Lexical Definition

‎כִּלְיָה‎ kilyâh (kil-yaw') kidney ^H:N-F
feminine of ‎כְּלִי‎ (only in the plural)

kidneys, reins.

• a kidney (as an essential organ)
• figuratively, the mind (as the interior self)

1) kidneys
1a) of physical organ (lit.)
1b) of seat of emotion and affection (fig.)
1c) of sacrificial animals
2) (TWOT) reins

See Greek: νεφρός

Brown-Driver-Briggs

[‎כִּלְיָה‎ noun feminine only plural kidneys (Late Hebrew ‎כִּלְיָה‎ (plural); Aramaic ‎כּוּלְיָא‎ or ‎כּוֺלְיָא‎ (only plural), ; Ethiopic ᵐ5 οἱ νεφροί); — absolute plural ‎כְּלָיוֺת‎ Jer 11:20 + 5 t.; ‎כְּלָֹית‎ Exod 29:13 + 13 t.; construct ‎כִּלְיוֺת‎ Deut 32:14; Isa 34:6 suffix ‎כִּלְיוֺתַי‎ Job 16:3 + 2 t.; ‎כִּלְֹיתַי‎ Job 19:27 ‎כִּלְיוֺתָ֑י‎ Ps 16:7; Prov 23:16 ‎כִּלְֹיתָ֑י‎ Ps 139:13; Lam 3:13 ‎כִּלְיוֺתֵיהֶם‎ Jer 12:2 — kidneys:

1. literally, as physical organ,
a. of man, only in poetry, as created by ‎׳‎‎י‎ Ps 139:13 as the most sensitive and vital part, in metaphor of one wounded by ‎׳‎‎י‎'s arrows Job 16:13; Lam 3:13.
b. of sacrificial animals, offered as choice part to ‎׳‎‎י‎ Lev 3:4; Lev 3:10; Lev 3:15; Lev 4:9; Lev 7:4; Lev 9:10; Lev 9:19 ‎שְׁתֵּי‎ ‎׳‎‎הַכּ‎ Exod 29:13; Exod 29:22; Lev 3:4; Lev 3:10; Lev 3:15; Lev 4:9; Lev 7:4; Lev 8:16; Lev 8:25 (all P); in figure of sacrifice Edomites ‎חֵלֶב כִּלְיוֺת אֵילִים‎ Isa 34:6 transferred to wheat,‎חֵלֶב כִּלְיוֺת חִטָּה‎ Deut 32:14 kidney-fat (i.e. the choicest, richest) of wheat.

2. figurative, as seat of emotion and affection Job 19:27; Prov 23:16; Ps 16:7; Ps 73:21 ‎קָרוֺב אַתָּה בְּפִיהֶם‎ ‎׳‎‎וְרָחוֺק מִכּ‎ Jer 12:2 near art thou in their mouth, and far from their affections; hence, as involving character, the object of God's examination, always || ‎וָלֵב ׃לֵב‎ ‎׳‎‎כֹּחֵן כ‎ Jer 11:20 compare Ps 7:10*, ‎׳‎‎חֹקֵר לֵב כֹּחֵן כ‎ Jer 17:10, ‎וָלֵב‎ ‎׳‎‎בֹּחֵן צַדִּיק רֹאֶה כ‎ Jer 20:12, ‎וְלִבִּי‎ ‎׳‎‎צָרְו֯פָה כ‎ Ps 26:2.

‎כַּלָּה‎, ‎כְּלוּלָה‎ see below II. ‎כלל‎.

Brown-Driver-Briggs References