Ear

See Ears

the organ of hearing. The Scripture uses the term figuratively. Uncircumcised ears are ears inattentive to the word of God. To signify God’s regard to the prayers of his people, the Psalmist says, His cars are open to their cry,” Psa 34:15. Among the Jews, the slave, who renounced the privilege of being made free from servitude in the sabbatical year, submitted to have his ear bored through with an awl; which was done in the presence of some judge, or magistrate, that it might appear a voluntary act. The ceremony took place at his master’s door, and was the mark of servitude and bondage. The Psalmist says, in the person of the Messiah, “Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened.” Hebrews “Thou hast digged my ears.” This either means, Thou hast opened them, removed impediments, and made them attentive; or, thou hast pierced them, as those of such servants were pierced, who chose to remain with their masters; and therefore imports the absolute and voluntary submission of Messiah to the will of the Father. “Make the ears of this people heavy,” Isa 6:10; that is, render their minds inattentive and disobedient; the prophets being said often to do that of which they were the innocent occasion.

(properly אֹזֶןo (Zen, οϊvς), the organ of hearing. In Scripture the term is frequently employed figuratively. To signify the regard of Jehovah to the prayers of his people, the Psalmist says, "His ears are open to their cry" (Psa 34:15). To "uncover the ear" is a Hebraism, and signifies to show or reveal something to a person (1Sa 20:2). The Psalmist, speaking in the person of the Messiah, says, "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened" (Psa 40:6). Ainsworth reads, " Mine ears hast thou digged open." The Sept., which Paul follows (Heb 10:5), reads the passage thus: "A body hast thou prepared me." "Make the ears of this people heavy," occurs in Isa 6:10, that is, render their minds inattentive and disobedient; with a similar meaning, the prophet Jeremiah speaks of " ears uncircumcised" (Isa 6:10). Among the Jews, the slave who renounced the privilege of being made free from servitude in the sabbatical year submitted to have his ear bored through with an awl, which was done in the presence of some judge or magistrate, that it might appear a voluntary act. The ceremony took place at his master’s door, and was the mark of perpetual servitude (Exo 21:6). SEE EARRING.

The organ of hearing is often used symbolically in scripture. When a servant, whose time of service had expired, preferred to stop with his master, saying, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free," his ear was bored with an awl to the door post, and his ear belonged to his master perpetually, he was to hear only that one as master: type of Christ and His love to the church. Exo 21:5-6; Deu 15:17. Of Christ also it is said, "mine ears hast thou opened." Psa 40:6; quoted in Heb 10:5 from the LXX, "a body hast thou prepared me," both signifying that He was the obedient one. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear" was said by the Lord to His hearers, and to each of the seven churches in Asia, and also said when the beast, representing the future Roman power, is worshipped, signifying that a spiritual discernment was needed to catch the meaning of what was uttered. Mat 13:9; Mat 13:43; Rev 2:7; Rev 2:11; Rev 2:17; Rev 2:29; Rev 3:6; Rev 3:13; Rev 3:22; Rev 13:9.

EAR.—Of the Greek words translated ‘ear’ in Authorized and Revised Versions , two (ὠτάριον, ὠτίον) refer exclusively to the bodily organ, and occur only in connexion with the case of Malchus (Mar 14:47, Joh 18:10; Joh 18:26, Mat 26:51, Luk 22:51). In Mat 28:14 the rendering is simply a paraphrase. In Mar 7:35 (ἀκοαί) ‘his hearing’ would be more exact. In all other instances the word οὗς occurs, and is used: (1) literally, to denote ‘the ear’ (Mat 10:27, Mar 7:33; Mar 8:18, Luk 1:44; Luk 12:3; Luk 22:50), or (by transference) ‘the range of hearing’ (Luk 4:21); but more frequently (2) figuratively, to denote a spiritual faculty symbolized by the natural ear (Mat 11:15; Mat 13:9; Mat 13:15 (bis), Mat 13:16; Mat 13:43, Mar 4:9; Mar 4:23, Luk 8:8; Luk 9:44; Luk 14:35). The definitive passages for this use are Mat 13:3-23, Mar 4:2-20, Luk 8:5-15, where it forms the underlying subject of Christ’s first parable, ‘the Sower,’ a parable concluded in each account by the phrase, ‘He that hath ears (to hear) let him hear.’ Indeed, the general principle of speaking in parables is in these passages connected with ‘ears dull of hearing’ (Mat 13:13-15). Christ is speaking in reference to ‘mysteries’ (Mat 13:11, Mar 4:11, Luk 8:10), that is, Divine truths not necessarily puzzling in themselves, but undiscoverable by man apart from a revelation of them (see Moule on Eph 1:9; Eph 3:3-6, cf. also 1Co 2:7-10). When these have been revealed to him, man has the power to recognize their truth, fitness, and necessity (see Westcott on Heb 2:10; Heb 7:26), in proportion as he is determined to do the Divine will (Joh 7:17; Joh 8:43-47). This faculty of recognizing the voice of truth and (as it were) vibrating to its utterance is fitly referred to by Christ as a spiritual ‘ear.’

Literature.—Grimm-Thayer, s.v. οὖς; Expositor, i. ii. 472 ff.

F. S. Ranken.

EAR.—Both in OT and NT the spiritual disposition to attend, which issues in obedience, is thus designated (e.g. Isa 6:10, Mat 11:15, Rev 2:7). Hence ‘to uncover the ear’ (RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] , 1Sa 9:15 etc.) = to reveal; the ‘uncircumcised ear’ (Jer 6:10) = the ear which remains unpurified and clogged and therefore unable to perceive: hence ‘mine ears hast thou opened’ (Psa 40:6) = Thou hast enabled me to understand. The perforated ear was a sign of slavery or dependence, indicating the obligation to attend (Exo 21:6, Deu 15:16 f.). The tip of the priest’s right ear was touched with blood in token that the sense of hearing was consecrated to God’s service (Exo 29:20, Lev 8:23).

J. Taylor.

ēr (אזן, ’ōzen; οὖς, oús, ὠτίον, ōtı́on, the latter word (literally, “earlet”) in all the Gospels only used of the ear of the high priest’s servant, which was cut off by Peter: Mat 26:51; Mar 14:47; Luk 22:51 (not Luk 22:50); Joh 18:10, Joh 18:26):

(1) The physical organ of hearing which was considered of peculiar importance as the chief instrument by which man receives information and commandments. For this reason the ear of the priest had to be specially sanctified, the tip of the right ear being touched with sacrificial blood at the consecration (Lev 8:23). Similarly the ear of the cleansed leper had to be rededicated to the service of God by blood and oil (Lev 14:14, Lev 14:17, Lev 14:25, Lev 14:28). The ear-lobe of a servant, who preferred to remain with the family of his master rather than become free in the seventh year, was to be publicly bored or pierced with an awl in token of perpetual servitude (Exo 21:6). It has been suggested that Psa 40:6 should be interpreted in this sense, but this is not probable (see below). The cutting off of the ears and noses of captives was an atrocious custom of war frequently alluded to in oriental literature, (Eze 23:25). The phrase “to open the ear,” which originally means the uncovering of the ear by partially removing the turban, so as to permit a clearer hearing, is used in the sense of revealing a secret or of giving important (private) information (1Sa 9:15; 1Sa 20:2, 1Sa 20:12, 1Sa 20:13; 2Sa 7:27; 1Ch 17:25; also Psa 40:6), and the New Testament promises similarly that “things which eye saw not, and ear heard not” are to be revealed by the reconciled God to the heart that in gladsome surrender has come to Him to be taught by His spirit (1Co 2:9).

(2) The inner ear, the organ of spiritual perception. If the ear listens, the heart willingly submits, but often the spiritual ear is “hardened” (Isa 6:10; Zec 7:11; Mat 13:15; Act 28:27), or “heavy” (Isa 6:10; also Deu 29:4), either by self-seeking obstinacy or by the judgment of an insulted God. Such unwilling hearers are compared to the “deaf adder ... which hearkeneth not to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely” (Psa 58:4, Psa 58:5; compare also Pro 21:13; Pro 28:9; Act 7:57). The expression “He that hath ears to hear let him hear” is frequent in the Synoptic Gospels, occurring 7 or 8 times: Mat 11:15; Mat 13:9, Mat 13:43; Mar 4:9, Mar 4:23 (Mar 7:16 the Revised Version (British and American) omits); Luk 8:8; Luk 14:35, and while not found in the Fourth Gospel, it occurs seven times in Rev 2 and 3. “Itching ears,” on the other hand, are those that have become tired of the sound of oft-repeated truth and that long for new though deceitful teaching (2Ti 4:3). Ears may “tingle” at startling news, especially of disaster (1Sa 3:11; 2Ki 21:12; Jer 19:3).

(3) God’s ears are often mentioned in the anthropopathic style of Scripture, signifying the ability of God to receive the petitions of His people, for “He that planted the ear, shall he not hear?” (Psa 94:9; also Psa 10:17; Psa 34:15; Psa 130:2; Isa 59:1; 1Pe 3:12). But God also hears the murmurings of the wicked against Him (Num 11:1; 2Ki 19:28; The Wisdom of Solomon 1:10; Jas 5:4); still it lies in His power to refuse to hear (Eze 8:18; Lam 3:8; compare also Lam 3:56).

The finer shades of biblical statement are discerned only as we succeed in placing ourselves at the contemporary point of view. This is particularly the case with references to personality and its elements or manifestations, since primitive or ancient psychology differs so greatly from the psychology of the present time. For example, primitive psychology, in its ignorance of the nervous system, distributes psychical and ethical attributes to the various physical organs. There are tribes that give the cars of a dead enemy to their youths to be eaten, because they regard the physical ear as the seat of intelligence, which thus becomes an attribute of the consumer (J. G. Frazer, The Golden Bough2, 1900, ii. 357f.). Though the Bible contains nothing so crude as this, yet the same idea of localized psychical function underlies its references to the ear. The high priest’s ear is consecrated by the application of ram’s blood, that he may the better hear God (Lev_8:23); the slave’s ear, on his renunciation of liberty, is pierced by his master, as a guarantee of his permanent obedience (Exo_21:6, Deu_15:17). Such practices help to give the true line of approach to many biblical references to the ear, the full force of which might otherwise be missed. The ‘peripheral consciousness’ of the ear (cf. 1Sa_3:11, Job_12:11, Ecc_1:8, etc.) must be remembered in regard to phrases which have become to us simply conventional, such as the repeated refrain of the Apocalypse, ‘He that hath an ear, let him hear’ (Rev_2:7, etc.; ïὖò). This greater intensity of local meaning gives new point to the Pauline analogy between the human body and the Church. Since ‘the body is not one member, but many’ (1Co_12:14), in a psychical and moral, as well as in a physical, sense, it is more readily conceivable that the ear might resent its inferiority to the eye (1Co_12:16). Its actual co-operation with the eye is therefore a more effective rebuke to the envy springing from Corinthian individualism.

Moral or spiritual qualities are assigned to the ear in several passages, according to the frequent OT usage (Pro_15:31, Isa_59:1 etc.); one example is quoted from the OT and applied by St. Paul to the Jews of Rome; ‘their ears are dull of hearing’ (Act_28:27; cf. Rom_11:8), The same charge is brought by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews against those to whom he writes (Rom_5:11; ἀêïáß, not ïὖò). This attribution of quality to the organ does not, of course, imply naturalistic determinism; the ear is part of the responsible personality. If men ‘having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts,’ it is because ‘they will turn away their ears from the truth’ (2Ti_4:3 f.; ἀêïÞ). The OT reference to the ‘uncircumcised’ ear (Jer_6:10) is several times repeated (Act_7:51; Ep. Barn. ix. 4, x. 12).

The only significant act named in this literature in reference to the ear is that of those who hear Stephen declare his vision of Jesus at the right hand of God: they stop their ears, that the blasphemy may not enter (Act_7:57). Ignatius writes to the Ephesians (ix. 1), with reference to false teachers, ‘ye stopped your ears, so that ye might not receive the seed sown by them.’ Irenaeus (ap. Eus. HE [Note: E Historia Ecclesiastica (Eusebius, etc.).] v. 20) says of Polycarp that ‘if that blessed and apostolic presbyter had heard any such thing [as the Gnosticism of Florinus], he would have cried out, and stopped his ears.’ The baptismal practice of a later age protected the ear of the candidate by the Effeta (Ephphatha), a rite based on the miracle recorded in Mar_7:33. The priest touched the ear with his finger moistened with saliva (Duchesne, Origines du Culte Chrétien4, 1908, p. 311). The positive side of the baptismal anointing of the ear seems to be implied in the Odes of Solomon, ix. 1: ‘Open your ears, and I will speak to you’ (cf. J. H. Bernard, Texts and Studies viii. 3 [1912] ad loc.). For the apostles, therefore, the ear forms the correlate to ‘the word of faith which we preach’ (Rom_10:8-15), which is conceived with equal pregnancy of meaning as the vehicle of the Spirit (E. Sokolowski, Die Begriffe Geist und Leben bei Paulus, 1903, pp. 263-267). Through the response of the conscious ear to the spoken word, an experience is begun which eventually passes into the realm of those ‘things which ear heard not’ (1Co_2:9; 1 Corinthians cf.1 Clem, xxxiv. 8, 2 Clem. xi. 7), and of those ‘unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter’ (2Co_12:4).

H. Wheeler Robinson.

Exo 21:6 (c) This describes the binding of the Christian to his Lord for permanent obedience wherein his ears are open only to the call of GOD. (See also Deu 15:17).

Exo 29:20 (b) In this and other passages we find a type concerning the consecrated hearing of the believer. As in the case of the piercing of the ear, which is described in Exo 21:6, the anointing of the ear carries the same truth. The ear that has been touched by the oil is now to be devoted only to listening to GOD’s messages, and is to refuse the call of all other leaders. (See also Lev 8:23, Lev 14:14).

Deu 32:1 (a) The people of the earth are evidently indicated by this passage, and the Lord wants all people of every kind, everywhere, to listen to His voice, and hear His message. (See also Isa 1:2; Joe 1:2).

2Ki 19:16 (a) This is a request from the man of GOD for GOD to listen closely to his petition. It reveals a very close and intimate fellowship with GOD. In many places in the Scripture this same truth is mentioned, and men who knew GOD intimately wanted to be sure that His ear was open to their cry. GOD also asks us for our ears, meaning that He desires to have us listen closely to His Word, and understand fully the meaning of His message. It will not be necessary to enumerate the various Scriptures, for there are many which reveal these two truths. The reader will find them quite obvious as he studies the various passages. (See also Deu 1:45).

Psa 40:6 (b) This is one of the prophetic Psalms in which it is indicated that the Lord JESUS CHRIST was a permanent servant of GOD the Father, and that His ears were only open to GOD’s call. It is a fulfillment of Deu 15:17.

Psa 45:10 (a) The Lord hereby expresses a deep desire for Israel to listen to His message sent from Heaven. (See also Rev 2:11, Rev 2:17, Rev 2:29; Rev 3:6, Rev 3:13, Rev 3:22).

Isa 48:8 (a) It is quite evident that GOD knew before Israel became a nation that their ears would be closed many times to His call and they would refuse to listen.

Isa 50:4 (a) This passage is spoken prophetically of our Lord JESUS CHRIST is saying that He was constantly listening for His Father’s voice, and the messages from His GOD.

Isa 59:1 (a) We are assured that GOD does not close His ears to the cry of His children, but is always listening for any message that truly comes to Him from our hearts.

Jer 6:10 (b) These hearers had not been turned away from the things of the world and therefore were not wholly devoted to GOD. GOD expects His people to cut off the hearing for voices other than His.

Jer 7:24 (a) Animals are able to turn their ears one way while their faces are in an opposite direction. People cannot do so. Our ears are stiff. GOD has so made us that when our ears are turned toward any sound, the face also must be turned in the same direction. When GOD speaks to us He wants us to be looking at Him. In this passage, the rebellious people of GOD refused to turn their faces toward the Lord. Therefore, their ears were not turned toward Him. They were listening to other voices. (See also Jer 25:4; Jer 34:14; Jer 35:15; Jer 44:5; 2Ch 24:19; Neh 9:30).

Amo 3:12 (a) This prophecy is to tell us that one day Israel will walk with GOD again (the two legs), and will also again listen to GOD’s voice (the ear). This will occur when Israel is again restored to their national position at Jerusalem.