Last Sunday I read Joel Hoffman's And God Said explaining the art and science of translating ancient Hebrew scriptures and shedding light on several mistranslations in the King James Version of the Old Testament.
The Epistle reading in church today was from Romans 7 - Paul's conflict between his mind, will and flesh. It brought to mind Hoffman's chapter on translating "heart" and "soul". Hoffman seemed to reflect the more holistic Jewish notion of those two words encompassing our whole being. We (Westerners) seem to have compartmentalized notions of our tangible and intangible selves. This is borne out in how the KJV expresses the Great Commandment in Deuteronomy to "love the Lord thy God with all our heart, soul and strength". Westerners treat the Hebrew word translated "heart" as a tangible metaphor for love and desire, but the Hebrew word elsewhere refers mind and will as well as love and desire, and shades of meaning surrounding these intangibilities. The Hebrew word translated "soul" goes beyond that intangible, ambiguous construct to refer in other places to the life forces thought to reside in the blood and other body parts. The Hebrew word translated as "strength" is also used as an adverb as we would use "very" - in other words, emphasizing "heart" and "soul", but not necessarily adding another component to our being.
Among these meanings our whole being is meant to be encompassed. We are to love God with all that we are. The Hebrew is not easily resolved into parts.
In Romans 7, Paul seems to reflect the more Hellenistic dichotomy of body and soul in how he articulates his conflict. (I confess that while I admire the grandeur of Paul's general theology, sometimes I find his specific arguments more culture-bound and less convincing.) The reading today brought Hoffman's "one being" back to mind (my phrase, not his) and reminded me that God does not see us in parts (or "in part"), but in the whole and His dealings with us are thus intended.
