Lois Cantrell:  

The Heart. The heart (לב, καρδία) of man is spoken of in the Scriptures as the vital center of each individual life. As the heart in the body is the fountain of the natural life, the same word is appropriately used to designate the center and source of all the higher conscious activities of the soul. Thoughts, imaginations, purposes, memory, reflection, judgment, belief, and unbelief, and all emotions of love and hatred, of joy and grief, are predicated of the heart. In this higher sense, the word is not employed in speaking of the brute creation. It is common to mention heart and soul together (Deut. 30:2, 6, 10; Josh. 22:5; 1 Sam. 2:35; Isa. 26:8, 9; Mic. 7:1). Man is to love God with all the heart and soul (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 22:37). We read of a wise and understanding heart (Exod. 35:25, 35; 1 Kings 3:9, 12), a willing heart, a tender heart, a hardened heart, a perverse heart, and great projects and resolutions of heart. The heart is cap...Expand for more