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Proverbs 23 and 1 Maccabees describe the kidneys producing strong emotions, rejoicing or trembling, reflecting an idea found in the Hebrew Bible and inherited from ancient Near Eastern thought that the kidneys are a source of intense feeling.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Proverbs 23:16
Hebrew Bible
15 My child, if your heart is wise, then my heart also will be glad; 16 my kidneys27 will rejoice when your lips speak what is right. 17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but rather be zealous in fearing the Lord all the time. 18 For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
Date: 600–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
1 Maccabees 2:24
Deuterocanon
23 When he had finished speaking these words, a Jew came in the sight of all to sacrifice on the altar which was at Modin, according to the king’s commandment. 24 Mattathias saw it, so his zeal was kindled, and his guts trembled, and he vented his wrath according to judgment, and ran and killed him upon the altar. 25 He killed the king’s officer, who compelled men to sacrifice, at the same time, and pulled down the altar.
Date: 134–63 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The position of the kidneys in the body makes them particularly inaccessible, and in cutting up an animal they are the last organs to be reached. Consequently, they were a natural symbol for the most hidden part of a man (Psalm 139:13), and in Job 16:13 to "cleave the kidneys asunder" is to effect the total destruction of the individual (compare Job 19:27; Lamentations 3:13). This hidden location, coupled with the sacred sacrificial use, caused the kidneys to be thought of as the seat of the innermost moral (and emotional) impulses. So the kidneys instruct (Psalm 16:7) or are "pricked" (Psalm 73:21), and God can be said to be far from the kidneys of sinners (Jeremiah 12:2). In all of these passages "conscience" gives the exact meaning. So the kidneys rejoice (Proverbs 23:16), cause torment (2 Esdras 5:34), or tremble in wrath (1 Maccabees 2:24). And to "know" or "try the kidneys" (usually joined with "the heart") is an essential power of God's, denoting His complete knowledge of the nature of every human being (Psalm 7:9; 26:2; Jeremiah 11:20; 17:10; 20:12; Wisdom of Solomon 1:6; Revelation 2:23) ..."
Burton Scott Easton, “Kidneys,” in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr et al. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1979), 577–578.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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