Matthew 11:15

11:15 The one who has ears had better listen! ¹ 

Matthew 13:9

13:9 The one who has ears had better listen!” ² 

Matthew 13:16

13:16 “But your eyes are blessed ³  because they see, and your ears because they hear.

Matthew 10:27

10:27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what is whispered in your ear, ⁴  proclaim from the housetops. ⁵ 

Matthew 13:43

13:43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. ⁶  The one who has ears had better listen! ⁷ 

Matthew 13:15

13:15 For the heart of this people has become dull;

they are hard of hearing,

and they have shut their eyes,

so that they would not see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their hearts

and turn, and I would heal them.’ ⁸ 

[11:15]  ¹ tn The translation “had better listen!” captures the force of the third person imperative more effectively than the traditional “let him hear,” which sounds more like a permissive than an imperative to the modern English reader. This was Jesus’ common expression to listen and heed carefully (cf. Matt 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8, 14:35).

[13:9]  ² tn The translation “had better listen!” captures the force of the third person imperative more effectively than the traditional “let him hear,” which sounds more like a permissive than an imperative to the modern English reader. This was Jesus’ common expression to listen and heed carefully (cf. Matt 11:15, 13:43; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8, 14:35).

[13:16]  ³ sn This beatitude highlights the great honor bestowed on the disciples to share in this salvation.

[10:27]  ⁴ tn Grk “what you hear in the ear,” an idiom.

[10:27]  ⁵ tn The expression “proclaim from the housetops” is an idiom for proclaiming something publicly (L&N 7.51). Roofs of many first century Jewish houses in Judea and Galilee were flat and had access either from outside or from within the house. Something shouted from atop a house would be heard by everyone in the street below.

[13:43]  ⁵ sn An allusion to Dan 12:3.

[13:43]  ⁶ tn The translation “had better listen!” captures the force of the third person imperative more effectively than the traditional “let him hear,” which sounds more like a permissive than an imperative to the modern English reader. This was Jesus’ common expression to listen and heed carefully (cf. Matt 11:15, 13:9; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8, 14:35).

[13:15]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10. Thus parables both conceal or reveal depending on whether one is open to hearing what they teach.