Heart 4

Our next Word is apopsychō. There is only one usage and it is translated heart failing.

Luk 21:26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken

To really understand what is going on here you need to read verses 1-7.

Luke 21:1 And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.

2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.

3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:

4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury 

hath cast in all the living that she had.

5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,

6 As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

7 And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?

You now see it is one of the signs of the coming of the end.

The word comes from the word apo which means moving away from and psychō which means to breathe. 

So the word means to move away from breathing. Dying would be a good way to put it heart failing is a good translation. The NLT translates it as:

Luke 21:26     People will be terrified at what they see coming upon the earth, for the powers in the heavens will be shaken

(NIV) Luke 21:26 People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.

(Amp) 26 Men swooning away or expiring with fear and dread and apprehension and expectation of the things that are coming on the world; for the [very] powers of the heavens will be shaken and [i]caused to totter.

So you can see it is talking about being full of fear.

The next word is sklērokardia, it is translated and it means to have hardness of heart. Let’s see the verses in context.

Matthew 19:8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

Let's look at verses 3-9

3 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,

5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?

8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

The Pharisees were not interested in what the truth was, they just wanted to trap Jesus.

Mark 10:5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.

Here we have a similar record. So let's see what happened here.

Mark 10:2 And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.

3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?

4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.

5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.

6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.

7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;

8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.

9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Again there was no interest in the truth they wanted to trap Jesus.

Mar 16:14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.

This record shows even men of God can get hard hearted and they can overcome whatever it is that caused him to get hard hearted.

Mark 16:9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

10 And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.

11 And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.

12 After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.

13 And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.

14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.

15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

You can see these all talk about someone who is hard headed and closed off from the idea being presented to them.

Our next word is diapriō. The word means to be sawn through mentally, i.e. to be rent with vexation. 

Something has happened or been said that cuts right to your heart.

Act 5:33 When they heard [that], they were cut [to the heart], and took counsel to slay them.

Act 7:54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with [their] teeth.

 You may remember we looked at Acts 7:54 in the previous teaching both verses are talking about being cut to the heart.

What Stephen said was true and they didn’t like that he reproved them. So like he said in his speech before this: “Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:” So they killed him showing the hardness of their hearts.

Our next word is psychē. It means to have life, to breathe, to have life. There is only one time this word is translated heart the other 104 times it is translated as heart, soul, life, or mind.

Eph 6:6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;

Bullinger translates it as soul:

Eph 6:6 Not according to eyeservice as menpleasers: but as servants of Christ, doing the desire God from the soul:

(YLT) Eph 6:6 not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but as servants of the Christ, doing the will of God out of soul,

(Darby) Eph 6:6 not with eye-service as men-pleasers; but as bondmen of Christ, doing the will of God from [the] soul,

These versions seem to get it correct. It should be soul or life. Check these verses in context.

Our next word is eusplagchnos. It is used twice and is translated tenderhearted, and pitiful.

Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

1Pe 3:8 Finally, [be ye] all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, [be] pitiful, [be] courteous

Our final word is syntribō. It means broken. Here is the one place of 8 it is used as broken hearted.

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Let's see that in context.

Luke 4:14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and, recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised

19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.vering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

That is the only scripture with the word heart in it. It means to be broken. It is also translated bruise, broken to pieces, and simply pieces. It really has nothing to do with the heart except as a figure of speech.

The spirit of Jehovah is upon me, on account of which He hath anointed Me to announce the glad tidings to the poor; He hath sent Me ..., to send away in discharge the broken

That is how Bullinger translated that same verse.

(NIV) Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free,

(ESV) Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

So as you can see some do not even have the word heart in it.