Bible Dictionaries
Ear (2)

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

Latin auris, is used (a) of the physical organ, e.g., Luke 4:21; Acts 7:57; in Acts 11:22 , in the plural with akouo, "to hear," lit., "was heard into the ears of someone," i.e., came to the knowledge of; similarly, in the singular, Matthew 10:27 , in familiar private conversation; in James 5:4 the phrase is used with eiserchomai, "to enter into;" in Luke 1:44 , with ginomai, "to become, to come;" in Luke 12:3 , with lalein, "to speak" and pros, "to;" (b) metaphorically, of the faculty of perceiving with the mind, understanding and knowing, Matthew 13:16; frequently with akouo, "to hear," e.g., Matthew 11:15; 13:9,43; Revelation 2 and 3, at the close of each of the messages to the churches; in Matthew 13:15; Acts 28:27 , with bareos, "heavily," of being slow to understand and obey; with a negative in Mark 8:18; Romans 11:8; in Luke 9:44 the lit. meaning is "put those words into your ears," i.e., take them into your mind and keep them there; in Acts 7:51 it is used with aperitmetos, "uncircumcised." As seeing is metaphorically associated with conviction, so hearing is with obedience (hupakoe, lit., "hearing under;" the Eng., "obedience" is etymologically "hearing over against," i.e., with response in the hearer).

a diminutive of No. 1, but without the diminutive force, it being a common tendency in everyday speech to apply a diminutive from to most parts of the body, is used in Matthew 26:51; Mark 14:47 (in some mss.); Luke 22:51; John 18:10 (in some mss.) and ver. 26, all with reference to the "ear" of Malchus.

Note: The most authentic mss. have the alternative diminutive otarion, in Mark 14:47; John 18:10 .

"hearing," akin to akouo, "to hear," denotes (a) the sense of "hearing," e.g., 1 Corinthians 12:17; 2 Peter 2:8; (b) that which is "heard," a report, e.g., Matthew 4:24; (c) the physical organ, Mark 7:35 , standing for the sense of "hearing;" so in Luke 7:1 , RV, for AV, "audience;" Acts 17:20; 2 Timothy 4:3,4 (in ver. 3, lit., "being tickled as to the ears"); (d) a message or teaching, John 12:38; Romans 10:16,17; Galatians 3:2,5; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 4:2 , RV, "(the word) of hearing," for AV, "(the word) preached." See FAME , HEARING , PREACH , REPORT , RUMOR.

Note: In Matthew 28:14 , the verb akouo is used with the preposition epi, "upon or before" (or hupo, "by," in some mss.), lit., "if this come to a hearing before the governor."