Unlocking Scripture With Greek Word StudySýnishorn

Moved With Pity: Splanchnizomai 

Anthony L. Koaroff, chief editor of the Harvard Health Letter, wrote an interesting article on “The Gut-Brain Connection,” published online by Harvard Health Publishing. He said: 

“Have you ever had a “gut-wrenching” experience? Do certain situations make you feel “nauseous”? Have you ever felt “butterflies” in your stomach? We use these expressions for a reason. The gastrointestinal tract is sensitive to emotion. Anger, anxiety, sadness, elation--all of these feelings (and others) can trigger symptoms in the gut. The brain has a direct effect on the stomach and intestines...That’s because the brain and the gastrointestinal (GI) system are intimately connected.”

You may have noticed this when you got that big letter in the mail from your university of choice. Most brides and grooms know something about this on their wedding day. These butterflies are an indication that we are profoundly linked to the thing before us. 

In Mark 1:41, we see a situation where our Lord was affected by the gut-brain connection. Jesus had been preaching throughout Galilee when a leprous man suddenly approached him. Lepers were normally avoided. Yet Jesus broke the status quo. He cared too much about the man to pass by without healing him. He was “moved with pity.” 

The word “moved with pity” here is splanchnistheis in the Greek. The noun form of this word (splanchna) referred to the guts of someone or something. In fact, it referred to Judas’s “bowels,” which spilled out after he hanged himself. 

The word became synonymous with the hidden, emotional parts of a person. As a verb, the word meant “affected in the deep inner, emotional places where our personal passions and desires exist.” It gives us a picture of someone being hit in the stomach by a gut-wrenching situation, causing “butterflies.” It’s compassion. 

What a beautiful picture this word paints about our Lord Jesus. He cared profoundly about the condition of others. He wasn’t an on-the-clock Savior who looked at His ministry as an ordinary job where He punched in and punched out without any sort of personal attachment to what He was doing. Rather, His feelings, emotions, and passions were all very much involved in His mission. 

Let’s remember that effective service for the kingdom comes from a heart that is filled with care. If we continue to seek Jesus, we will always be deeply affected in our inward parts by others the way He would be.