"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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