Bible Dictionaries
Ear (2)

　　EAR.—Of the Greek words translated ‘ear’ in Authorized and Revised Versions, two (ἀκοαί) ‘his hearing’ would be more exact. In all other instances the word , Mark 4:9; Mark 4:23, Luke 8:8; Luke 9:44; Luke 14:35). The definitive passages for this use are Matthew 13:3-23, Mark 4:2-20, Luke 8:5-15, where it forms the underlying subject of Christ’s first parable, ‘the Sower,’ a parable concluded in each account by the phrase, ‘He that hath ears (to hear) let him hear.’ Indeed, the general principle of speaking in parables is in these passages connected with ‘ears dull of hearing’ (Matthew 13:13-15). Christ is speaking in reference to ‘mysteries’ (Matthew 13:11, Mark 4:11, Luke 8:10), that is, Divine truths not necessarily puzzling in themselves, but undiscoverable by man apart from a revelation of them (see Moule on Ephesians 1:9; Ephesians 3:3-6, cf. also 1 Corinthians 2:7-10). When these have been revealed to him, man has the power to recognize their truth, fitness, and necessity (see Westcott on Hebrews 2:10; Hebrews 7:26), in proportion as he is determined to do the Divine will (John 7:17; John 8:43-47). This faculty of recognizing the voice of truth and (as it were) vibrating to its utterance is fitly referred to by Christ as a spiritual ‘ear.’

　　Literature.—Grimm-Thayer, s.v.