# H3824 - lebab

<!-- type: lexicon | created: 2026-05-31 | updated: 2026-05-31 -->

**Strong's:** [H3824](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3824/) · BLB lookup
**Pronunciation:** lay-bawb'
**Part of speech:** noun, masculine
**OT occurrences:** ~252 (cf. the shorter biform *lev* [H3820 - lev](/codex/h3820-lev/) at ~600 occurrences; together the lexeme appears ~850 times across the OT, one of the most-used substantive nouns in the Hebrew Bible)
**Greek equivalent (LXX):** καρδία (*kardia*), the consistent Septuagintal rendering; *kardia* carries the same comprehensive-anthropological range into NT Greek

## Semantic range

*Lebab* and its biform *lev* together name the **comprehensive inner self** in Hebrew anthropology. The English translation "heart" is correct but routinely misleading: *lebab* is not the seat of *emotion alone* (the modern English idiom), but the integrated **center of the whole inner person**, encompassing:

1. **Intellect / mind / understanding**, the faculty of thought ([Deut 8:5](/codex/deuteronomy-8-5/), *"consider in thine heart"*; [1 Kgs 3:9](/codex/1-kings-3-9/), Solomon asks for *"an understanding heart"*; [Prov 16:23](/codex/proverbs-16-23/), *"the heart of the wise instructeth his mouth"*)
2. **Will / volition / intention / resolve**, the faculty of choosing ([Ex 35:5](/codex/exodus-35-5/), [21-22](/codex/exodus-35-21-22/), *"every one whose heart stirred him up"*; [Josh 14:7-8](/codex/joshua-14-7-8/), *"as it was in mine heart"*; [1 Sam 7:3](/codex/1-samuel-7-3/), *"prepare your hearts unto YHWH"*)
3. **Affections / desires / emotions** in the modern sense ([Deut 6:5](/codex/deuteronomy-6-5/), *"with all thine heart"*; [Ps 13:5](/codex/psalms-13-5/), *"my heart shall rejoice"*; [Prov 17:22](/codex/proverbs-17-22/), *"a merry heart"*)
4. **Conscience / moral self-knowledge** ([2 Sam 24:10](/codex/2-samuel-24-10/), *"David's heart smote him"*; [1 Sam 25:31](/codex/1-samuel-25-31/), *"this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart"*; [Job 27:6](/codex/job-27-6/), *"my heart shall not reproach me"*)
5. **Identity / character / inner orientation**, who one fundamentally *is* underneath all behavior ([1 Sam 16:7](/codex/1-samuel-16-7/), *"YHWH looketh on the heart"*; [Jer 17:9](/codex/jeremiah-17-9/), *"the heart is deceitful above all things"*; [Ezek 36:26](/codex/ezekiel-36-26/), *"a new heart"*)
6. **Memory / inner deliberation / inner speech** ([Deut 6:6](/codex/deuteronomy-6-6/), *"these words shall be upon thine heart"*; [Ps 4:4](/codex/psalms-4-4/), *"commune with your own heart upon your bed"*; [Luke 2:19](/codex/luke-2-19/), Mary *"kept all these things... in her heart"*)

The Hebrew *lebab* is **integrated**: it refuses the modern Western split between *mind / will / heart* into three different faculties. The biblical *lebab* is the *one* center from which all human thought, choice, affection, and identity flow. Behavior expresses *lebab*; *lebab* is what God examines ([1 Sam 16:7](/codex/1-samuel-16-7/)), what must be circumcised ([Deut 30:6](/codex/deuteronomy-30-6/)), and what must be made new ([Ezek 36:26](/codex/ezekiel-36-26/)).

## Etymology and relation to *lev*

Hebrew has *two* forms of the same root, both meaning "heart":

- **לֵב** *lev* ([H3820 - lev](/codex/h3820-lev/)), the shorter and more frequent form, ~600 OT occurrences
- **לֵבָב** *lebab* (H3824), the longer biform, ~252 OT occurrences

The two words **share semantic range completely**; they are not distinguished by meaning, only by which form a given author or passage happens to use. Some books prefer one over the other (Deuteronomy uses *lebab* very frequently; Proverbs is dominated by *lev*). The biform-pair is one lexical reality with two spellings; lexicons and concordances treat them in tandem. (When in doubt or when discussing the heart-concept generally, this page and [H3820 - lev](/codex/h3820-lev/) are interchangeable.)

## Theological force

### The Shema: the integration of the human person before God

The single most-deployed *lebab*-text in the OT is **[Deut 6:5](/codex/deuteronomy-6-5/)**, the Shema:

> *"And thou shalt love YHWH thy God with all thine heart (lebab), and with all thy soul (nephesh), and with all thy might (meod)."*

The structure of the Shema deserves careful attention. It does **not** name *intellect, will, emotion* as three faculties to coordinate; it names *the whole inner person (lebab)*, *the whole life-force (nephesh)*, and *the whole capacity (meod)* as the integrated totality demanded by the covenant. The Shema's *lebab* is the inner center; *nephesh* is the living-creature totality; *meod* is the outer reach. Together they name *everything you are, everything you have, every capacity within you*.

Jesus' rendering of the Shema in the NT ([Mk 12:30](/codex/mark-12-30/) // [Matt 22:37](/codex/matthew-22-37/) // [Luke 10:27](/codex/luke-10-27/)) expands to *"heart, soul, mind, strength,"* which is not a contradiction but a Greek-anthropological unpacking of what the Hebrew *lebab* already integrates. (The "mind" addition is the LXX-Greek-Hellenistic clarification that the *kardia / lebab* does include the intellectual faculty, a clarification needed for Greek-speaking audiences accustomed to the Platonic *mind / heart* dichotomy.)

### Heart-circumcision and the New Covenant

A second major theological strand uses *lebab* to develop the **interior / exterior distinction** that structures biblical covenant-religion against mere ritual conformity:

- **[Deut 10:16](/codex/deuteronomy-10-16/)**, *"circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart (lebab)"*, the prophetic-Deuteronomic move that frames outer circumcision (the covenant sign) as a token for the inner reality
- **[Deut 30:6](/codex/deuteronomy-30-6/)**, *"YHWH thy God will circumcise thine heart (lebab)... to love YHWH thy God with all thine heart (lebab)"*, the eschatological promise: in the future restoration, God Himself will perform the heart-surgery the people could not perform for themselves
- **[Jer 4:4](/codex/jeremiah-4-4/)**, *"circumcise yourselves to YHWH, and take away the foreskins of your heart (lebab)"*
- **[Jer 31:33](/codex/jeremiah-31-33/)** (the New Covenant prophecy, using *lev*): *"I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart (lev) will I write it"*
- **[Ezek 36:26](/codex/ezekiel-36-26/)**, *"a new heart (lev) also will I give you, and a new spirit (ruach) will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart (lev) out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart (lev) of flesh"*

The biblical trajectory from [Deut 10:16](/codex/deuteronomy-10-16/) → [Deut 30:6](/codex/deuteronomy-30-6/) → [Jer 31:33](/codex/jeremiah-31-33/) → [Ezek 36:26](/codex/ezekiel-36-26/) is one continuous prophecy: the Mosaic covenant required *lebab*-love but could not produce it; the future covenant promise is that God Himself will *do the heart-work* that the people cannot do for themselves. The NT writers identify this trajectory as fulfilled in Christ and the Spirit: **[Rom 2:28-29](/codex/romans-2-28-29/)** (circumcision *of the heart, in the spirit*), **[Heb 8:8-12](/codex/hebrews-8-8-12/)** (citing [Jer 31](/codex/jeremiah-31/)), **[2 Cor 3:3](/codex/2-corinthians-3-3/)** (the Spirit writing on *tablets of human hearts*). The OT *lebab*, its surgery, its renewal, its inscription with the law, is the prophetic horizon that the NT identifies as fulfilled in Christian regeneration.

### God looks on the heart

A third strand uses *lebab* (and *lev*) for the **theological-anthropological priority of inner reality over outer appearance**:

- **[1 Sam 16:7](/codex/1-samuel-16-7/)**, the locus classicus: *"YHWH seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but YHWH looketh on the heart (lebab)"*
- **[1 Kgs 8:39](/codex/1-kings-8-39/)** (Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the Temple): *"thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts (lebab) of all the children of men"*
- **[1 Chr 28:9](/codex/1-chronicles-28-9/)**, *"YHWH searcheth all hearts (lebab), and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts"*
- **[Jer 17:10](/codex/jeremiah-17-10/)**, *"I YHWH search the heart (lev), I try the reins"*
- **[Ps 139:23](/codex/psalms-139-23/)**, *"search me, O God, and know my heart (lebab)"*

The pattern is one of YHWH's **comprehensive interior epistemic access**. He knows the *lebab* without examining behavior; behavior may deceive ([1 Sam 16:1-7](/codex/1-samuel-16-1-7/)), the *lebab* cannot. This grounds biblical accountability: judgment is on *lebab*, not on performance.

### The deceitful heart

The fallen-state diagnosis of *lebab* runs in counterpoint to the covenant-renewal promise:

- **[Jer 17:9](/codex/jeremiah-17-9/)**, *"the heart (lev) is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?"*
- **[Gen 6:5](/codex/genesis-6-5/)**, *"every imagination of the thoughts of his heart (lev) was only evil continually"*
- **[Eccl 9:3](/codex/ecclesiastes-9-3/)**, *"the heart (lev) of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live"*
- **[Mk 7:21-23](/codex/mark-7-21-23/)** (Jesus): *"from within, out of the heart (kardia) of men, evil thoughts proceed... all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man"*

The diagnostic move is consistent OT-to-NT: behavior expresses *lebab*; *lebab* in the unregenerate state is corrupt; outer reform without *lebab*-change is futile. This is why the New-Covenant promise ([Ezek 36:26](/codex/ezekiel-36-26/)) is *a new lebab*, not improved behavior but a transplanted inner self.

### The pure / clean heart

The redemptive counterpart of the deceitful-heart diagnosis is the prayer / promise of the *pure heart*:

- **[Psalms 51.10](/codex/psalms-51-10/)**, *"Create in me a clean heart (lev), O God"*, David's penitential cry, asking for the New-Covenant work
- **[Ps 24:4](/codex/psalms-24-4/)**, *"he that hath clean hands, and a pure heart (lev)"*
- **[Ps 73:1](/codex/psalms-73-1/)**, *"truly God is good... to such as are pure in heart (lebab)"*
- **[Prov 4:23](/codex/proverbs-4-23/)**, *"keep thy heart (lev) with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life"*
- **[Matt 5:8](/codex/matthew-5-8/)** (Jesus, the sixth Beatitude): *"blessed are the pure in heart (kardia): for they shall see God"*

The Beatitude is the NT consummation of the OT pure-heart trajectory: the people whose *lebab* God has cleansed are those who see Him.

## Apologetic / theological significance

*Lebab* anchors:

1. **Biblical anthropology against modern bifurcations**, the integration of mind, will, affection, and identity in one center, against Cartesian / Enlightenment fragmentations
2. **The interior-priority of biblical religion**, against ritual conformity without inner transformation
3. **The doctrine of regeneration**, the New-Covenant *heart of flesh* ([Ezek 36](/codex/ezekiel-36/)) is the OT prophecy of Christian rebirth ([John 3:3-8](/codex/john-3-3-8/); [Titus 3:5](/codex/titus-3-5/))
4. **The doctrine of total depravity**, *[Jer 17:9](/codex/jeremiah-17-9/)* and *[Gen 6:5](/codex/genesis-6-5/)* ground the Reformed-Augustinian diagnosis of the fallen *lebab*
5. **The doctrine of monergistic salvation**, God circumcises the heart ([Deut 30:6](/codex/deuteronomy-30-6/)), God gives the new heart ([Ezek 36:26](/codex/ezekiel-36-26/)); the heart-work is God's
6. **The basis of Christian love-ethics**, the Shema's *love with all the lebab* is the integrated covenantal response that Christ identifies as the first commandment ([Mk 12:29-30](/codex/mark-12-29-30/))
7. **The basis of Christian sincerity / authenticity**, what God examines is the *lebab*, not the performance

## Notable verses

### The Shema and covenantal love
- **[Deuteronomy 6.5](/codex/deuteronomy-6-5/)**, *"love YHWH thy God with all thine heart"*, the Shema
- **[Deut 10:12](/codex/deuteronomy-10-12/)**, *"to love YHWH thy God, to serve YHWH thy God with all thine heart"*
- **[Josh 22:5](/codex/joshua-22-5/)**, *"to love YHWH your God... and to serve him with all your heart"*
- **[Matt 22:37](/codex/matthew-22-37/) // [Mk 12:30](/codex/mark-12-30/) // [Luke 10:27](/codex/luke-10-27/)**, Christ's rendering of the Shema

### Heart circumcision and renewal
- **[Deut 10:16](/codex/deuteronomy-10-16/)**, *"circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart"*
- **[Deut 30:6](/codex/deuteronomy-30-6/)**, *"YHWH... will circumcise thine heart... to love YHWH"*
- **[Jer 4:4](/codex/jeremiah-4-4/)**, the prophetic command to heart-circumcision
- **[Jeremiah 31.33](/codex/jeremiah-31-33/)**, the New Covenant, the law on the heart
- **[Ezekiel 36.26](/codex/ezekiel-36-26/)**, *"a new heart also will I give you"*
- **[Rom 2:28-29](/codex/romans-2-28-29/)**; **[Heb 8:8-12](/codex/hebrews-8-8-12/)**; **[2 Cor 3:3](/codex/2-corinthians-3-3/)**, NT fulfillment of the heart-renewal prophecy

### God looks on the heart
- **[1 Samuel 16.7](/codex/1-samuel-16-7/)**, *"YHWH looketh on the heart"*
- **[1 Kgs 8:39](/codex/1-kings-8-39/)**, Solomon's prayer
- **[1 Chr 28:9](/codex/1-chronicles-28-9/)**, *"YHWH searcheth all hearts"*
- **[Jer 17:10](/codex/jeremiah-17-10/)**, *"I YHWH search the heart"*
- **[Ps 139:23-24](/codex/psalms-139-23-24/)**, *"search me, O God, and know my heart"*

### The deceitful heart and the pure heart
- **[Jer 17:9](/codex/jeremiah-17-9/)**, *"the heart is deceitful above all things"*
- **[Gen 6:5](/codex/genesis-6-5/)**, *"every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil"*
- **[Psalms 51.10](/codex/psalms-51-10/)**, *"create in me a clean heart"*
- **[Prov 4:23](/codex/proverbs-4-23/)**, *"keep thy heart with all diligence"*
- **[Matt 5:8](/codex/matthew-5-8/)**, *"blessed are the pure in heart"*, the Beatitude
- **[Mk 7:21-23](/codex/mark-7-21-23/)**, the heart as the source of moral pollution

### Wisdom on the heart
- **[Prov 3:5](/codex/proverbs-3-5/)**, *"trust in YHWH with all thine heart"*
- **[Prov 16:9](/codex/proverbs-16-9/)**, *"a man's heart deviseth his way"*
- **[Prov 21:1](/codex/proverbs-21-1/)**, *"the king's heart is in the hand of YHWH"*
- **[1 Kgs 3:9](/codex/1-kings-3-9/)**, Solomon's prayer for *"an understanding heart"*

## Patristic / scholarly note

Patristic engagement on *lebab* / *kardia* tends to focus on the integration-issue against Hellenistic faculty-psychology. **Origen** (*Commentary on the Song of Songs*) develops the *spiritual senses of the heart*. **Augustine** (*Confessions*; *De Doctrina Christiana*) is the foundational Christian theorist of the heart as the integrated inner self: the famous *"fecisti nos ad te, et inquietum est cor nostrum, donec requiescat in te"* (*"thou hast made us for thyself, and our heart is restless until it rest in thee"*) treats the *cor* as the integrated personal center oriented to God. The Augustinian *cor*-tradition shapes the medieval mystics (Bernard, Bonaventure), the Reformation (Luther's *theologia cordis*; Calvin on the heart's deceitfulness, *Institutes* II.1.7-9), and Puritan affectional theology (Jonathan Edwards' *Religious Affections*, 1746, the classic post-Reformation treatment).

Modern engagement:
- **Hans Walter Wolff** (*Anthropology of the Old Testament*, 1973), the standard treatment of *lebab* as the integrated inner self
- **Bruce Waltke** (*An Old Testament Theology*, 2007), on *lebab* and biblical anthropology
- **James K. A. Smith** (*Desiring the Kingdom*, 2009; *You Are What You Love*, 2016), the contemporary recovery of *Augustinian heart-anthropology* against intellectualist models of Christian formation

The lexicographical landscape: BDB; HALOT (*Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament*); TDOT (*Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament*) treat *lebab* and *lev* together as the integrated lexical-theological entry.

## See also

- [H3820 - lev](/codex/h3820-lev/), the shorter biform, same semantic range
- [H5315 - nephesh](/codex/h5315-nephesh/), *nephesh*, the *whole-life-force* counterpart in biblical anthropology
- [H7307 - ruach](/codex/h7307-ruach/), *ruach*, the *spirit / breath* counterpart
- *G2588 - kardia*, Greek *kardia*, LXX rendering and NT continuation
- [Shema](/codex/deuteronomy-6-5/), the central covenantal-confessional text
- [New Covenant](/codex/jeremiah-31-33/), the biblical-theological trajectory from [Deut 30:6](/codex/deuteronomy-30-6/) to [Ezek 36:26](/codex/ezekiel-36-26/) to NT fulfillment
- Regeneration / Total Depravity, the doctrinal frames the *lebab* texts ground
- Passages: [Deuteronomy 6.5](/codex/deuteronomy-6-5/), [1 Samuel 16.7](/codex/1-samuel-16-7/), [Psalms 51.10](/codex/psalms-51-10/), [Jeremiah 31.33](/codex/jeremiah-31-33/), [Ezekiel 36.26](/codex/ezekiel-36-26/)

## Notes

_Lexical workspace for lebab._