A classic study
Venerable support for my thesis can be found in a 1916 monograph by A.J. Wensinck (1978). In his wide-ranging study of “the navel of the earth” in Jewish and Arabic literature, Wensinck (p. 46) reflected on Deut. 4:11 and acknowledged an equivalency between “heart” and “navel.”
Perhaps the navel of heaven was already known to the author of Deut IV,11, where mount Sinai is represented as burning “unto the heart of heaven” … for heart is sometimes used as a synonym for navel. Jerusalem is called the heart of the earth (in the Zohar as quoted by Feuchtwang p. 728). Mekka is also called the heart of the world…by al-Batanūni, p. 27, 4 infra; the author’s note to this expression does not leave any doubt as to its meaning. But the idea of the navel of heaven is certainly known in Jewish Literature.
Surprisingly, Wensinck made no mention of Matt 12:40 in his study, and I imply nothing in regard to whether he would have agreed with my argument. Nevertheless, I agree with the equivalency he acknowledged between “the heart of the earth” and “the navel of the earth” in reference to Jerusalem.
The Feuchtwang quote cited by Wensinck is not available to me. However, Feuchtwang was undoubtedly referring to either Zohar 1:84b, 2:193b, or 3:161b where Jerusalem in each case is described as the “heart of the whole world” (לבא דכל ‎‎עלמא).11The Sefer ha-Zohar is a multi-volume commentary on the Torah. Its origins are disputed, but associated with the 2nd century rabbi Shimon bar Yohai of Israel and the 13th century rabbi Moses de León of Spain. Its Aramaic mystical content became the literary fountainhead of the Kabbalah movement. This more current wording comes from the critical Aramaic text and English translation of the Zohar produced by Daniel C. Matt.22Matt, 2004-16, pp. 2:39; 6:95; 9:50. The first number is the volume, the second is the page. His translation of the passage from Zohar 1:84b well illustrates the status of Jerusalem:
Just as a rock is supreme and mighty above all, so is
Jerusalem. In the covert of the cliff—the Holy Temple,
site called Holy of Holies, heart of the whole world.33Matt, 2004-16, p. 2:39.
Here occurs a phrase that is practically the same as “the heart of the earth” in Matt 12:40, and that furthermore uses the term “heart” in the very sense that I propose for this verse. In the Zohar,Jerusalem is also described as the “center of the world” (אמצעיתא ד‎‎עלמא, 1:266a), “center of the whole inhabited world” (or “middle of all habitation,”אמצעיתא דכל ישובא, 2:184b; 3:161b), “center of the land and of the whole world” (וכל עלמא אמצעיתא דארעא , 2.157a), and the “center of the whole earth” (אמצעיתא דכל ארעא, 3:66a).44Matt 2004-16, pp. 3:360; 5:419; 6:36-37; 7:433; 9:49. In the Zohar , these Jerusalem descriptions are interchangeable with “heart of the whole world.”
Matt himself, in a critical note, shows thematic equivalency betweenZohar 1:84b and Tanḥuma , Qedoshim 10: “The land of Israel sits in the center of the world, Jerusalem in the center of the land of Israel…”.55Matt 2004-16, p. 2:39, n. 302. See also p. 2:8. In Zohar 1:78a, the land of Israel is referred to as “the central point of habitation” (דאמצעיתא דיישובא) upon Abraham’s arrival there. Again, I imply nothing in regard to whether Matt would agree with my thesis; nevertheless, I agree with him when he acknowledges Zoharic equivalency between “center of the world” and “heart of the whole world” in reference to Jerusalem.
The origins of the Zohar are disputed, but at the very least we have a medieval Sephardic Jewish text that supports my interpretation of Matt 12:40. Moreover, it is not likely that the author of theZohar would have invoked a description of Jerusalem that did not descend from antiquity. Zoharic descriptions of Jerusalem have obvious semantic continuity with “the navel of the earth” in Ezek 38:12. Likewise, “the heart of the whole world” in the Zohar has semantic continuity with “the heart of the earth” in Matt 12:40.