noun · feminine
akoas
Strong’sG189
hearing, faculty of hearing, ear
stem ako-24 times in the New Testamentin 12 of 27 books7 of 10 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Hearing, the sense or act of perceiving sound, is the basic meaning of this word 13. It occurs in the New Testament both as an ordinary noun for this sense and in a set phrase meaning "hearing, they hear" 1.
It can also mean the physical ear, the organ of hearing, used both in the singular and the plural 134.
It further refers to something heard: either a message or teaching that has been proclaimed and received 1, or a report or rumor about a person or event 12. Strong's likewise lists senses such as a report, fame, audience, and what was preached 2.
In the Greek Old Testament the word also carries the sense of obedience 3.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
ἀκοή, -ῆς, ἡ
(< ἀκούω), [in LXX: Ex 15:26, al. for שׁמע, its parts and derivatives, exc. De 11:22 (שׁמר);]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G189 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidak-o-ay'
hearing (the act, the sense or the thing heard)
Fromfrom G191;
King Jamesaudience, ear, fame, which ye heard, hearing, preached, report, rumor.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
Epic dialect ἀκουή· (ἀκοϝ, compare ἀκούω):— hearing, sound heard, ἕκαθεν δέ τε γίγνετ᾽ ἀ.Refs 8th c.BC+
2 thing heard, tidings, μετὰ πατρὸς ἀκουὴν ἱκέσθαι, βῆναι, Refs 8th c.BC+; κατὰ τὴν Σόλωνος ἀκοήν according to Solon's story, Refs 5th c.BC+; report, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀ. σοφοῖς thing for wise men to listen to, Refs; ἀκοῇ ἱστορεῖν, παραλαβεῖν τι by hearsay, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὰς ἀ. τῶν προγεγενημένων traditions, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀκοὴν μαρτυρεῖν, προσάγειν, give, bring hearsay evidence, Refs 4th c.BC+; ἐκ γὰρ ἀκουῆς οἰκτίρω σεRefs 6th c.AD+
II sense of hearing, Refs 5th c.BC+; joined with ὄψις, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 act of hearing, ἐς ἀκοὰν ἐμήν to my hearing, my ear, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀκοαῖς δέχεσθαι, εἰς ἀκοὰς.. ἥκειν, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἀκοὴν ὑπειπών demanding a hearing, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3 ear, ὀππάτεσσι δ᾽ οὖδεν ὄρημ᾽, ἐπιρρόμβεισι δ᾽ ἄκουαιRefs 7th c.BC+; δυσὶν ἀκοαῖς κρίνειν with two ears, Refs 4th c.BC+
III hearing, listening to, ἀκοῆς ἄξιοςRefs 5th c.BC+; εἰς ἀκοὴν φωνῆς within hearing of.., Refs 1st c.BC+
IV obedience, ἀ. ὑπὲρ θυσίαν ἀγαθήLXX
V in plural, place where supernatural voices are heard, Refs 2nd c.AD+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | akoas5×ἀκοὴ | akoais1×ἀκοαί |
| object accusative | akoan3×ἀκοὴν | akoain4×ἀκοὰς |
| direct address vocative | akoar | akoair |
| of, belonging to genitive | akoau5×ἀκοῆς | akoaiu |
| to, for dative | akoa5×ἀκοῇ | akoai1×ἀκοαῖς |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
akoa is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
24 occurrences, every one of them listed
akoas“hearing”subjectnominative singular5×
Matthew 4:24“fame”kai aperchata tas akoas autou eis holan tan Surian; kai …… about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those …
Mark 1:28“fame”kai exerchata tas akoas autou euthuos pantachou eis holan tan …And the news about Jesus spread quickly through the whole region …
Romans 10:17… tas pistias ek akoau, tas de akoas dia rēmeu Christou.Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of …
1 Corinthians 12:17… holem tem sōmem ofthalmos, pou tas akoas? ei holem akoas, pou tas osfrēsias?… eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were …
1 Corinthians 12:17“hearing”… ofthalmos, pou tas akoas? ei holem akoas, pou tas osfrēsias?… were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
akoan“ears”objectaccusative singular3×
Matthew 14:1“report”… kairo akouata Hērōdos tos tetraarchos tan akoan Iēsu,At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus
2 Timothy 4:3… epithumiain heautoi episōreuali didaskaloin knēthorōntois tan akoan,… tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers …
2 Timothy 4:4kai apo men tau alētheiau tan akoan apostrefali, epi de toin muthoin ektrapili.So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn …
akoau“hearing”of, belonging togenitive singular5×
Romans 10:17ara tas pistias ek akoau, tas de akoas dia rēmeu Christou.Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
Galatians 3:2… nomou tem pneumem labava ē ek akoau pistiau?… works of the law, or by hearing with faith?
Galatians 3:5“hearing”… vi ek ergeiu nomou ē ek akoau pistiau?… miracles among you because you practice the law, or because you …
1 Thessalonians 2:13… to theo adialeiptōs, hoti paralabarantois logon akoau para nu tou theou decheva ouk …… the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not …
Hebrews 4:2… alla ouk ōfelata tos logos tau akoau ekeinoin, mē sunkerannuorēntoin ta pistia toi …… they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them …
akoa“hearing”to, fordative singular5×
Matthew 13:14… autoi tas profēteias Ēsaiou tas legarōntas; Akoa akouavi kai ouk mē suniēkaveia, kai …… is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be …
John 12:38… hon legata; Kurior, tinos pisteuata ta akoa nu? kai tos brachionos kuriou tino …… prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm …
Acts 28:26… pros ton laon houton kai legasar; Akoa akouavi kai ouk mē suniēaveia, kai …… and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be …
Romans 10:16… gar legatō; Kurior, tinos pisteuata ta akoa nu?… says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”
2 Peter 2:8blemme gar kai akoa tos dikaios enkatoikarōntos en autoi hēmeran …… the lawless deeds he saw and heard )—
akoais“ears”subjectnominative plural1×
Mark 7:35kai anoigila autou tais akoais, kai luita tos desmos tau glōssau …Immediately the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was …
akoain“rumors”objectaccusative plural4×
Matthew 24:6mellavi de akouarō polemoin kai akoain polemoiu; horavōr, mē throovōr; datō gar …You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it …
Mark 13:7hotan de akouaveia polemoin kai akoain polemoiu, mē throovōr; datō genera, alla …When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed …
Luke 7:1… panteim teim rēmeim autou eis tain akoain tou laou, eiserchata eis Kafarnaoum.… had concluded His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to …
Acts 17:20xenizarōnteim gar tineim eisferasō eis tain akoain nu; boulonō oun gnōskara tineim thelatō …… bringing some strange notions to our ears, and we want to know what …
akoai“hearing”to, fordative plural1×
Hebrews 5:11… dusermēneutos legarō, epei nōthrois genavē tai akoai;… explain, because you are dull of hearing.