was to place a person's thoughts and feelings at the center of their being.
    – Micha Berger
    Commented Jul 6, 2021 at 1:20
  • Because the heart is where you feel the emotions that is caused by the thoughts in your brain.
    – larry909
    Commented Jul 7, 2021 at 10:24
  • @DoubleAA A good point, 1. since the heart responses quickly to emotional stimuli, it was considered the dwelling of the anima (נפש) and hence the source of emotions in practically all ancient cultures. 2. Unless you rely on "דברה התורה כלשון בנ"א" namely that Moses used Egyptian idioms to familiarize the Hebrews with the Torah, I would expect him to use more correct analogies.
    – Al Berko
    Commented Jul 7, 2021 at 19:00

1 Answer 1

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Ibn Ezra wrote to Exodus 23:25 (commentary) that the soul (the intellect) is housed in the brain. Although the ruach resides in the heart.

The term "heart" in the Bible is a metaphor for the mind. When the Torah says to love G-d with all your heart this means mind.

The ibn Ezra explains:

“[A]ll the precepts written in the Torah, transmitted by tradition, or enacted by the rabbis aim in perfecting the heart [mind]. This is the case even though most of the commandments are observed by action or speech.”[1]

[1] From Israel Drazin's article here.

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  • Where is the last quote from?
    – mbloch
    Commented Jul 5, 2021 at 17:20
  • @mbloch See the Ibn Ezra commentary to Exodus 23:25.
    – Turk Hill
    Commented Jul 5, 2021 at 19:27
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    Oh I see now. You must be quoting for a secondary source because your last quote is NOT from Exodus 23:25. It is from Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 6:5. You should edit, and in general you should check your sources.
    – mbloch
    Commented Jul 6, 2021 at 3:22
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    If you are quoting from a secondary source, and especially if you are using their translations, please cite your source. Also, I don't see that in ibn Ezra's comments on Deut 6:5.
    – magicker72
    Commented Jul 6, 2021 at 20:09
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    @TurkHill If you're quoting someone, you should say that in your answer.
    – magicker72
    Commented Jul 8, 2021 at 0:18

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