A Fatty Heart

We all know that a fatty liver is bad for your health. But have you heard of a fatty heart?

Today I was doing some college homework … a lectio divina reading of Isaiah 6. And that’s where I found the reference to a fatty heart. 

Lectio divina is an ancient practice of reading Scripture meditatively. (See footnote 1 if you want to read more on that.) There is a lot I could have dwelt on in Isaiah 6, but the reference to a fatty heart is what caught my attention.  

My habit, when meditating on Scripture, is to read it slowly and reflectively first in English, then in Chinese, then in English again. There is a richness and freshness that comes in reading the same passage in different languages. Today is a case in point. 

Isaiah’s Awful Commission 

Poor Isaiah was given a most unenviable task. The New International Version translates his commission in this way: 

“Go and tell this people: 
Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
Be ever seeing, but never perceiving.
Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.” (Isaiah 6:9-10 NIV – my emphasis)

In the Chinese Union Version, however, the heart of the people was not ‘calloused’ but ‘fatty’ – 心蒙脂油.  The question, of course, is what was the intended meaning of that particular word in the original language. I’m no Hebrew scholar but those who are have created tools for the rest of us.

The Hebrew word is הַשְׁמֵן֙ (pronounced ‘haš·mên’ – see footnote 2). It literally means ‘oily’ or ‘greasy’. In other parts of the Bible, the same Hebrew word is usually translated as ‘fat’ (see footnote 3). I have since realised that there are other English translations, including the King James and the American Standard versions, which also translate this word in Isaiah 6:10 as ‘fat’.

The image of a fatty heart works for me. It makes me think of fatty livers which look so sobering on TV medical documentaries.

Contexts – then and now

The original context of Isaiah’s commissioning was the Jerusalem of about 2758 years ago. This passage referred to one heart of one collective group of people – the Jews. Those ancient Israelites were in no fit state to receive God’s word. Their metaphorical hearts were fatty, their ears dull and their eyes closed.  

What was Isaiah’s responsibility? It was simply to preach. Nothing more. He could not be responsible for the response of his listeners. There is a lesson in that for me too. 

Today however, I identified more with the people to whom Isaiah was sent. In my context, a reader in the 21st century, an Australian woman who has been brought into the people of God through Jesus, what is my responsibility? 

Five centuries after this commission was given to the unfortunate prophet, another man was commissioned to bring God’s word to non-Jews like me (see Acts 9:15-16). The apostle Paul explained how we should respond to God reaching out to us. We have a responsibility to respond but, at the same time, God enables us to respond well. Paul wrote:

“… continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12b-13 NIV).

Space does not permit me to follow the rabbit trail of various Greek words in this Philippians passage. I cannot help but comment, though, that unlike the ‘heart’ of the people in Isaiah 6 referring to the whole nation, the ‘you’ in the Philippians passage above is singular. The verse refers to our responses as individuals here (see footnote 4).

Our response

This particular middle-aged western woman – me – would like to sense a divine invitation from today’s meditation to work on ridding my body of some literal fat around my physical heart.  But that would be bad hermeneutics. Shocking, in fact.

Mind you, it is a good idea to work on health and fitness. I sense God’s nudging in that area and will likely make that my 2019 New Year’s resolution. That is another story which I may write up another day.

A far better response to this story – the commission given to Isaiah – would be to take seriously the warning about metaphorical fatty hearts. And so perhaps you would like to join me offering a prayer for each of us and our communities. We offer this prayer to the same holy One who commissioned Isaiah, and who chooses to use us in our communities even now in this very different age and in far-flung parts of the world.

‘As we come to your word, most holy God,
Open our eyes
that we might see,
Unstop our ears
that we might hear,
Make our hearts lean
that we might understand,
Grant that we might turn to you and be healed.’

Footnotes

1. You can read more about Lectio Divina here: http://www.eatmyword.com/alone.html
2. https://biblehub.com/isaiah/6-10.htm
3. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/strongs_8080.htm 
4. https://biblehub.com/philippians/2-13.htm