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  • From: Albert & Julia Haig <albert_and_julia AT yahoo.com.au>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] "Mind" in Hebrew and Aramaic
  • Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2006 17:53:07 +1000 (EST)

Hello everyone! This is a "transfer" of a thread from B-Greek to B-Hebrew,
after the discussion turned from primarily addressing matters Greek to
matters Hebrew and Aramaic. The starting point was Mark 12:30 and the fact
that four items are listed which we are to love God with, instead of three as
in Deu. 6:5. There was then some discussion about whether this represented a
non-literal exegetical reflection on the original text (i.e. "midrash" or
something similar), or whether it was an attempt to make clear to native
Greek-speaking readers that the mind was intended (since "heart" conveys the
sense of mind in Hebrew but not so much in Greek). Anyway, I made the mistake
of saying that there was no Hebrew word for mind, but that heart (lev) was
used. Someone far more knowledgable on this subject than I then responded
with this list:

> Hebrew words for mind include (without taking time for a search):

> yetser maHshavot ('organ for thoughts' 1or2Chronicles)
> Heshbon ('calculation', 'ability to think' DIALOGISMOS BenSira 9,15,
I happen to have a copies at hand at the moment)
> da`at ('knowing', especially in contexts refering to the
ability to know, Qumran serex ha-YaHad column 1. Cf. madda`,
modern for 'science'.)
> hon (see Even Shoshan milon/DICTIONARY [not Bible concordance] for
rabbinic uses)
> tvuna, bina ('understanding, discernement',
again, in contexts where the ability is in focus rather than the
results or quality, e.g. BenSira 15:15, 44:3)
> ra`yonot ('thoughts')
> maHshavot ('thoughts')
> and of course,
lev//levav 'heart' in contexts of thinking.
> sexel 'understanding', in contexts where the ability to think is in
focus, led to a medieval development of a technical term that is
'mind, mental' today in modern Hebrew.

OK. So there are more words that can mean mind in Hebrew than just lev. But
it seems to me that (a) none of these words reference the mind very
specifically and (b) the overwhelming predominance of references in the OT to
the mind per se use lev. However, in Greek, there are a number of words that
much more directly refer to the mind than does kardia (i.e. nous, dianoia,
psuche). Hence, a Greek speaker might not see so clearly, if they read
"heart, soul, and might", that the mind was involved; whereas to a Hebrew
speaker it would be more obvious. My explanation for the addition to Mark
12:30, therefore, is that it represents an attempt to clarify the text for
Greek speakers.

But this is all complicated by the fact that 1st century Palestinian Jews
were probably speaking Aramaic. An examination of OT Aramaic certainly leaves
one with the impression that the word lev was used to mean "mind" most, if
not all, of the time. But, as has been pointed out, OT Aramaic only
represents a very small subset of Aramaic. Furthermore, the Peshitta of Mark
12:30 distinguisheds heart from mind, and I am informed that the word for
mind there is ra`yon, "thought", as in the list above. So the question
becomes, was this kind of development of the shema` in which "heart" and
"mind" were distinguished something that was (or might have been) already
present in Rabbinic discussions about this verse, or is it more likely a
concession on the part of Mark to his Greek-speaking audience? Any further
suggestions?

All the best,

Dr Albert Haig



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>From peter AT qaya.org Mon Apr 3 05:40:39 2006
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Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] "Mind" in Hebrew and Aramaic
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On 03/04/2006 08:53, Albert & Julia Haig wrote:
> ...
> But this is all complicated by the fact that 1st century Palestinian Jews
> were probably speaking Aramaic. An examination of OT Aramaic certainly
> leaves one with the impression that the word lev was used to mean "mind"
> most, if not all, of the time. But, as has been pointed out, OT Aramaic
> only represents a very small subset of Aramaic. Furthermore, the Peshitta
> of Mark 12:30 distinguisheds heart from mind, and I am informed that the
> word for mind there is ra`yon, "thought", as in the list above. So the
> question becomes, was this kind of development of the shema` in which
> "heart" and "mind" were distinguished something that was (or might have
> been) already present in Rabbinic discussions about this verse, or is it
> more likely a concession on the part of Mark to his Greek-speaking
> audience? Any further suggestions?
>
>
This is an interesting topic. But I would dispute the relevance of the
Peshitta (4th-5th century CE Syriac version of the New Testament) here.
I know that some people like to claim that the Peshitta is at least to a
large extent an original Aramaic NT of which the Greek NT is a
translation. But the scholarly consensus is that the Peshitta is
basically a translation of the Greek NT. It may include some passages
which are taken from continuing Aramaic/Syriac oral tradition, perhaps
mediated by earlier Syriac versions, representing an original Aramaic
substratum of the NT, even perhaps some of the original Aramaic words of
Jesus (if they were Aramaic, not Hebrew). But in a case like this, where
the Peshitta closely follows the Greek NT, the likeliest explanation is
that it is a translation of the Greek NT.

More useful would be to look at Aramaic and Syriac versions of the
original Hebrew of Deuteronomy 6:5, i.e. Targums and the Peshitta Old
Testament. Is there indication there of a text with an additional word
in the formula? Without any such indication, I would suggest that there
is no good evidence that the extra word was first added in Greek.

An additional indication of this is the variation of the wording in the
four different places where this formula is quoted in the NT: Matthew
22:37 (3 words: "heart", "soul", "mind" (DIANOIA)); Mark 12:30 (4 words:
"heart", "soul", "mind" (DIANOIA), "strength"); Mark 12:33 (3 words:
"heart", "understanding" (SUNESIS), "strength") Luke 10:27 (4 words:
"heart", "soul", "strength", "mind" (DIANOIA)). It would seem that those
who rendered Jesus' words into Greek used varying strategies to
translate Hebrew LEBAB and ME'OD, or its Aramaic equivalents.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/





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