Loving God with your heart, soul, mind - and kidneys. Understanding the pre-scientific worldview of the ancient Hebrews.

At the always-excellent Christadelphian – Origins Discussion is a fascinating post pointing out that we do interpret the Bible with science when we realise that the literal reading of a passage is flatly contradicted by what we know to be true from science. The example cited is that of the heart, which as we know pumps oxygenated blood to the body and deoxygenated blood to the heart. However, in the Bible, the heart is used with reference to the mind, conscience, and inner self. Interpreted literally, this is of course nonsense, which is why the average fundamentalist does not interpret this literally.

This is not the only anatomical example in the Bible. The Bible does not ascribe to the kidneys their main function of filtering the blood (or maintaining blood pressure, and performing a number of metabolic / endocrine duties), but rather declares them to be the seat of “conscience, emotion, desire, and wisdom”, a role that parallels that of the heart. The inconsistency of the fundamentalist in readily acceding to modern science which declares that the physiological roles ascribed to the heart and kidneys are actually performed by the brain, while refusing to accept what modern science also shows about the reality of our ancient universe and the evolutionary history of life hardly needs stressing.

The Hebrew word for kidney occurs around 31 times in the Hebrew OT, with 18 of these referring to the organs, without reference to their physiological function, real or supposed. (All verses are from the NRSV).

Exodus 29:13 You shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the appendage of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and turn them into smoke on the altar.

Exodus 29:22 You shall also take the fat of the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the appendage of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination),

Leviticus 3:4 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the appendage of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys.

Leviticus 3:10 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the appendage of the liver, which you shall remove with the kidneys.

Leviticus 3:15 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the appendage of the liver, which you shall remove with the kidneys.

Leviticus 4:9 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins; and the appendage of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys,

Leviticus 7:4 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the appendage of the liver, which shall be removed with the kidneys.

Leviticus 8:16 Moses took all the fat that was around the entrails, and the appendage of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, and turned them into smoke on the altar.

Leviticus 8:25 He took the fat—the broad tail, all the fat that was around the entrails, the appendage of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat—and the right thigh.

Leviticus 9:10 But the fat, the kidneys, and the appendage of the liver from the sin offering he turned into smoke on the altar, as the LORD commanded Moses;

Leviticus 9:19 and the fat of the ox and of the ram—the broad tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat on them, and the appendage of the liver.

Job 16:13 his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys, and shows no mercy; he pours out my gall on the ground.

Isaiah 34:6 The LORD has a sword; it is sated with blood, it is gorged with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams.

Twice the kidneys are used as an example of the internal organs:

Lamentations 3:13 “He shot into my vitals the arrows of his quiver.”

Psalm 139:13 For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

while in Deuteronomy 32:14, it refers to the inner kernel of wheat, “…together with the choicest wheat— you drank fine wine from the blood of grapes.

The final ten times it refers to the mind, conscience, emotions or deepest self, which presents a challenge to translators. In eight of them the NRSV uses 'heart' which has a similar range of metaphorical meanings in modern English. Other translations use 'thoughts' etc:

Job 19:27 whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

Psalm 16:7 I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.

Psalm 26:2 Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and mind.

Psalm 73:21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,

Jeremiah 11:20 But you, O LORD of hosts, who judge righteously, who try the heart and the mind, let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.

Jeremiah 12:2 You plant them, and they take root; they grow and bring forth fruit; you are near in their mouths yet far from their heart.

Jeremiah 17:10 I the LORD test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings.

Jeremiah 20:12 O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind; let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.

Psalm 7:9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God.

Proverbs 23:16 My soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.

To a first approximation, in its Biblical context, the Hebrew word for kidney has the following semantic range (1) the two bean-shaped organs situated at the lower back (2) generically, the viscera (3) the inner part of wheat and (4) the mind / conscience / emotions. 

It is important to remember that nowhere in the Bible are the kidneys referred to as the organs situated at the lower back that are involved in filtering the blood and excreting urine. However, it would be unrealistic to expect a modern grasp of anatomy and physiology in a pre-scientific society. From this, one cannot assume that the ancient Hebrews would have assigned to individual organs a specific, albeit inaccurate, physiological function. Rather, as renal physician Garabed Eknoyan argues

[t]his metaphoric use of the heart and kidneys does not seem to be due to transference from a specific anatomic meaning but to the survival of a more vague, more general, and earlier meaning of the deeper “inwards” of a person, a term also used in conjunction with the sacrificial use of the kidneys mentioned above. Both the kidneys and the heart were internal organs, well hidden from view but accessible to the look of God. [1]

To coin a term, this could be seen as an ancient Hebrew concept of pre-anatomy. Significantly though for fundamentalists who insist on the scientific accuracy of the Bible, this pre-anatomical concept maintained by the Hebrews did not postulate the brain as the internal organ "hidden from view but accessible to the look of God". Although the fundamentalist could plausibly argue that God never intended to teach an anatomically accurate view of the human body, [2] the failure to make any unambiguous link between the inner man and the brain clearly shows that as with their cosmogeography with its view of a flat earth covered by a solid firmament, the ancient Hebrew view of the human body likewise was firmly rooted in a pre-scientific worldview. To paraphrase John Walton, the Israelites received no revelation to update or modify their “anatomical” understanding of the human body. [3] A clear, consistent reference to the brain as the seat of the intellect, mind, and conscience, even within an ancient Hebrew 'pre-anatomy' of the deeper inner part of a person would have been a clear example of scientific knowledge unknown to the ancient world, and would have had no little apologetic value. Evidently, scientific accuracy was not an overriding concern for God.

In passing, it is interesting to note that the Hebrew 'pre-anatomy' was very much at home in an ancient Near Eastern context. Eknoyan notes that

[t]his use of the heart and kidneys in parallel seems to have its roots in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Whereas the heart was the organ examined by the gods in Egypt, the kidneys are mentioned alongside the heart in the Egyptian Book of the Dead: “Homage to thee, O my heart! Homage to you, O my kidneys!” but then only once ... Temperaments were also associated with organs in Mesopotamia, where the liver assumes the leading role with occasional mention of the kidneys and the heart cited in parallel with the liver as sites of emotions. In some instances, the kidneys replace the liver and were used in parallel to the heart. [4]

Conclusion

The ancient Hebrews lived in a pre-scientific world and the Old Testament reflects that worldview. Fundamentalists recognise this almost grudgingly, conceding a metaphorical interpretation to passages where science clearly shows that a literal reading is untenable, but attempt to quarantine other parts of the Bible and demand a literal reading even when the evidence is overwhelmingly against that. The reference in the Bible to the kidney as the seat of the emotions and inner man, in parallel with the heart serves to remind us that we need to understand the OT in its ancient Near Eastern context if we are to avoid the usual hermeneutical blunders associated with fundamentalism.

References

1. Eknoyan G "The Kidneys in the Bible: What Happened?" J Am Soc Nephrol (2005) 16:3464–3471

2. Of course, with typical inconsistency they would insist that Genesis 1-2 were meant to teach a scientifically accurate view of origins, despite the avalanche of scientific evidence to the contrary.

3. John H. Walton, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2009), 14.

4. Eknoyan, op cit, p 3468

Thanks to BP for valuable feedback.