Qala d'Yeshua · Learn by root · Tier 3
Day 41 of 75 · The Beatitude roots

L-B-B

lebba: heart
לבא · לבב
ܠܒܐ · ܠܒܒ

The feel

Lebba is your whole inner person: mind, will, and affection, the deciding room where treasure is counted and words are brewed before they reach your mouth. The same root gives etlabbab, take heart: courage spoken into the place where you choose where to stand.

The root family

FormPatternTransliterationScriptStandardQala rendering
Nounbase noun + -alebaלבא ܠܶܒ݁ܳܐheartheart: the whole inner person
Noun + suffixpossessive endingslebak, lebkunyour heartyour heart (sing., pl., Matthew 22:37; 6:21)
Verb (Ethpaal)denominal, from "heart"etlabbab (impv. pl. etlabw)אתלבבו ܐܶܬ݂ܠܰܒ݈݁ܒ݂ܘtake heart!take heart
Paradigm forms are a teaching scaffold from standard Aramaic grammar; corpus-attested words above are drawn from the glossary.

The verb stems

StemForceThis rootMeaning
Pealsimplenot attested
Ethpeelsimple passivenot attested
Paelintensivelabbebto hearten, encourage (lexicon; not in this corpus)
Ethpaalintensive passiveetlabbabto take heart, be encouraged (Matthew 14:27; John 16:33)
Aphelcausativenot attested
Ettaphalcausative passivenot attested
Shaphelrare causativenot attested
Stem table is a grammar scaffold: how Aramaic bends one root through voice and cause. Here a noun grows a verb: heart becomes take-heart.

In his voice

Matthew 6:21 · interlinear
For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.
lebkun , "your heart": the deciding center follows what you have decided to treasure.
Matthew 22:37 · interlinear
He said to him, "'Love your God with all your heart, with all your self, and with all your mind.'
lebak , "your heart": the Shema quoted back into Aramaic. Heart first, because it is where the loving is decided.

Practice

Rest your hand on your chest for three breaths. Ask your inner room: Where did I stand today? If heat or shame rises, hear the command before you move: take heart.

Say lebba as the deciding center of you, then speak etlabbab: take heart.

Connections

Sh-M-ʿD-K-Ylebaetlabbab

The Hebrew cognate is lev / levav (לֵב, לֵבָב): the very word of Deuteronomy 6:5, which stands behind Matthew 22:37. The glossary's curated sense is the whole inner person: mind, will, and affection together, where decisions are made, where one stands.

Witness note: the forms above rest on the Peshitta as the primary witness, with Palestinian Aramaic attestation marked where a Western source carries the word.