Psalm 16/Notes/Grammar.v. 7.631166

• The subject in v. 7b, translated variously as "heart" (ESV, NIV, NLT), "mind" (NASB95, cf. CEB), and "conscience" (NJPS, GNT, HCSB), is, literally, kidneys (כִּלְיוֹת). A person's "kidneys" figuratively represent the "seat of a person's emotions and devotion to God, created by God, and hidden to everyone but God himself" (SDBH; cf. Pss 7:10; 26:2; Prov 23:16; DCH: "seat of human conscience"). As Maio explains, "In Hebrew tradition, they were considered to be the most important internal organs along with the heart. In the Old Testament most frequently the kidneys are associated with the most inner stirrings of emotional life. But they are also viewed as the seat of the secret thoughts of the human; they are used as an omen metaphor, as a metaphor for moral discernment, for reflection and inspiration. This field of tension in metaphoric usage is resolved under the conception of the kidneys as life center. In the Old Testament the kidneys thus are primarily used as metaphor for the core of the person, for the area of greatest vulnerability." Poetically, the mention of a body part here in v. 7 forms a poetic parallel with the body parts in v. 9 (see Poetic Structure: similar beginnings). The mention of kidneys might also allude to the Ancient Near Eastern practice of "extispicy" (the examination of animal entrails for divine messages). This practice usually involved the examination of the liver, but sometimes it included the kidneys as well. Whereas others look to animal kidneys for divine guidance, the psalmist looks to YHWH, who guides him directly, through his own "kidneys."