What Does Matthew 15:10 Mean in the King James?

And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
Matthew 15:10 · KJV
The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

Understanding is hearing that has gathered its pieces into a whole.

The verse names two distinct movements within you: words reach you, and their meaning comes together. You hear, and what you hear gathers into understanding.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The verse undoes the assumption that hearing the words means their meaning has already landed.

συνίετε

syniete

GROWS FROM

συνίημι

syniēmi

Bring together; understand by grasping how the parts fit.

“understand” in this verse is syniete. The Greek verb pictures understanding as bringing things together into a coherent grasp. The verse holds hearing and this gathering together as distinct movements: sound reaches you, then meaning takes shape.

ALSO GROWS

synesis: Understanding or discernment

σύνεσις

This related noun names the grasp that emerges when the pieces come together.

synetos: Discerning or intelligent

συνετός

This related word describes someone marked by the ability to put things together and perceive their meaning.

Ἀκούετε

akouete

GROWS FROM

ἀκου-

akou-

Hear, listen, receive a sound or message.

“Hear” in this verse is akouete. The Greek word family holds both the act of hearing and what arrives as a report. Here hearing stands beside a separate verb for understanding, so receiving the words and grasping them are joined but not collapsed.

ALSO GROWS

akoē: Hearing or a report received

ἀκοή

This branch connects listening with the message that reaches the listener.

hypakouō: Listen to or heed

ὑπακούω

This compound carries the same hearing-word into heeding, showing how listening can extend beyond receiving sound.

Words become discernment when hearing is joined to the work of understanding.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
Deuteronomy 6:4 · KJVThe call to hear opens into a confession whose meaning comes from holding its words together: the LORD is one.
Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Matthew 13:13 · KJVThis verse names the gap between hearing words and gathering their meaning into understanding.
Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.
Luke 8:18 · KJVThe verse attends to how hearing happens, showing that receiving words has a quality that shapes what is grasped.
Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Matthew 13:13 · KJV

Matthew 13:13 uses the same Greek verb, ⁨συνίημι⁩ (syniēmi), to say that people hear but do not bring the meaning together. It opens this command as a distinction between words entering the ear and their meaning assembling within you.

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