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He who has ears, let him hear.
Matthew 11:15 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
  • KJV He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
  • NKJV He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
  • NASB The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.
  • NLT Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Jesus calls for spiritual attentiveness to weighty truth. Those given ears to hear should heed what He has said about John and the kingdom.

Overview

This recurring summons (cf. Matt. 13:9) urges hearers not merely to listen but to understand and respond. It signals that the preceding teaching about John and the kingdom demands more than casual attention. Spiritual hearing is itself a gift, calling for humble, obedient reception of Christ's words.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • Luke 8:8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it sprang up and produced a crop—a hundredfold.” As Jesus said this, He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
  • Matt 13:9He who has ears, let him hear.”
  • Mark 4:23If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
  • Matt 13:43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
  • Rev 2:7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.
  • Mark 4:9Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
  • Luke 14:35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile, and it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
  • Rev 3:13He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
  • Rev 2:29He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
  • Rev 2:17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.
  • Rev 3:22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
  • Rev 3:6He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
  • Rev 2:11He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.
  • Mark 7:15Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him; but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile him.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Matthew 11:15YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MatthewMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'

How Matthew 11:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.