Lebba is not the seat of emotion alone, the way modern English "heart" tends to suggest. The glossary's curated sense is the whole inner person: mind, will, and affection together, where decisions are made, where one stands. When the Gospels say the heart, they mean the deciding center of you, the room where your treasure is counted and your words are brewed before your mouth ever opens. Fifty-six times this word surfaces in the corpus; it is the most-used word in the Beatitude tier for good reason.
The root also bends into a verb: etlabbab, "take heart." The curated sense is precise: the steadying word spoken to the frightened; an urging to firmness of heart, not a feeling but a command to be brave. Aramaic can order courage into someone because courage lives in the same place decisions do.
| Form | Pattern | Transliteration | Script | Standard | Qala rendering |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noun | base noun + -a | leba | לבא ܠܶܒ݁ܳܐ | heart | heart: the whole inner person |
| Noun + suffix | possessive endings | lebak, lebkun | — | your heart | your heart (sing., pl., Matthew 22:37; 6:21) |
| Verb (Ethpaal) | denominal, from "heart" | etlabbab (impv. pl. etlabw) | אתלבבו ܐܶܬ݂ܠܰܒ݈݁ܒ݂ܘ | take heart! | take heart |
| Stem | Force | This root | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peal | simple | not attested | — |
| Ethpeel | simple passive | not attested | — |
| Pael | intensive | labbeb | to hearten, encourage (lexicon; not in this corpus) |
| Ethpaal | intensive passive | etlabbab | to take heart, be encouraged (Matthew 14:27; John 16:33) |
| Aphel | causative | not attested | — |
| Ettaphal | causative passive | not attested | — |
| Shaphel | rare causative | not attested | — |
And the root's diagnostic edge: "the mouth speaks out of what overflows the heart" (Matthew 12:34): the words you say are samples drawn from the lebba, whether you meant to reveal it or not.
Put a hand flat on your chest and let it rest there for three slow breaths. Now notice: the lebba the Gospels mean is not the pump under your palm but the deciding place: mind, will, and affection working as one room. Ask that room a single question: where did I stand today? Not what did I feel. Where did I stand. If an answer comes with heat or shame, hear the other word from this root spoken to you before you move: take heart.
The Hebrew cognate is lev / levav (לֵב, לֵבָב): the very word of Deuteronomy 6:5, which stands behind Matthew 22:37. This entry carries Palestinian Aramaic (DJPA) attestation: the Galilean-closest evidence. Within the 75 it pairs with Sh-M-ʿ (day 16, hearing; the Shema, "Hear, O Israel," is the sentence these two roots share) and with yesterday's D-K-Y: pure in heart joins the two Beatitude roots in one phrase. No real English descendants: "love" and "heart" both come from other stock entirely.
Take two or three minutes and explain lebba to a friend without using the word "emotion." Use Matthew 6:21 as your anchor (treasure first, heart follows) and finish with etlabw, "take heart": why courage in Aramaic is something you can be told to do.