What Does Matthew 13:9 Mean in the King James?
Who hath 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 verse makes hearing an opening of perception, not merely the arrival of sound.
THE MEANING
A message can reach your ears while its meaning remains unopened. This invitation speaks to inward hearing that attends and receives what is being said now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that hearing the words guarantees that their meaning has been received.
THE ROOT
ἀκούω
akouō
GROWS FROM
ἀκου-
Hear, listen, attend to what is heard
English can make hearing sound like passive reception, but the ἀκου- (akou-, hear/listen) word family also reaches toward what is heard and how a listener responds. The invitation presses beyond sound arriving at the ear toward the message being received.
ALSO GROWS
akoē: Hearing; what is heard or reported
ἀκοή
The noun can name both the act of hearing and the report received, keeping hearing tied to a message.
hypakouō: Listen to; obey
ὑπακούω
This compound carries the same hearing seed into responsive listening, echoing “let him hear” as reception rather than bare sound.
THE PATTERN
Scripture treats hearing as receptive perception that reaches beyond sound.
Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.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
Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.The same Greek verb, ἀκούω (akouō, hear or listen), appears in verse 13’s contrast. The sound can reach a person while perception stays closed; verse 9 calls for hearing that receives the message.
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