Ancient Hebrew thought did not have a single, specific word for the brain or mind as a physical organ in the modern sense; instead, mental activity was often localized in concepts like the "heart" (lev or leb) or "soul" (nephesh), which were used to describe volition, emotion, and thought.

Scholars argue that the Bible uses these terms and associated narratives to provide a functional description of human motivation, moral condition, and inner experience, effectively serving as a "folk psychology" or pre-scientific framework for understanding internal life.