Greek: καρδία (kardia), ψυχή (psychē), διάνοια (dianoia), ἰσχύς (ischys)
English: heart, soul, mind/understanding, strength
by Mark D. Taylor, NLT Bible Translation Committee
As recorded in Matthew 22:34-40 and Mark 12:28-31, one of the Pharisees questioned Jesus regarding which commandment in the law of Moses was most important. Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5 in his reply. In Matthew, Jesus’ response is stated as “You must love the lord your God with all your heart (kardia), all your soul (psyche), and all your mind (dianoia)” (Matt 22:37). But in Mark 12:30 Jesus’ response reads, “You must love the lord your God with all your heart (kardia), all your soul (psyche), all your mind (dianoia), and all your strength (ischys).” This raises the question: Did Jesus use three attributes of the human person or four as he quoted from Deuteronomy. Let’s line these passages up, along with Deuteronomy 6:5, for easy comparison:
| Deut 6:5 | . . . with all your heart, all your soul, | and all your strength | |
| Matt 22:37 | . . . with all your heart, all your soul, | and all your mind | |
| Mark 12:30 | . . . with all your heart, all your soul, | all your mind, | and all your strength |
Deuteronomy uses the terms heart, soul, and strength, which seem to reflect the entirety of the human person. But why does Matthew use mind and not strength? And why does Mark include the term mind along with the three terms from Deuteronomy?
The issue is complicated by the different languages at play. Deuteronomy, as part of the Old Testament, was written in Hebrew (so the NLT rendering of Deuteronomy 6:5 is a translation from Hebrew to English). Jesus, quoting from the Hebrew Scriptures, was probably speaking in Aramaic, a language closely related to Hebrew that had become the lingua franca in the area during Persian rule. Meanwhile, the New Testament was written in Greek, so when Matthew and Mark wrote their Gospels, they were recording Jesus’ words as though he had been speaking in Greek.
In the Hebrew text of Deuteronomy 6:5, the terms used are lebab (typically “heart,” but it could also refer to the source of one’s thinking, i.e., “mind”), nephesh (“soul,” “self,” or “life”), and me’od (an intensifying adjective that means “much” or “great” or “very”). So a more literal translation of the Deuteronomy passage might be “with all your heart, all your soul, and everything about you.” When the Hebrew Scriptures were first translated into Greek in the Septuagint, the Greek translators rendered me’od as dunamis (“power” or “strength”). Mark used ischys (“strength”), essentially a synonym of dunamis, and both Matthew and Mark included dianoia (“mind”). Some scholars suggest that Matthew used three terms (as opposed to Mark’s four) out of an awareness that Deuteronomy 6:5 contains only three terms.
We don’t know if Jesus used three or four words in Aramaic. Regardless, it seems that different—though related—terms in each of these languages could be employed to convey the overall sense of the entirety of a person. That is the underlying message. With everything we are and everything we have, we are to worship and love the Lord our God.
May we heed the words of this “greatest commandment,” worshiping and loving the Lord with our heart (i.e., our emotions and our will), our soul (i.e., the inner person), our mind (i.e., our intellect and reasoning), and our strength (i.e., our physical bodies and everything we own).
Amen. Brilliant. Thankyou for that.
Rosemary Walls quotes this way,” I will love the Lord and worship him withy mind, body, soul, strength, heart , character, etc. I will use all that I have to worship Him. Thank you for sharing this message with me
So the bottom line is to love the Lord with all of me. Thank you for being so clear!
A wonderful example of how the Bible has deep meaning BOTH for those who simply read the words of Jesus as they are in an English translation AND also for those who go deeper into this question and answer session of Jesus realizing there are four languages in play.
May I know if I can puchase the NLT Bible from
Tyndale? Or can I get it from Tecman or somewhere in Singapore please? Can U send me a Catalogue?
NLT Bibles are available in many local bookstores around the world. Tyndale does not ship internationally, but christianbook.com and bookdepository.com carry most of our Bibles and do ship internationally. Thank you!
Very insightful.
Why 10 Commandments were engraved on TWO Tablets of stone and not only on One?
God separated first set of 4 as relationship with Him = Jesus’s summary of all 4 = First Greatest Commandment
God separated second set of 6 as relationship with mankind and his possessions. Jesus’s summary of all 6 = Second Greatest Commandments.
Interesting comments on differences in translations
The bottom line is that we don’t know!
Thank you for sharing. God Bless those who translate for those of us who need the breakdown in various ways to better understand the word.
🙏
Thank you for this. I receive it in the mighty name of Jesus!! Lord, I Thank you!!!!
… as Paul stated in 1conrinthians 1:27, “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”Serving God is part of love expression to God and according to apostle Paul he is referring to his strength of the body to serve.
Very helpful clarification.
Thank you for your thorough analysis this text. Continue the process of analyzing the biblical Texts, helping us having a clearer understanding of the scriptures.
Best regards
THANK YOU FOR SUCH COMPETENT AND RELIABLE EXPLANATION
OF THE SOURCE LANGUAGE(HEBREW) AND HOW IT WAS TRANSLATED TO THE RECEPTOR LANGUAGE(GREEK) WITH ARAMÀIC AS THE MIDDLE/’BRIDGE’ LANGUAGE. THIS IS BY FAR THE SIMPLEST AND VALID WORD STUDY ON THIS VERY IMPORTANT PASSAGE.
Wonderful description
Stay blessed