Approach: Using question and answer as a technique to learn about the Bible's meaning of heart and mind.
Hermeneutic objective: While both Greek and English languages had a separate word for "heart" and "mind," Hebrew did not. The Hebrew word for
"heart" included one's "mind;" Hebrew did not see a distinction between what one understood (ideas or logic) and what one felt (emotion). Hebrew linguistics
reflected their view of life, and how it was dynamically intertwined with both living and experience.
Theological objective: As one begins to understand God's word, passages like Deuteronomy 6:5 take on another shade of meaning.
"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart (lebab) and with all your soul and with all your might."
(Deut 6:5)
The Hebrew term for heart emphasizes the total personal devotional focus on God: "lebab" refers to the intentional will and full extent
of man.