Hebrew word · H3516

כָּבֵד

hakaved

liver

Liver. Usually explained from the root kbd, 'be heavy', since the liver is the heaviest internal organ. In the sacrificial laws it appears in the phrase 'the lobe (appendage) of the liver', burned on the altar (Lev 3:4; 9:10). In poetry it can be the seat of deep feeling (Lam 2:11).

Appears 14 times in 14 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) the liver

1a) the liver (as the heaviest organ)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Ezekiel 21:21

Range of meaning

Liver. Usually explained from the root kbd, 'be heavy', since the liver is the heaviest internal organ. In the sacrificial laws it appears in the phrase 'the lobe (appendage) of the liver', burned on the altar (Lev 3:4; 9:10). In poetry it can be the seat of deep feeling (Lam 2:11).

Against the English

All versions say 'liver'; the English is accurate. What modern readers miss is the practice: 'looked at the liver' names a whole technical science.

Used elsewhere in the period

Babylonian extispicy (reading the entrails of a sacrificed animal, especially the liver) was carried out by a trained specialist, the bārû ('seer, inspector'). Large omen collections (the series bārûtu) list liver features, such as the 'gate of the palace', the 'path', markings and discolourations, with their meanings. Clay liver models with inscriptions survive from Old Babylonian sites such as Mari and Babylon. Kings asked these specialists before campaigns (Neo-Assyrian queries to the sun god Shamash, Starr, SAA 4). Some scholars suggest that Israel's rule to burn the liver lobe on the altar kept it from such use.

From the study of Lamentations 2:11

Range of meaning

The liver, literally. It comes from the root kbd, "to be heavy" (the liver is the body's heaviest internal organ), the same root as kavod, "weight, honor, glory." In the Hebrew Bible the organ appears mostly in sacrifice texts ("the lobe of the liver," Exod 29:13; Lev 3:4), in the Babylonian king consulting a liver for omens (Ezek 21:21 [Heb 21:26]), and in "till an arrow pierces his liver" (Prov 7:23), a fatal wound.

Against the English

KJV and YLT keep "liver." BSB, NIV and NASB turn it into "heart," and WEB and ESV give "bile." "Heart" swaps in the organ English associates with feeling, which loses the shock of the image. "Bile" is anatomically related but not the Hebrew word.

How it drifted

Modern English assigns emotion to the "heart" and treats the liver as a purely digestive organ, so translators replace it. The ancient picture placed deep emotion in the gut, kidneys and liver.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Akkadian, the related word kabattu ("liver") also means "mind, mood, emotions." Mesopotamian laments regularly ask an angry god: "may your heart be at rest, may your liver be soothed." Job 16:13 is the closest Hebrew parallel: "he pours out my gall on the ground." Some scholars think that in Ps 7:5; 16:9; 30:12; 57:8, kavod ("glory") should be read kaved ("liver") as a word for one's inner self. This is debated.

From the study of Proverbs 7:23

Range of meaning

The liver. It comes from the root kbd, 'to be heavy' (the same root as kābôd, 'weight, honour, glory'), because the liver is the body's heaviest organ. Hebrew, like other ancient Near Eastern languages, treated the inner organs as seats of life and feeling. The liver in particular was tied to the deepest emotion and to life itself.

Against the English

Most versions keep 'liver' (KJV, BSB, WEB, ESV, NIV). Some dynamic versions (NLT) use 'heart' so the line lands for modern readers. That gets the 'fatal wound' across but loses the hunting precision and the ancient sense of the liver as a vital organ.

How it drifted

Modern English gives the liver no emotional or 'life-centre' meaning. Readers may find the image odd or clinical, when to an ancient hearer it meant a mortal wound.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lamentations 2:11: 'my liver is poured out on the ground', meaning utter inner collapse. Leviticus 3:4 and elsewhere: the 'lobe of the liver' set apart in sacrifices. Ezekiel 21:21 (Heb. 21:26): the king of Babylon 'looks at the liver', which reflects Mesopotamian liver-divination, where clay model livers were used to read omens. The Septuagint has hēpar (liver) here too.

Where it appears

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 29:13 הַכָּבֵ֔ד the liver

    Take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar.

    Here: The liver, literally 'the heavy one' (same root as kāvēd 'heavy' and kāvôd 'weight, glory'), the heaviest internal organ. Only its appendage goes to the altar; the liver itself goes with the rest of the carcass.

  2. Exodus 29:22 הַכָּבֵד֙ the liver

    Take the fat from the ram, the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails, the lobe of the liver, both kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh (since this is a ram for ordination),

    Here: 'The heavy organ', from the root meaning 'heavy'. The liver is not burned whole; only its projecting piece is taken.

Leviticus · 9

  1. Leviticus 3:4 הַכָּבֵ֔ד the liver

    both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys.

    Here: The liver. The word comes from the root for 'heavy', since the liver is the heaviest organ in the body. Only its appendage goes to the altar. The rest of the liver stays with the meat.

  2. Leviticus 3:10 הַכָּבֵ֔ד the liver

    both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys.

  3. Leviticus 3:15 הַכָּבֵ֔ד the liver

    both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys.

    Here: The liver. Only its appendage goes to the altar. The rest of the liver is not named.

  4. Leviticus 4:9 הַכָּבֵ֔ד the liver

    both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys—

  5. Leviticus 7:4 הַכָּבֵ֔ד the liver

    both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which is to be removed with the kidneys.

  6. Leviticus 8:16 הַכָּבֵ֔ד the liver

    Moses also took all the fat that was on the entrails, the lobe of the liver, and both kidneys and their fat, and burned it all on the altar.

  7. Leviticus 8:25 הַכָּבֵ֔ד the liver

    And Moses took the fat—the fat tail, all the fat that was on the entrails, the lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with their fat—as well as the right thigh.

    Here: The liver, the heaviest organ. Its name is related to the root for 'heavy'. In the surrounding cultures the liver was the main organ read for omens.

  8. Leviticus 9:10 הַכָּבֵד֙ the liver

    On the altar he burned the fat, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver from the sin offering, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

    Here: The liver, literally 'the heavy organ', as the heaviest organ in the body. In the ancient Near East it was the organ read for omens.

  9. Leviticus 9:19 הַכָּבֵֽד׃ the liver

    They also brought the fat portions from the ox and the ram—the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver—

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 7:23 כְּֽבֵד֗וֹ liver his

    until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare—not knowing it will cost him his life.

    Here: 'His liver.' The liver was the heaviest organ (the word comes from the root 'heavy'). It was thought of as a centre of life and deep feeling, so an arrow there means a wound that kills.

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 2:11 כְּבֵדִ֔י liver my

    My eyes fail from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.

    Here: "My liver": the heaviest organ (from the root "to be heavy"). Across the ancient Near East it was thought of as a center of life and emotion. To have it poured on the ground is total inner collapse, as if the speaker were mortally wounded.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 21:21 בַּכָּבֵֽד׃ at the liver

    For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver.

    Here: The liver of a sacrificed sheep, read for signs from the gods. This is liver-reading (hepatoscopy), the most prestigious form of divination in Babylon. This is the only place in the Bible where it is named.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.