Lexicon
ἀκοή
akoē
G0189
G:N-F Greek

hearing

24
Occurrences
12
Books
Greek
Language

akoe denotes hearing as the reception of what is said, and in some contexts the report or message heard.

The attested uses chiefly concern hearing or receiving spoken communication, especially in relation to words, teaching, and understanding. The noun also denotes what is heard as a report or message, and in a smaller set of contexts it refers to hearing as a bodily capacity.

Senses in use

  1. Hearing or receiving spoken communication · dominant

    In Galatians 3:2 and Galatians 3:5, the genitive singular form ἀκοῆς occurs in the contrast between works of the law and hearing with faith. Romans 10:17 links faith with hearing and the word of Christ, while Acts 28:26 and Matthew 13:14 place hearing alongside failure to understand.

  2. A report, message, or news received · common

    The singular nominative ἀκοὴ in Mark 1:28 and Matthew 4:24 stands in clauses where news about Jesus goes out broadly. In Matthew 14:1 the accusative singular ἀκοὴν is connected with Herod's hearing a report, and the plural accusative ἀκοὰς occurs where wars and reports of wars are heard.

  3. The capacity or bodily sense of hearing · occasional

    In 1 Corinthians 12:17, the nominative singular ἀκοή names what would be missing if the whole body were an eye; the APB renders the contrast with “hearing” and “the sense of smell.” In Mark 7:35, the nominative plural ἀκοαί occurs in the healing scene where the APB says that his ears were opened; Hebrews 5:11 uses the dative plural ἀκοαῖς in the statement that the audience had become dull in hearing.

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously presents the term through “hearing,” “report,” “message,” and references to ears, depending on the verse's clause. These renderings show the verse-level context rather than a fixed English equivalent for each occurrence.

Passages featuring this word

Across Scripture