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Emotional Distress in the Hebrew Bible

Somatic or Psychological?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

David B. Mumford
David B. Mumford*
Affiliation:
University of Leeds, Department of Psychiatry, University of Leeds, 15 Hyde Terrace, Leeds LS2 9LT
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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.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 160 , Issue 1 , January 1992 , pp. 92 - 97
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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