"He who has ears... "

Marilyn Phemister mphemister at kscable.com
Mon Jan 22 15:21:14 EST 2001


At 02:44 PM 01/22/2001 -0500, Ted wrote:
>hO ECWN WTA AKOUETW (Mt. 11:15).
>     I've always thought this meant something like:  "Let those who have 
> the spiritual capacity to understand use that capacity to grasp the 
> significance of what is being said."  However, it seems to me that some 
> versions (e.g., Phillips, CEV, TEV) make it sound
>more like:  "If you have ears on your head, use them!"  Where does the 
>actual meaning lie; somewhere between these two extremes?

I hesitate to jump in and show my ignorance, but here goes. I wonder if the 
present imperative of AKOUETW gives us a clue.  I would suggest another 
possible rendering (I hope not rending): "Let anyone hearing this keep on 
listening, this is important."  Or maybe it could be expressed in a modern 
idiom, such as "Now here this," or "Read my lips."

Marilyn Phemister

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Greek New Testament audio files:
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