I actually began thinking on this topic on my recent trip to Sukkot, driving across the desert Southwest. I realized how much I “appreciated” the Landscape. I was thinking a lot about national parks that we have set aside for people to “appreciate.” We honor these places. To me the topography, the rock formations, are beautiful. I’m sure it’s not to everyone’s taste. I think it fits in a lot with the topic of wilderness that we have been thinking about. I see the hand the LORD in sculpting our world.
⦁ Lamentations 5:10-14
10 Our skin is hot as an oven,
Because of the fever of famine.
11 They ravished the women in Zion,
The maidens in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes were hung up by their hands,
And elders were not respected (h1921. הָדַר hâḏar).
13 Young men ground at the millstones;
Boys staggered under loads of wood.
14 The elders have ceased gathering at the gate,
And the young men from their music.
חרד Herod חרד honor cognate permutations (restrain/liberate)
① honoring; giving preferential treatment
⦁ Leviticus 19:15
15 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor (h1921. הָדַר hâḏar) the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.
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⦁ Genesis 43:30
30 Now his heart yearned for his brother; so Joseph made haste and sought (somewhere) to weep. And he went into (his) chamber (h2315. חֶדֶר ḥeḏer) and wept there.
⦁ Genesis 43:30
30 וַיְמַהֵ֣ר יוֹסֵ֗ף כִּֽי־נִכְמְר֤וּ רַחֲמָיו֙ אֶל־אָחִ֔יו וַיְבַקֵּ֖שׁ לִבְכֹּ֑ות וַיָּבֹ֥א הַחַ֖דְרָה וַיֵּ֥בְךְּ שָֽׁמָּה׃
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⦁ Psalms 5:12(13H)
12 For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will {surround} (h5849. עָטַר ‘âṭar) him as with a shield.
② being beautiful and pleasant
⦁ Psalms 145:5
5 I will meditate on the glorious splendor (h1926. הָדָר hâḏâr) of Your majesty,
And on Your wondrous works.
③ beautiful; exceptional
⦁ Leviticus 23:40
40 And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful (h1926. הָדָר hâḏâr) trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.
④ stately tall
⦁ Isaiah 45:2
2 ‘I will go before you
And make the crooked places (h1921. הָדַר hâḏar) straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.
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▸ h2315. חֶדֶר ḥeḏer; from h2314. חָדַר ḥâḏar; an apartment (usually literal): — ((bed) inner) chamber, innermost(-ward) part, parlour, + south, x within.
AV (38) – chamber 21, inner 4, bedchamber + g4296 3, bedchamber + g4904 3, inward parts 2, innermost parts 2, parlours 1, south 1, within 1;
chamber, room, parlour, innermost or inward part, within
▸ h2314. חָדַר ḥâḏar; a primitive root; properly, to inclose (as a room), i.e. (by analogy,) to beset (as in a siege): — enter a privy chamber.
AV (1) – entereth…privy chambers 1;
(Qal) to encompass, surround, enclose
⦁ Ezekiel 21:14
14 “You therefore, son of man, prophesy,
And strike (your hands) together.
The third time let the sword do double (damage).
It is the sword (that) slays,
The sword that slays the great (men),
That enters their private chambers (h2314. חָדַר ḥâḏar).
- NKJV ref ⦁ 1 Kings 20:30
30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; then a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men who were left.
And Ben-Hadad fled and went into the city, into an inner chamber (h2315. חֶדֶר ḥeḏer).
((See the cognate permutations work…))
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ADR – protect/project (A19)
ARD – act forcefully (A67)
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DAR – improve/impair (D16)
DRA – be unsettled (D35)
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RAD – have/lose control (E82)
RDA – control (E77)
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חרד Herod חרד honor cognate permutations (restrain/liberate)
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Are there “chambers” in our brain that relate to “appreciation?” There are some more recent scientific understandings of different neural pathways in our bodies/brains.
Google AI response re:
Salience Network
Overview
The salience network is a group of brain regions that play a crucial role in detecting and responding to important stimuli. It helps us to prioritize attention, make decisions, and regulate emotions.
Structure
The salience network consists of several key brain areas, including: anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala, dorsal striatum, and hypothalamus.
Function
The salience network performs several important functions, including:
- Detecting salient stimuli: It identifies events or stimuli that are significant or attention-grabbing, such as novel, threatening, or rewarding experiences.
- Prioritizing attention: It directs our focus to the most important stimuli, helping us to filter out irrelevant information.
- Emotional regulation: It helps us to process and respond to emotions, such as fear, anxiety, and pleasure.
- Decision-making: It contributes to our ability to make quick and effective decisions based on the salience of stimuli.
- Cognitive control: It supports our ability to inhibit impulsive behaviors and focus on tasks.
Could these “chambers” being referred-to in Scripture be relating to the functioning in certain parts of our brains? I’m just raising questions for you to ponder. 🤔 No answers… only more questions. I have no doubt that Scripture tries to translate God’s knowledge into a form that we might begin to understand. And, I have no doubt (see Psalm 139, for example) that the LORD knows us inside and out. Just food for thought. 🤔
Salience Network images shared just below.
There are functions in our brain, such as the Salience Network and the Default Mode Network that are apart from the “Central Executive Network” which is what we activate for our work, for example. Is the concept of Sabbath important in this regard, the Default Mode Network?
Google AI response
Default Mode Network (DMN)
The DMN is a group of interconnected brain regions that are typically active when a person is not engaged in external tasks, such as when they are resting, daydreaming, or introspecting.
Brain Regions:
- Medial prefrontal cortex
- Posterior cingulate cortex
- Precuneus
- Lateral parietal cortex
- Hippocampus
- Amygdala
Importance:
The DMN plays a crucial role in maintaining a sense of self, processing internal experiences, and preparing for future actions. It is also involved in various cognitive and mental health processes, including: Creativity and problem-solving, Attention and focus, Consciousness and awareness…
- The DMN is also known as the “task-negative network” because its activity decreases when a person is engaged in external tasks.
- The activity of the DMN can be modulated by factors such as meditation, exercise, and sleep.
Recognize please, the “task-negative” concept of Sabbath: EDBH p.254 שבת stop work; curtail activity before completion;; act surreptitiously/openly (E4). Ceasing activity allows the “Central Executive Network” to go quiet, allowing the “Default Mode Network” an opportunity to come more to our consciousness. I will not try to overinterpret here to draw parallels with the Holy Spirit or any other terminology. I simply want to get you to ponder.
I have one more area for you to ponder. Those neuroscientists out there likely already know the answers, but those of us lowly creatures that don’t really grasp it all will have to investigate and ponder.
Probably many of you know that our bodies have within (both male and female) what is known as the “autonomic nervous system.” That system regulates what we call involuntary actions within our bodies. It regulates things like our heart, our vascular system, our digestive system. It manages how our breathing and our heart rate and the constriction or relaxation of our blood vessels as they respond to what is happening in our lives. It also controls what happens with our sexual function. The autonomic nervous system, like Creation itself, is a “balance.” It is made up of the “sympathetic” and the “parasympathetic” systems. A very simplistic way of thinking about these two balanced systems is the sympathetic speeds things up and the parasympathetic slows things down. Special nerves in our bodies control these functions, and hormones are also interconnected. You may know of the “fight or flight” system which is the sympathetic system, and which may involve the adrenal glands, stimulating the release of “adrenaline” or epinephrine. Epinephrine serves as both a neurotransmitter (communicator between nerve cells) and as a hormone. There is a matching chemical that our bodies form on the relaxation side which is called “norepinephrine.” Epinephrine and norepinephrine are in a family called “catecholamines.” There is another catecholamine that you may have heard of, called dopamine. Dopamine is a precursor, or building-block for both norepinephrine and epinephrine. You may have heard of dopamine as the “pleasure” hormone. Dopamine is involved in movement and pleasure and reward. It has influence in learning, motivation, mood, attention, reward, and pleasure. As you might see, these functions fall into our diagram primarily in the soul, but as interconnection also with body and spirit.
This is the Jewish morning prayer, the Modeh Ani (there are English variations, of course):
I’d like to spend a little more time on the parasympathetic system, and again, there is so much here that is beyond my knowledge, I would love to have my good friend, a neuroscientist join in. She stays very busy with Kingdom work, so I cannot impose on her at this time.
I asked Google “what is the relationship of the default mode network to the parasympathetic nervous system?” And these are screenshots of Google’s AI response:
- My question remains, whether there are certain “inner chambers” that we “go to” that effect our “appreciation,” our recognition, our comprehension, our understanding of things. And isn’t this the question from last time?
RECOGNIZE/ACKNOWLEDGE
- Impression נכר recognize
- נכר p.157 isolate; recognize individuality;; separate (D72)
Impression כמר yearn גרן threshing floor; נכר recognize cognate permutations(impact positively/negatively)
⦁ Isaiah 6:9-10
9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 “Make the heart of this people dull,
And their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And return and be healed.”
Are we just beginning to learn in science what has been shared in Scripture for thousands of years? Just for you to exercise your brain a bit… 😉 I only have questions; no answers.
Enjoy… PG
Ⓒ Copyright Philip E. Gates; LogAndSpeck.com October 2025. Please cite if you use this material.