{
  "id": "dict_002416",
  "term": "Hearing",
  "slug": "hearing",
  "letter": "H",
  "entry_type": "theological_term",
  "entry_family": "theological_term",
  "depth_profile": "standard",
  "short_definition": "In Scripture, hearing often means more than perceiving sound; it commonly includes receiving God’s word with understanding and responsive faith. The term can also refer simply to physical hearing, depending on context.",
  "simple_one_line": "Hearing in the Bible can mean both listening with the ears and responding obediently to God’s word.",
  "tooltip_text": "Biblical hearing is often active, not passive: it includes attention, understanding, and obedience.",
  "aliases": [],
  "scripture_references": [],
  "original_language_terms": [],
  "related_entries": [
    "obedience",
    "faith",
    "word of God",
    "preaching",
    "wisdom",
    "hardness of heart"
  ],
  "see_also": [
    "Shema",
    "ears",
    "listen",
    "do not harden your hearts",
    "teach",
    "obedience to God"
  ],
  "lede_intro": "In Scripture, hearing is more than the physical act of listening. Often it means receiving God’s word with faith, understanding, and obedience.",
  "at_a_glance_definition": "A biblical theme in which hearing can mean either ordinary listening or, more importantly, receptive obedience to God’s word.",
  "at_a_glance_key_points": [
    "Physical hearing and spiritual hearing must be distinguished by context.",
    "God calls His people to hear Him and obey.",
    "Jesus often contrasted outward hearing with true hearing.",
    "Faith comes by hearing the word of Christ (Rom. 10:17)."
  ],
  "description_academic_short": "In biblical usage, hearing may describe ordinary listening, but it frequently carries a spiritual sense of receiving and heeding God’s truth. Scripture often contrasts mere auditory reception with genuine hearing that results in faith and obedience.",
  "description_academic_full": "In the Bible, hearing is a broad and context-dependent concept. It can refer to the simple act of perceiving sound, but it often carries a richer covenantal sense: to hear God is to receive His word attentively, understand it, believe it, and act upon it. The Old Testament repeatedly calls Israel to hear the LORD, especially in the Shema, while the prophets expose the difference between outward listening and inward responsiveness. In the Gospels, Jesus uses hearing language to distinguish those who merely listen from those who truly receive the word and bear fruit. The New Testament also links hearing with faith and obedience, showing that biblical hearing is often active rather than passive.",
  "background_biblical_context": "The Old Testament frequently uses hearing language for covenant response, especially when God calls His people to listen to His commandments and warnings. In the New Testament, Jesus’ teaching on hearing emphasizes spiritual receptivity, and the apostles connect hearing with faith, repentance, and obedience.",
  "background_historical_context": "In the ancient world, hearing was closely tied to learning, loyalty, and submission, since much teaching was received orally. This helps explain why Scripture can use hearing as a shorthand for receiving a message and responding appropriately.",
  "background_jewish_ancient_context": "Jewish Scripture and worship strongly emphasize hearing as covenant faithfulness. The Shema (“Hear, O Israel”) is a foundational example of hearing that includes love, remembrance, and obedience, not mere sound reception.",
  "key_texts_primary": [
    "Deuteronomy 6:4-5",
    "Isaiah 6:9-10",
    "Matthew 13:13-16",
    "Mark 4:9, 23",
    "Romans 10:17",
    "James 1:19-25"
  ],
  "key_texts_secondary": [
    "Deuteronomy 28:1-2",
    "Psalm 95:7-8",
    "Proverbs 1:5",
    "John 10:27",
    "Hebrews 3:7-15"
  ],
  "original_language_note": "Hebrew uses verbs such as שָׁמַע (shama‘, “hear, listen, obey”), and Greek commonly uses ἀκούω (akouō, “hear, listen”). In many contexts, these words include the idea of heeding or obeying, not merely perceiving sound.",
  "theological_significance": "Biblical hearing highlights the moral responsibility of human response to God’s revelation. True hearing is linked with faith, repentance, wisdom, and obedience, while refusing to hear is often a sign of hardness of heart.",
  "philosophical_explanation": "The term shows that knowledge in Scripture is not merely informational. To truly hear God is to receive truth in a way that engages the will as well as the mind.",
  "interpretive_cautions": "Do not treat every use of “hear” as a technical theological statement. Context must decide whether the passage means physical listening, spiritual receptivity, or both. Also avoid flattening hearing into a formula that ignores the passage’s literary setting.",
  "major_views_note": "Most evangelical interpreters agree that Scripture often uses hearing in an active sense of receptive obedience, while still allowing for ordinary physical hearing where context requires it.",
  "doctrinal_boundaries": "This entry concerns the biblical theme of hearing and should not be used to build speculative doctrines about hearing apart from the text. The emphasis belongs to Scripture’s own use of the term in relation to revelation, faith, and obedience.",
  "practical_significance": "Believers are called not only to hear Scripture read or preached, but to receive it humbly and obey it. James 1 especially warns against being hearers only and not doers.",
  "meta_description": "Hearing in the Bible often means more than listening: it includes receiving God’s word with understanding, faith, and obedience.",
  "public_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/hearing/",
  "json_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/data/dictionary/hearing.json",
  "final_disposition": "PUBLISH_CANONICAL"
}