What Does Luke 16:29 Mean in the King James?
Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The words are already within reach; what matters is whether they are truly heard.
THE MEANING
Moses and the prophets are present to the brothers, yet possessing their words is not the same as receiving them. The verse speaks now wherever scripture is near: its presence alone does not make it heard.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a more spectacular message is needed before the words already given can be heard.
THE ROOT
ἀκουσάτωσαν
akousatōsan
GROWS FROM
ἀκούω
akouō
To hear or listen.
The verb means hearing, but its word family reaches toward heeding: ὑπακούω (hypakouō) can mean to listen and obey. English can make “hear” sound merely auditory; here it points to receiving a message that is already present.
ALSO GROWS
akoē: Hearing; a report or message heard.
ἀκοή
The same word family links hearing with what is received and carried as a message.
hypakouō: To listen, heed, or obey.
ὑπακούω
This branch shows how hearing can open into response, the deeper possibility within “let them hear.”
THE PATTERN
A message becomes decisive through being heard, not merely through being present or spectacular.
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.THE THREAD
And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.The same Greek verb for hearing appears again, and the next verse makes the consequence explicit: even a sign from the dead cannot replace hearing Moses and the prophets. The question is whether their words are received, not whether something more extraordinary can appear.
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