Is the science of the Bible always correct? The role of the kidneys

(Image from Wikimedia Commons)

The Blueletter Bible has this entry for the Hebrew word kilyâ. It translates that word as the kidneys, or the reins. "Reins" is not a word much in use in our day -- the Blueletter Bible uses the King James as its default version. However, its use in the Bible seems to refer to a function analogous to the reins used in guiding a horse. The reins control what we are thinking of, do, and say. 

Referring to Strong's concordance, the Blueletter Bible says "kidney (as an essential organ); figuratively, the mind (as the interior self):—kidneys, reins." Looking further in the Blueletter Bible's entry for kilyâ, there are 31 instances of that word in the Hebrew Bible. Many of these are in relation to the body parts of a sacrificial animal, and seem, therefore, to use the word for kidney as we would do so today. But there are other uses. Here are some: (Scripture is from the World English Bible, with the translation results from kilyâ given in bold:)

Psalm 7:9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,
    but establish the righteous;
    their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.

Psalm 26:2 Examine me, Yahweh, and prove me.
    Try my heart and my mind.

Proverbs 23:16 Yes, my heart will rejoice
    when your lips speak what is right. 

Jeremiah 11:20a But, Yahweh of Armies, who judges righteously,
    who tests the heart and the mind

The people of Bible times thought that the kidneys were the seat of the consciousness, the engineer, as it were, of the personal locomotive. And, as we often still do, they thought of the physical heart in the same way.

There is, and was, nothing seriously wrong with believing that the kidneys, or the heart, are the engineer of our consciousness, as in, for example: "I asked Jesus into my heart." But, if you think that the science of Bible times must agree with current scientific thought, there is something wrong. The Bible was written, at least partly, for a current audience, using the science of the day. That doesn't mean that the Bible is in error. It just means that the Bible conforms to the culture of ancient times. It doesn't expect or demand that we have to think of the brain as the seat of consciousness.

There are previous posts, making the same argument for ancient science, on the firmament, or expanse, on the liver, and on the size of mustard seeds. 

Thanks for reading!

*The graphic was added on October 30, 2023.