'Hearing' in the Bible

Now Ephron was present there among the sons of Heth; so within the hearing of all the sons of Heth and all who were entering the gate of his city, Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham, saying,

So Abraham listened to Ephron [and agreed to his terms]; and he weighed out for Ephron the [amount of] silver which he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.

Speak so that all of the people [of Israel] may hear, and tell every man to ask from his neighbor, and every woman to ask from her neighbor, articles of silver, and articles of gold.”

Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people; and they said, “Everything that the Lord has said we will do, and we will be obedient.”

‘If anyone sins after he hears a public adjuration (solemn command to testify) when he is a witness, whether he has seen or [otherwise] known [something]—if he fails to report it, then he will bear his guilt and be held responsible.

Say to the people, ‘Consecrate (separate as holy) yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept [in self-pity] in the ears of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For we were well-off in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat.

Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just what you have spoken in My hearing I will most certainly do to you;

Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them:“Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments (legal decisions) which I am speaking today in your hearing, so that you may learn them and observe them carefully.

when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all [the people of] Israel so that they may hear.

Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended:

“Speak now in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that seventy men, all of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one man rule over you?’ Also, remember that I am your own bone and flesh.”

So his mother’s relatives spoke all these words concerning him so that all the leaders of Shechem could hear; and their hearts were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our relative.”

And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you cursed [the thief] and also spoke about in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son before the Lord.”

The man told Joab, “Even if I were to feel the weight of a thousand pieces of silver in my hands, I would not put out my hand against the king’s son; for we all heard the king command you, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, ‘Protect the young man Absalom, for my sake.’

So give Your servant an understanding mind and a hearing heart [with which] to judge Your people, so that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge and rule this great people of Yours?”

How blessed (fortunate, happy) are your men! How blessed are these your servants who stand continually before you, hearing your wisdom!

Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in the Aramaic (Syrian) language, because we understand it; and do not speak with us in the Judean (Hebrew) language in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek after all the commandments of the Lord your God so that you may possess the good land and leave it as an inheritance to your sons after you forever.

And the king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people, from the greatest to the least; and he read aloud so they could hear all the words of the Book of the Covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.

“Oh, that I had one to listen to me!Look, here is my signature (mark);Let the Almighty answer me!Let my adversary write out His indictment [and put His vague accusations in tangible form].

“Surely you have spoken in my hearing,And I have heard the sound of your words, saying:

“I had heard of You [only] by the hearing of the ear,But now my [spiritual] eye sees You.

To those who honor and keep His covenant,And remember to do His commandments [imprinting His word on their hearts].

So that they might observe His preceptsAnd keep His laws [obediently accepting and honoring and valuing them].Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

Oh, that my ways may be establishedTo observe and keep Your statutes [obediently accepting and honoring them]!

Gimel.Deal bountifully with Your servant,That I may live and keep Your word [treasuring it and being guided by it day by day].

I will keep Your law continually,Forever and ever [writing Your precepts on my heart].

This has become mine [as the gift of Your grace],That I observe Your precepts [accepting them with loving obedience].

Before I was afflicted I went astray,But now I keep and honor Your word [with loving obedience].

According to Your steadfast love refresh me and give me life,So that I may keep and obey the testimony of Your mouth.

I understand more than the aged [who have not observed Your precepts],Because I have observed and kept Your precepts.

I have restrained my feet from every evil way,That I may keep Your word.

I have sworn [an oath] and have confirmed it,That I will keep Your righteous ordinances.

Leave me, you evildoers,That I may keep the commandments of my God [honoring and obeying them].

Pe.Your testimonies are wonderful;Therefore my soul keeps them.

Redeem me from the oppression of man;That I may keep Your precepts.

I cried to You; save meAnd I will keep Your testimonies.

I see the treacherous and loathe them,Because they do not respect Your law.

My soul keeps Your testimonies [hearing and accepting and obeying them];I love them greatly.

The hearing ear and the seeing eye,The [omnipotent] Lord has made both of them.

He who turns his ear away from listening to the law [of God and man],Even his prayer is repulsive [to God].

All things are wearisome and all words are frail;Man cannot express it.The eye is not satisfied with seeing,Nor is the ear filled with hearing.

And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,And He will not judge by what His eyes see,Nor make decisions by what His ears hear;

He who walks righteously and speaks with integrity,Who rejects gain from fraud and from oppression,Who shakes his hand free from the taking of bribes,Who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshedAnd shuts his eyes to avoid looking upon evil;

Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please, speak to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it; and do not speak to us in Judean (Hebrew) in the hearing of the people who are [stationed] on the wall.”

But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

Nevertheless, listen now to this word which I am about to speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people!

Zephaniah the priest read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.

So you go to the Lord’s house on a day of fasting and read from the scroll the words of the Lord to the people which you have written as I dictated. And also you shall read them to all the people of Judah who come from their cities.

Then Baruch read to all the people the words of Jeremiah from the scroll of the book in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house.

Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the scroll to all the people.

Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read to the people and come [to us].” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to them.

And they said to him, “Sit down now and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them.

So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the princes who stood beside the king.

But to the others I heard Him say, “Follow him [the man with the scribe’s writing case] throughout the city and strike; do not let your eyes have pity and do not spare [anyone].

Regarding the wheels [attached to them], I heard them called, “the whirling (rolling, revolving) wheels.”

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,“When I will send hunger over the land,Not hunger for bread or a thirst for water,But rather [a hunger] for hearing the words of the Lord.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.

But the Pharisees heard it and said, “This man casts out demons only by [the help of] Beelzebul (Satan) the prince of the demons.”

He who has ears [to hear], let him hear and heed My words.”

This is the reason I speak to the crowds in parables: because while [having the power of] seeing they do not see, and while [having the power of] hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand and grasp [spiritual things].

For this nation’s heart has grown hard,And with their ears they hardly hear,And they have [tightly] closed their eyes,Otherwise they would see with their eyes,And hear with their ears,And understand with their heart, and turn [to Me]And I would heal them [spiritually].’

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom [regarding salvation] and does not understand and grasp it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.

Then the righteous [those who seek the will of God] will shine forth [radiating the new life] like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears [to hear], let him hear and heed My words.

The king was enraged [when he heard this], and sent his soldiers and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and [from the region] beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon; a vast number of people came to Him because they were hearing about all [the things] that He was doing.

And He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”

Then He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By your own standard of measurement [that is, to the extent that you study spiritual truth and apply godly wisdom] it will be measured to you [and you will be given even greater ability to respond]—and more will be given to you besides.

[If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]

Some of the bystanders heard Him and said, “Look! He is calling for Elijah!”

He began speaking to them: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and in your presence.”

After He had finished all that He had to say in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum.

And some fell into good soil, and grew up and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”

And He said, “To you [who have been chosen] it has been granted to know and recognize the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that though seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

But as for that seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word with a good and noble heart, and hold on to it tightly, and bear fruit with patience.

But Jesus, hearing this, answered him, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe and trust [in Me and have faith in My ability to do this], and she will be made well.”

It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”

Now when he heard a crowd going by, he began to ask what this was [about].

When Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man was a Galilean.

“Does our Law convict someone without first giving him a hearing and finding out what he is [accused of] doing?”

Some Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “Are we also blind?”

When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.

Then that disciple (John) whom Jesus loved (esteemed) said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer tunic (for he was stripped for work) and threw himself into the sea [and swam ashore].

Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your countrymen; you shall listen to Him and obey everything He tells you.

And it will be that every person that does not listen to and heed that Prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’

And hearing these words, Ananias fell down suddenly and died; and great fear and awe gripped those who heard of it.

Now when they heard this [accusation and understood its implication], they were cut to the heart, and they began grinding their teeth [in rage] at him.

The men who were traveling with him [were terrified and] stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.

Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Come to us without delay.”

They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.

(Now all the Athenians and the foreigners visiting there used to spend their [leisure] time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)

After hearing this, they were baptized [again, this time] in the name of the Lord Jesus.

And when they heard it, they began glorifying and praising God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all enthusiastic supporters of the Law [of Moses].

But so that I do not weary you further, I beg you to grant us, by your kindness, a brief hearing.

When I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews [told me about him and] brought charges against him, petitioning for a sentence of condemnation against him.

“For the heart (the understanding, the soul) of this people has become dull (calloused),And with their ears they scarcely hear,And they have shut their eyes [to the truth];Otherwise they might see with their eyes,And hear with their ears,And understand with their heart and return [to Me],And I would heal them.”’

For it is not those who merely hear the Law [as it is read aloud] who are just or righteous before God, but it is those who [actually] obey the Law who will be justified [pronounced free of the guilt of sin and declared acceptable to Him].

So faith comes from hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the [preaching of the] message concerning Christ.

If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole [body] were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

they only kept hearing, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the [good news of the] faith which he once was trying to destroy.”