A Biblical and Theological Dictionary
Dictionary entry
HEARING. This word is used in several senses in Scripture. In its
obvious and literal acceptation, it denotes the exercise of that bodily
sense of which the ear is the organ; and as hearing is a sense by which
instruction is conveyed to the mind, and the mind is excited to
attention and to obedience, so the ideas of attention and obedience are
also grafted on the expression or sense of hearing. God is said,
speaking after the manner of men, to hear prayer, that is, to attend to
it, and comply with the requests it contains: “I love the Lord, because
he hath heard,” hath attended to, hath complied with, “the voice of my
supplication,” Psalm cxvi, 1. On the contrary, God is said not to hear,
that is, not to comply with, the requests of sinners, John ix, 31. Men
are said to hear, when they attend to, or comply with, the request of
each other, or when they obey the commands of God: “He who is of God
heareth,” obeyeth, practiseth, “God’s words,” John viii, 47. “My sheep
hear my voice,” and show their attention to it, by following me, John x,
27. “This is my beloved Son: hear ye him,” Matt. xvii, 5. This seems to
be an allusion to Deut. xviii, 15, 18, 19: “The Lord shall raise up unto
you a prophet; him shall ye hear;” which is also expressly applied in
Acts iii, 22. The other senses which may be attached to the word “hear,”
seem to rise from the preceding, and may be referred to the same ideas.
obvious and literal acceptation, it denotes the exercise of that bodily
sense of which the ear is the organ; and as hearing is a sense by which
instruction is conveyed to the mind, and the mind is excited to
attention and to obedience, so the ideas of attention and obedience are
also grafted on the expression or sense of hearing. God is said,
speaking after the manner of men, to hear prayer, that is, to attend to
it, and comply with the requests it contains: “I love the Lord, because
he hath heard,” hath attended to, hath complied with, “the voice of my
supplication,” Psalm cxvi, 1. On the contrary, God is said not to hear,
that is, not to comply with, the requests of sinners, John ix, 31. Men
are said to hear, when they attend to, or comply with, the request of
each other, or when they obey the commands of God: “He who is of God
heareth,” obeyeth, practiseth, “God’s words,” John viii, 47. “My sheep
hear my voice,” and show their attention to it, by following me, John x,
27. “This is my beloved Son: hear ye him,” Matt. xvii, 5. This seems to
be an allusion to Deut. xviii, 15, 18, 19: “The Lord shall raise up unto
you a prophet; him shall ye hear;” which is also expressly applied in
Acts iii, 22. The other senses which may be attached to the word “hear,”
seem to rise from the preceding, and may be referred to the same ideas.
Source: A Biblical and Theological Dictionary · View data sources