When asked which was “the greatest commandment” of the Law code, Jesus replied: “‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart [Greek: kar·diʹa] and with your whole soul [psy·kheʹ] and with your whole mind [di·a·noiʹa].’ This is the greatest and first commandment.

(Matthew 22:35-40) Here, the heart is referred to in relation to the mind, showing that it must be “heart” in a figurative sense.

¹⁴ Jesus was there quoting from Deuteronomy 6:5: “And you must love Jehovah your God with all your heart [Hebrew: le·babʹ] and all your soul [neʹphesh] and all your vital force.”

As used in the Bible, the heart stands for the seat of motivation and also of the emotions. This is the figurative heart, which actually means our innermost self. At 1 Peter 3:4 it is described as “the secret person of the heart” (NW), “the hidden person of the heart” (Revised Standard Version), “your inner self” (New International Version). So it is with ‘all the heart’ that we are under command to love Jehovah God.