What does οὖς (oûs) mean in the Bible?
Ous names the physical ear and, by familiar extension, the capacity or responsibility to hear. Jesus tells His disciples to proclaim openly what they have heard privately.
Greek · G3775
οὖς
The ear (physically or mentally)
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οὖς G3775
Pronunciation oûs
What does οὖς (oûs) mean in the Bible?
Ous names the physical ear and, by familiar extension, the capacity or responsibility to hear. Jesus tells His disciples to proclaim openly what they have heard privately.
Reader summary
Full entry for οὖς (G3775) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3775?
The BSB source-word alignment has 36 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include ears (22), an ear (8), ear (4), . . . (1), hearing (1).
Where does οὖς (oûs) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 10:27. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (8), Luke (7), Matthew (7), Acts (5).
What This Word Actually Means
Ous names the physical ear and, by familiar extension, the capacity or responsibility to hear. Jesus tells His disciples to proclaim openly what they have heard privately. Mark describes Jesus touching a deaf man's ears in an act of compassionate healing. Stephen accuses resistant hearers of stopping their ears against the Spirit's testimony, while Peter uses the scriptural image of the Lord's ears being attentive to righteous prayer.
Revelation's summons, "If anyone has an ear, let him hear," calls for receptive obedience to God's message. The noun itself does not create a doctrine of hearing. These passages move from bodily need to moral responsiveness and divine attention, with each context marking the transition.
How the Bible Uses It
Ous can refer plainly to the bodily ear, yet Scripture also uses hearing language for reception, resistance, proclamation, and God's attentive care. Mark's healed ears, Stephen's stopped ears, Jesus' commissioning words, Peter's citation, and Revelation's summons show distinct but related dimensions.
- Matt.10.27
What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops.
Matthew 10:27 turns the ear from reception to proclamation: what disciples hear in the dark is to be spoken in the light. Jesus prepares witnesses for public faithfulness amid opposition.
- Mark.7.33
So Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd, and put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue.
Mark 7:33 narrates Jesus taking the deaf man aside and touching his ears. The concrete bodily reference keeps the scene centered on personal compassion and effective healing.
- Acts.7.51
You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
Acts 7:51 says Stephen's hearers resist the Holy Spirit, and the following verse portrays them stopping their ears. Their physical gesture exposes settled refusal of the prophetic testimony culminating in Christ.
- 1Pet.3.12
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
First Peter 3:12 cites the Lord's ears as open to the prayer of the righteous. The anthropomorphic language assures believers of God's attentive care while the same verse warns that His face opposes evil.
- Rev.13.9
He who has an ear, let him hear:
Revelation 13:9 issues a call to hear amid a vision of beastly power and faithful endurance. Possessing an ear becomes a summons to receive and obey the message that follows.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It ears 22× Matthew 11:15, Matthew 13:9, Matthew 13:15, Matthew 13:16
an ear 8× Revelation 2:7, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 2:17, Revelation 2:29
ear 4× Matthew 10:27, Luke 22:50, 1 Corinthians 2:9, 1 Corinthians 12:16
. . . 1× Luke 12:3
hearing 1× Luke 4:21
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 10:27 οὖς to ear Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular Matthew 11:15 ὦτα to ears Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural Matthew 13:9 ὦτα to ears Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural Matthew 13:15 ὠσὶν to ears Noun - Dative Neuter Plural Matthew 13:15 ὠσὶν to ears Noun - Dative Neuter Plural Matthew 13:16 ὦτα to ears Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural Matthew 13:43 ὦτα to ears Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural Mark 4:9 ὦτα to ears Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural Mark 4:23 ὦτα to ears Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural Mark 7:33 ὦτα to ears Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 10:27
Aligned rows 36
Books represented 9
Matthew 7 Mark 4 Luke 7 Acts 5 Romans 1 1 Corinthians 2 James 1 1 Peter 1 Revelation 8
Source forms
ὦτα 16x ōta Matthew 11:15, Matthew 13:9, Matthew 13:16, Matthew 13:43
οὖς 13x ous Matthew 10:27, Luke 12:3, Luke 22:50, 1 Corinthians 2:9
ὠσὶν 5x ōsin Matthew 13:15, Luke 4:21, Acts 28:27
ὠσίν 1x ōsin Acts 7:51
ὦτά 1x ōta Luke 1:44
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural 15x Matthew 11:15, Matthew 13:9, Matthew 13:43, Mark 4:9
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular 11x Matthew 10:27, Luke 12:3, Luke 22:50, Revelation 2:7
Noun - Dative Neuter Plural 6x Matthew 13:15, Luke 4:21, Acts 7:51, Acts 28:27
Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural 2x Matthew 13:16, 1 Peter 3:12
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular 2x 1 Corinthians 2:9, 1 Corinthians 12:16
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not imply that deafness or hearing impairment signifies spiritual resistance.
- Do not turn every physical mention of an ear into a hidden allegory about obedience.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not imply that deafness or hearing impairment signifies spiritual resistance.
- Do not turn every physical mention of an ear into a hidden allegory about obedience.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Physical ear and metaphorical capacity to hear/understand; "having ears" idiomatically means spiritual receptiveness to God's message.
Strong's G3775
Lexical occurrences 36 verses Greek text appearances 37 times 16 shown below Word forms 5 forms 36 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 8:4-15 Source Gloss
the ear (physically or mentally)
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 37 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 10:27 Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
οὖς ouv
the ear
Read verse Matthew 11:15 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
ὦτα wta
the ear
Read verse Matthew 13:9 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
ὦτα wta
the ear
Read verse Matthew 13:15 Noun Dative Plural Neuter
ὠσὶ wsin
the ear
Read verse Matthew 13:15 Noun Dative Plural Neuter
ὠσὶν wsin
the ear
Read verse Matthew 13:16 Noun Nominative Plural Neuter
ὦτα wta
the ear
Read verse Matthew 13:43 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
ὦτα wta
the ear
Read verse Mark 4:9 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
ὦτα wta
the ear
Read verse Mark 4:23 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
ὦτα wta
the ear
Read verse Mark 7:16 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
ὦτα wta
the ear
Read verse Mark 7:33 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
ὦτα wta
the ear
Read verse Mark 8:18 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
ὦτα wta
the ear
Read verse Luke 1:44 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
ὦτά wta
the ear
Read verse Luke 4:21 Noun Dative Plural Neuter
ὠσὶν wsin
the ear
Read verse Luke 8:8 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
ὦτα wta
the ear
Read verse Luke 9:44 Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
ὦτα wta
the ear
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 5 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 5 Aligned forms 36 Case pattern Accusative (26) Number pattern Plural (23)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · Neuter Matt 13:16 · 1 Pet 3:12 2×
Nominative · Singular · Neuter 1 Cor 2:9 · 1 Cor 12:16 2×
Dative · Plural · Neuter Matt 13:15 · Luke 4:21 · Acts 7:51 · Acts 28:27 6×
Accusative · Plural · Neuter Matt 11:15 · Matt 13:9 · Matt 13:43 · Mark 4:9 · Mark 4:23 · Mark 7:33 · Mark 8:18 · Luke 1:44 · Luke 8:8 · Luke 9:44 · Luke 14:35 · Acts 7:57 · Acts 11:22 · Rom 11:8 · Jas 5:4 15×
Accusative · Singular · Neuter Matt 10:27 · Luke 12:3 · Luke 22:50 · Rev 2:7 · Rev 2:11 · Rev 2:17 · Rev 2:29 · Rev 3:6 · Rev 3:13 · Rev 3:22 · Rev 13:9 11×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Metaphorical capacity for spiritual hearing and understanding God's word
Metaphorical call to receptive hearing, those with capacity to perceive truth
Physical reception of spoken words with emphasis on careful listening and retention
Receptive listening to correction and wisdom as path to understanding and life
Metaphorical stubbornness, resistance to God's word and spiritual perception
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 36 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
οὖς is a primary word - no further derivation.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Ous is an ordinary anatomical noun that Scripture uses with unusual pastoral reach. Jesus opens ears that could not hear, showing compassion for an embodied sufferer rather than treating disability as a sermon illustration. He also forms disciples whose received instruction must become courageous proclamation. Stephen reveals that people may have functioning ears while deliberately refusing God's testimony, and Revelation repeatedly calls hearers beyond exposure to obedient endurance.
Peter's citation adds another direction: the Lord is attentive to the prayers of those who seek righteousness. Teachers should preserve these differences. The word does not prove that all hearing language means obedience, but the passages together ask whether God's message is welcomed, resisted, or faithfully announced. They also assure afflicted believers that Christ sees bodily need and that God is not deaf to righteous prayer.
Anchor passage
Mark.7.33
Doctrinal connections
- Incarnation and compassion: Jesus meets a deaf man personally and restores bodily hearing.
- Discipleship: what Christ's messengers receive is entrusted to them for open proclamation.
- Human sin: hearers can resist the Holy Spirit and refuse the prophetic witness.
- Prayer: Scripture portrays the Lord as attentive to the pleas of the righteous.
- Revelation: apocalyptic hearing formulas call the churches to discernment and endurance.
- Judgment and mercy: the same God who hears prayer sets His face against evil.
Ous is the common Greek noun for "ear." Idioms involving hearing may extend from the organ to receptive attention, but that extension must be shown from the sentence rather than assumed from the lexical form alone.
From Old to New Testament
Israel's confession begins with a command to hear, and the prophets repeatedly confront people who have ears but do not hear. Psalms describe God as hearing prayer. The New Testament carries these patterns into Christ's healing, apostolic witness, and the churches' response.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain