Exploring the Meaning of Akoe in Greek

ἀκοή centers on the idea of hearing and appears in scenes that range from the spread of news, to physical ears and their opening, to public listening and the mixed human response to what is heard. In the passages below, it regularly ties what is proclaimed or rumored to the act (and sometimes the limits) of receiving it.

Occurrences

Matthew 4:24 — “The report about him went out into all Syria. They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them.”

Here ἀκοή stands behind “The report,” presenting hearing as the channel by which Jesus’ activity becomes widely known. The verse links that heard report to concrete movement: people respond by bringing the afflicted to him, and the narrative outcome is healing. Hearing, in this scene, is not merely passive reception but the means by which knowledge travels and action follows.

Matthew 13:14 — “In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ‘By hearing you will hear, and will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, and will in no way perceive:”

In this citation, ἀκοή is embedded in a statement where hearing is doubled (“By hearing you will hear”) yet paired with a failure (“and will in no way understand”). The line forces a distinction between the outward act of hearing and the inward grasp that might be expected to accompany it. ἀκοή thus participates in a contrast: audible reception can occur without the corresponding comprehension.

Matthew 14:1 — “At that time, Herod the tetrarch heard the report concerning Jesus,”

ἀκοή again underlies “the report,” but the verse shifts focus from crowds to a ruler who “heard.” The emphasis is on the arrival of information at Herod’s ears: hearing brings Jesus’ public presence into Herod’s awareness. The scene is brief, but it underscores how hearing reaches beyond immediate eyewitnesses.

Matthew 24:6 — “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren’t troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet.”

Here ἀκοή frames what hearers will receive in the future: “wars and rumors of wars.” The content is unsettling, and the instruction addresses the emotional effect of what is heard (“See that you aren’t troubled”). Hearing is portrayed as exposure to reports that can stir fear; the verse directs hearers to interpret such sounds and stories within a larger horizon (“the end is not yet”).

Mark 1:28 — “The report of him went out immediately everywhere into all the region of Galilee and its surrounding area.”

As in Matthew 4:24, ἀκοή stands behind “The report,” but Mark stresses speed and breadth: “immediately everywhere.” Hearing functions as rapid dissemination; the verse paints a widening circle in which news about Jesus travels through the region. The word contributes the sense that what people hear can spread faster than personal encounter.

Mark 7:35 — “Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was released, and he spoke clearly.”

This occurrence connects ἀκοή most directly to bodily hearing through “his ears were opened.” The scene focuses on restored capacity: the opening of ears is paired with the release of the tongue and the ability to speak clearly. Hearing here is not a rumor or message but a faculty that can be impeded and then restored, affecting communication in both directions—receiving sound and producing speech.

Mark 13:7 — ““When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be troubled. For those must happen, but the end is not yet.”

Mark’s version parallels Matthew 24:6 and uses hearing to describe encounter with alarming reports. ἀκοή contributes the idea that disciples will be listeners in a world of disturbing sounds and narratives, and the command “don’t be troubled” again targets the reaction to what is heard. Hearing is portrayed as unavoidable exposure; steadiness is required despite the content.

Luke 7:1 — “After he had finished speaking in the hearing of the people, he entered into Capernaum.”

Here ἀκοή appears in a spatial-social expression: Jesus speaks “in the hearing of the people.” The phrase locates his words within an audience’s auditory reach—public speech that is meant to be heard. Hearing functions as the setting for instruction: before Jesus enters Capernaum, the scene highlights that his speaking occurred where people could listen.

John 12:38 — “that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, “Lord, who has believed our report? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?””

In John, ἀκοή stands behind “our report,” a message presented to potential hearers but not broadly embraced (“who has believed”). Hearing is implied as the pathway by which a report is received, yet the verse centers on belief as the contested response to what is communicated. The report is not mere noise; it is a proclaimed word that confronts hearers with a claim that calls for trust.

Acts 17:20 — “For you bring certain strange things to our ears. We want to know therefore what these things mean.””

Here hearing is cast in vivid, concrete terms: “to our ears.” ἀκοή contributes the sense of auditory reception of “strange things,” and the response is inquiry: “We want to know therefore what these things mean.” The verse highlights a movement from hearing to interpretation; what reaches the ears provokes a demand for explanation.

Acts 28:26 — “saying, ‘Go to this people and say, in hearing, you will hear, but will in no way understand. In seeing, you will see, but will in no way perceive.”

This quotation repeats the same tension as Matthew 13:14: hearing can be abundant (“in hearing, you will hear”) and yet fail to yield understanding (“but will in no way understand”). ἀκοή thus marks not just the act of listening but a condition in which hearing does not achieve its expected endpoint. The verse presses the gap between auditory access and responsive comprehension.

Romans 10:16 — “But they didn’t all listen to the glad news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?””

ἀκοή appears in “our report,” now set alongside “the glad news” and the observation that “they didn’t all listen.” Hearing is tied to receptivity: the issue is not merely that a message exists, but whether it is truly heard in the sense of being attended to and accepted. The verse joins hearing, listening, and believing, depicting a contested reception of a proclaimed report.

Sense and Usage

Across these passages, ἀκοή functions in three recurring ways. First, it can denote the circulation of what is heard—news that travels outward from an event and reaches new hearers. Matthew 4:24 and Mark 1:28 depict reports spreading across regions; Matthew 14:1 shows the same kind of report arriving to Herod. In these, hearing is the social conduit by which an activity becomes publicly known, creating a chain from event to report to response.

Second, ἀκοή can anchor hearing as an embodied capacity. Mark 7:35 brings the word into contact with literal ears: hearing can be opened, and restored hearing stands alongside clarified speech. This usage keeps the term grounded in the physical organ and its function, reminding the reader that “report” language still depends on the basic human ability to hear.

Third, ἀκοή often highlights the complexity of reception—how what is heard can fail to produce understanding or belief. Matthew 13:14 and Acts 28:26 intensify the paradox of abundant hearing paired with persistent lack of understanding. John 12:38 and Romans 10:16 focus on the report as something offered to hearers but not necessarily believed; Acts 17:20 displays a different kind of gap, where hearing “strange things” prompts the question of meaning. In these contexts, ἀκοή is close to the moment of contact between message and listener, but the passages insist that this contact can lead to several outcomes: confusion, resistance, inquiry, or acceptance.

Finally, in the eschatological warnings of Matthew 24:6 and Mark 13:7, hearing is portrayed as exposure to troubling information—“wars and rumors of wars.” The emphasis falls on the hearer’s stability: what comes through hearing can disturb, yet the hearer is instructed not to be troubled. In these scenes, ἀκοή frames the auditory environment of the disciples, where reports and rumors will be part of what they must endure and interpret without panic.

Imagery

The imagery attached to ἀκοή in these verses moves between ears and echoes. Sometimes it is the wide spread of a report across Syria and Galilee, like news carrying beyond the place where it began (Matthew 4:24; Mark 1:28). Sometimes it is the intimate moment of ears being opened (Mark 7:35). And sometimes it is the unsettling soundscape of rumors and alarms that reach hearers, testing whether what is heard leads to trouble, understanding, or belief (Matthew 24:6; Mark 13:7; Matthew 13:14; Romans 10:16).

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).