"He who has ears... "

Steven Craig Miller stevencraigmiller at home.com
Mon Jan 22 15:39:00 EST 2001


To: Theodore Mann,

Re: 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? >>

It is possible that it is merely an idiom asking people to pay attention. 
On the other hand, it might mean more than that, especially if it can be 
taken to be an allusion to those prophetic texts which refer to people who 
have ears, but fail to really hear (Is 6:9f; Jer 5:21; Ezek 12:2). Whatever 
the case, it is metaphoric language. hO ECWN WTA AKOUETW more or less 
means: "You've got ears, don't you?"

-Steven Craig Miller
Alton, Illinois (USA)
stevencraigmiller at home.com




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