לֵב and לבב

[Jesse Dornfeld]

I can't figure out the difference between these. Can someone point me in the right direction?

[Jesse Dornfeld]

By difference I mean definition. Sorry if that was not clear.

[dandennison]

Needs more context. DCH suggests definitions like heart, think, bake, etc.

[Jesse Dornfeld]

They both seem to greatly revolve around the same idea of the "inner man." I'm interested in telling the difference between these words and I can seem to find it.

 

Taking from both words in the lexicons I have where they give the most info per word I get this:

 

BDB (Abridged) לֵב

 

inner man, mind, will, heart — The inner, middle, or central part: I. seldom of things בִּלְבַב יַמִּים in the midst of the seas (poetry); עד לבב השׁמים unto the midst of heaven. II. usu. of men:

1. the inner man in contrast with the outer, כלה שׁארי ולבבי my flesh and my heart (soul) doth fail; antithesis with garments; hands; eyes; ears; mouth; speech; מְתֹפֲפֹת עַל־לִבְבֵהֶן tabering upon their breasts (inner for outer).

2. the inner man, indef. the soul, comprehending mind, affections and will, or, in connexion with certain verbs, having more specific reference to someone of them. בכל־לבב ובכל־נפשׁ with all the heart and with all the soul; ‏אשׁר בלבב what is in the heart (mind); ‏עם לבב with the heart (mind), c. ‏ידע‎, ‏שִׂיחַ‎, usu. c. (‏היה‎), of a thought or purpose; ‏כלבב according to the heart.

3. specific ref. to mind (characteristic of לבב):

a. ‏לֵבָב אַנְשֵׂי men of mind; גם לי לבב I also have a mind.

b. knowledge, c. ‏ידע‎; ‏הבין‎, ‏חֲכַם לֵבָב‎ wise of mind; לְבַב חָכְמָה mind of wisdom.

c. thinking, reflection, c. חשׁב‎; ’‏ יצר מחשׁבות ל‎conception of thoughts of mind; שׂם לבב set the mind, consider, c. לְ, על.

d. of memory שׂם בלבב lay up in the mind; ’השׁיב אל ל lay to heart, call to mind; עלה ’‏על ל‎ come upon the mind (cf. ‏לֵב 3 d); ’‏סוּר מל depart from the mind; ’שׁמר בתוךְ ל keep in the midst of (thy) mind; ’על ל upon the mind.

4. spec. ref. to inclinations, resolutions, determinations of the will (characteristic of ’י): ’‏הכין ל‎ set the mind, c. ‏אֶל‎, ‏לְ‎; ‏פנה מעם‎ ’‏ל‎ mind turn away from; ’‏פ ’יֵהָפֵךְ ל Pharaoh’s mind was changed.

5. spec. ref. to conscience לא יחרף לבבי my heart (conscience) shall not reproach me.

 

Hebrew Strong's Dictionary לבב

 

labe; a form of 3824; the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything:—+ care for, comfortably, consent, x considered, courag(-eous), friend(-ly), ((broken-), (hard-), (merry-), (stiff-), (stout-), double) heart((-ed)), x heed, x I, kindly, midst, mind(-ed), x regard((-ed)), x themselves, x unawares, understanding, x well, willingly, wisdom.

 

Virtually the same thing.

[jarcher]

Jesse,

 

One "tool" to add to your toolkit here is to consult each occurrence of the word in context throughout the corpus. Then, use that data to start to get an understanding of how the word is used.

 

If you don't have original language experience you could use the key number search to do this.

 

Lexicons are wonderful tools. But.. doing the heavy lifting yourself will lead to some very valuable skills and fruit.

 

Additionally, using this search you can see instances when both are used in the same verse. This may help you to see the differences and similarities.

 

[KEY H3820] <AND> [KEY H3824] 

 

[Jesse Dornfeld]

Jesse,

 

One "tool" to add to your toolkit here is to consult each occurrence of the word in context throughout the corpus. Then, use that data to start to get an understanding of how the word is used.

 

If you don't have original language experience you could use the key number search to do this.

 

Lexicons are wonderful tools. But.. doing the heavy lifting yourself will lead to some very valuable skills and fruit.

 

Additionally, using this search you can see instances when both are used in the same verse. This may help you to see the differences and similarities.

 

[KEY H3820] <AND> [KEY H3824] 

 

Thanks, I appreciate you trying to help.

 

I have already tried that. I even went so far as to search for (חָשַׁב <AND> לֵב) [Key H2803] <AND> [Key H3820] Which is more of the kind of distinction I am trying to make, but at this point it's just one of those nagging things that I have to figure out between Lev and Levav (לֵב <AND>  לָבַב) for curiosity sake.

[markusvonkaenel]

It means the same, heart

 

in the midrash, rabbis say, לֵב is heart and לבב is a full commitment. I do not know if you will find such things in a dictionary. 

[Jesse Dornfeld]

It means the same, heart

 

in the midrash, rabbis say, לֵב is heart and לבב is a full commitment. I do not know if you will find such things in a dictionary. 

 

Thanks!

[gbjohnston]

It’s worth saying that people often project way too much meaning onto differences like this, in search of a sermon or exegetical point to be made. Be cautious when leaning too heavily on lexical differences, especially in a language (like Hebrew) that values variation in itself (see e.g., poetic parallelism)

[Michel Gilbert]

Hi Jesse,

 

The people who wrote Hebrew lexicons spent a large part of their lives working on them, so they are the ones to consult first. Right now (and in the early years of learning Hebrew) you are/will be dependent on these lexicons, but you can go beyond them by doing your own word studies and checking all occurrences.

 

I think you have BDB in your collections. If you do, you could copy and paste definitions for לב and לבב from it, and start to compare them. Are there any similar definitions? Sort out the ones that remain (if any) for each word. Then, look up the verses BDB gives to support all of its definitions/glosses. Then, look up every occurrence of both words and see if BDB did a good job or not. It is hard work. And, there is no substitute for it.

 

When you learn Hebrew you will learn glosses (short definitions) for each word. In fact, you will learn the same gloss for לב and לבב, "heart." Even after second year Hebrew, you probably won't be able to get much further researching the meanings of words than you can right now with Accordance, its Hebrew lexicons, and being able to find the occurrence of each word with the help of Strong's numbers.

 

For the majority of people, the real benefit of Hebrew comes after years and years of reading Hebrew and continuing education in related disciplines, like learning other Semitic languages and studying comparative Semitic linguistics, which, among other things, help you to understand how lexicographers arrived at their glosses in the first place, and help you to explore new proposals for difficult words. Besides these, you will also have to study advanced grammar, syntax, and linguistics to see how words relate to each other.

 

So, back to לב and לבב, don't downplay what you can do right now with your collections, don't think that you have to learn Hebrew first, know that it is hard work, and that there is no substitute for you doing the work yourself. If you take shortcuts, your conclusions regarding the nature of man might turn out to be completely off.

 

Regards,

 

Michel

[Jesse Dornfeld]

Hi Jesse,

 

The people who wrote Hebrew lexicons spent a large part of their lives working on them, so they are the ones to consult first. Right now (and in the early years of learning Hebrew) you are/will be dependent on these lexicons, but you can go beyond them by doing your own word studies and checking all occurrences.

 

I think you have BDB in your collections. If you do, you could copy and paste definitions for לב and לבב from it, and start to compare them. Are there any similar definitions? Sort out the ones that remain (if any) for each word. Then, look up the verses BDB gives to support all of its definitions/glosses. Then, look up every occurrence of both words and see if BDB did a good job or not. It is hard work. And, there is no substitute for it.

 

When you learn Hebrew you will learn glosses (short definitions) for each word. In fact, you will learn the same gloss for לב and לבב, "heart." Even after second year Hebrew, you probably won't be able to get much further researching the meanings of words than you can right now with Accordance, its Hebrew lexicons, and being able to find the occurrence of each word with the help of Strong's numbers.

 

For the majority of people, the real benefit of Hebrew comes after years and years of reading Hebrew and continuing education in related disciplines, like learning other Semitic languages and studying comparative Semitic linguistics, which, among other things, help you to understand how lexicographers arrived at their glosses in the first place, and help you to explore new proposals for difficult words. Besides these, you will also have to study advanced grammar, syntax, and linguistics to see how words relate to each other.

 

So, back to לב and לבב, don't downplay what you can do right now with your collections, don't think that you have to learn Hebrew first, know that it is hard work, and that there is no substitute for you doing the work yourself. If you take shortcuts, your conclusions regarding the nature of man might turn out to be completely off.

 

Regards,

 

Michel

 

Thank you for your thoughtful and thorough reply!