Meaning
Latin auris, is used (a) of the physical organ, e.g., Luk 4:21, Act 7:57; in Act 11:22, in the plural with akouo, "to hear," lit., "was heard into the ears of someone," i.e., came to the knowledge of; similarly, in the singular, Mat 10:27, in familiar private conversation; in Jam 5:4 the phrase is used with eiserchomai, "to enter into;" in Luk 1:44, with ginomai, "to become, to come;" in Luk 12:3, with lalein, "to speak" and pros, "to;" (b) metaphorically, of the faculty of perceiving with the mind, understanding and knowing, Mat 13:16; frequently with akouo, "to hear," e.g., Mat 11:15, Mat 13:9, Mat 13:43; Rev. 2 and 3, at the close of each of the messages to the churches; in Mat 13:15, Act 28:27, with bareos, "heavily," of being slow to understand and obey; with a negative in Mar 8:18, Rom 11:8; in Luk 9:44 the lit. meaning is "put those words into your ears," i.e., take them into your mind and keep them there; in Act 7:51 it is used with aperitmetos, "uncircumcised." As seeing is metaphorically associated with conviction, so hearing is with obedience (hupakoe, lit., "hearing under;" the Eng., "obedience" is etymologically "hearing over against," i.e., with response in the hearer).
<2,,5621, otion>
a diminutive of No. 1, but without the diminutive force, it being a common tendency in everyday speech to apply a diminutive from to most parts of the body, is used in Mat 26:51, Mar 14:47 (in some mss.); Luk 22:51, Joh 18:10 (in some mss.) and Joh 18:26, all with reference to the "ear" of Malchus.
Note: The most authentic mss. have the alternative diminutive otarion, in Mar 14:47, Joh 18:10.
<3,,189, akoe>
"hearing," akin to akouo, "to hear," denotes (a) the sense of "hearing," e.g., 1Co 12:17, 2Pe 2:8; (b) that which is "heard," a report, e.g., Mat 4:24; (c) the physical organ, Mar 7:35, standing for the sense of "hearing;" so in Luk 7:1, RV, for AV, "audience;" Act 17:20, 2Ti 1:4-4 (in 2Ti 4:3, lit., "being tickled as to the ears"); (d) a message or teaching, Joh 12:38, Rom 1:10-17, Gal 3:2, Gal 3:5, 1Th 2:13, Heb 4:2, RV, "(the word) of hearing," for AV, "(the word) preached." See FAME, HEARING, PREACH, REPORT, RUMOR.
Note: In Mat 28:14, the verb akouo is used with the preposition epi, "upon or before" (or hupo, "by," in some mss.), lit., "if this come to a hearing before the governor."
