Belief in God: From “The Guide for the Perplexed” by Maimonides (vegetarian), Part 2 of 2

“The Hebrew leb (heart) is a homonymous noun, signifying that organ which is the source of life to all beings possessing a heart.”

“It further denotes ‘thought.’ ‘Went not mine heart with thee?’, I was with thee in my thought when a certain event happened. Similarly, must be explained, ‘And that ye seek not after your own heart,’ after your own thoughts; ‘Whose heart (whose thought), turned away this day.’

Leb (heart) denotes also ‘will’; ‘And I shall give you pastors according to my will,’ ‘Is thine heart right as my heart is?’ Is thy will right as my will is? In this sense the word has been figuratively applied to God. ‘That shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my soul,’ according to My will; ‘And mine eyes and mine heart (My providence and My will) shall be there perpetually.’

The word is also used in the sense of ‘understanding.’ ‘For a vain man will be endowed with a heart,’ will be wise; ‘A wise man’s heart is at his right hand,’ his understanding is engaged in perfect thoughts, the highest problems. Instances of this kind are numerous. It is in this sense, namely, that of understanding, that the word is used whenever figuratively applied to God; but exceptionally it is also used in the sense of ‘will.’”

“As to the passage, ‘And thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thine heart,’ I explain ‘with all thine heart’ to mean ‘with all the powers of thine heart,’ that is, with all the powers of the body, for they all have their origin in the heart; and the sense of the entire passage is: make the knowledge of God the aim of all thy actions, as we have stated in our Commentary on the Mishnah, and in our Mishneh Torah.”

“The Hebrew ‘ayin is a homonym, signifying ‘fountain’; ‘By a fountain (‘en) of water.’” “In this figurative sense it is to be understood when used in reference to God; ‘And my providence and my pleasure shall be there perpetually,’ ‘The eyes (‘ene), the Providence of the Lord thy God, are always upon it’; ‘They are the eyes (‘ene) of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole Earth’, His providence is extended over everything that is on Earth.”