What Does Mark 7:16 Mean in the King James?
If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
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 same Greek word moves from having the capacity to hear to actually receiving what is heard.
THE MEANING
This saying meets you where perception can become reception. Having ears is capacity; hearing is the opening in which what is said is taken in.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that simply having access to a message means it has been received.
THE ROOT
ἀκούω
akouō
GROWS FROM
ἀκου-
akou-
The Greek verbal stem means to hear or listen.
The phrase repeats this word family: first in “ears to hear,” then in “let him hear.” That repetition moves from capacity toward active reception, while related words connect hearing with a report and with hearkening.
ALSO GROWS
akoē: hearing; a report or message
ἀκοή
Romans 10:17 uses this related noun for hearing, showing how reception can become the channel through which trust comes.
hypakouō: to obey, heed, or hearken
ὑπακούω
This related verb joins hearing with response, illuminating how the verse’s call to hear reaches beyond sound alone.
THE PATTERN
Scripture treats hearing as a capacity that must become reception; ears can be present while the message goes unreceived.
Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.THE THREAD
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.Romans uses ἀκοή (akoē, hearing), a noun from the same Greek word family as ἀκούω (akouō, hear). Mark’s repeated call to hear opens onto the way hearing becomes the channel through which trust comes.
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