The heart is also the seat of the conscience (Romans 2:15). It is naturally
wicked (Genesis 8:21), and hence it contaminates the whole life and
character (Matthew 12:34; 15:18; comp. Ecclesiastes 8:11; Psalm 73:7).
Hence the heart must be changed, regenerated (Ezekiel 36:26; 11:19; Psalm
51:10-14), before a man can willingly obey God.
The process of salvation begins in the heart by the believing reception of
the testimony of God, while the rejection of that testimony hardens the
heart (Psalm 95:8; Proverbs 28:14; 2 Chronicles 36:13). “Hardness of heart
evidences itself by light views of sin; partial acknowledgment and
confession of it; pride and conceit; ingratitude; unconcern about the word
and ordinances of God; inattention to divine providences; stifling
convictions of conscience; shunning reproof; presumption, and general
ignorance of divine things.”
- HEARTH Hebrews ah (Jeremiah 36:22, 23; R.V., “brazier”), meaning a
large pot like a brazier, a portable furnace in which fire was kept in the
king’s winter apartment.
Hebrews kiyor (Zechariah 12:6; R.V., “pan”), a fire-pan.
Hebrews moqed (Psalm 102:3; R.V., “fire-brand”), properly a fagot.
Hebrews yaqud (Isaiah 30:14), a burning mass on a hearth.
- HE-ASS Hebrews hamor, (Genesis 12:16), the general designation of the
donkey used for carrying burdens (Genesis 42:26) and for ploughing
(Isaiah 30:24). It is described in Genesis 49:14, 2 Samuel 19:26. (See ASS.) - HEATH Hebrews ‘arar, (Jeremiah 17:6; 48:6), a species of juniper called
by the Arabs by the same name (‘arar), the Juniperus sabina or savin. “Its
gloomy, stunted appearance, with its scale-like leaves pressed close to its
gnarled stem, and cropped close by the wild goats, as it clings to the rocks
about Petra, gives great force to the contrast suggested by the prophet,
between him that trusteth in man, naked and destitute, and the man that
trusteth in the Lord, flourishing as a tree planted by the waters” (Tristram,
Natural History of the Bible). - HEATHEN (Hebrews plural goyum). At first the word goyim denoted
generally all the nations of the world (Genesis 18:18; comp. Galatians 3:8).
The Jews afterwards became a people distinguished in a marked manner
from the other goyim. They were a separate people (Leviticus 20:23;