Emotional Distress in the Hebrew Bible

Abstract

A systematic search was made in the Hebrew Bible for expressions of emotional distress. A wide range of somatic and psychological vocabulary was found, especially in the Psalms and other poetic literature. Somatic expressions most frequently involved the heart, bowels, belly, bones, and eyes. Head symptoms were rare. Metaphors referring to the heart were common; other somatic expressions appeared to be descriptions of actual physical sensations. Usually somatic and psychological expressions were paired together, utilising the ‘parallelism’ of Hebrew verse form. Biblical Hebrew thus incorporated a powerful and sophisticated language of emotional expression.