noun · neuter
ouem
Strong’sG3775
the ear
stem ou-36 times in the New Testamentin 9 of 27 books3 of 6 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
The word refers to the physical ear, the organ of hearing 1234. It appears in contexts of actual hearing, being spoken into, or being touched, and in idioms such as speaking into someone's ear or things reaching someone's ears 1.
The word also carries a figurative sense of understanding or perceiving rather than literal hearing 12. This appears especially in the recurring call "he who has an ear/ears, let him hear," urging attentive comprehension rather than mere physical hearing, and in phrases describing ears that are dull, uncircumcised, or otherwise unable to truly take in what is heard 1.
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
οὖς gen., ὠτός, τό,
[in LXX chiefly for אֹזֶן;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3775 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidooce
the ear (physically or mentally)
Fromapparently a primary word;
King Jamesear.
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
(nominative singular frequently in Refs 8th c.BC+; the other cases he forms as if from οὖας (which is found in Refs 5th c.BC+, dative οὔασι Refs 8th c.BC+: Hellenistic nominative singular ὦς Refs 3rd c.BC+: also Doric dialect ὦς Refs 3rd c.BC+; plural ὤϝαθ᾽ conjecture for ὦτά θ᾽ in Refs 7th c.BC+:—ear, Ἄντιφον αὖ παρὰ οὖς ἔλασε ξίφει Refs 8th c.BC+; αἲ γὰρ δή μοι ἀπ᾽ οὔατος ὧδε γένοιτο oh may I never hear of such a thing! Refs 8th c.BC+; ὀρθὰ ἱστάναι τὰ ὦτα, of horses, Refs 5th c.BC+; βοᾷ ἐν ὠσὶ κέλαδος rings in the ear, Refs 5th c.BC+; ὀξὺν δι᾽ ὤτων κέλαδον ἐνσείσαςRefs 5th c.BC+; ἐπ᾽ (ἐς conjecture Dawes) οὔατα λάθριος εἶπεν Refs 3rd c.BC+; reversely, παρέχειν τὰ ὦτα to lend the ears, i. e. to attend, Refs 5th c.BC+ those who have ears to hear, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὰ ὦτα ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων ἔχοντες, of persons who slink away ashamed (hanging their ears like dogs), Refs 5th c.BC+: proverbial, see at {λύκο; τεθλασμένος οὔατα πυγμαῖς}, of a boxer, Refs 3rd c.BC+; ἐπ᾽ ἀμφότερα τὰ ὦτα καθεύδειν sleep soundly, Refs 5th c.BC+
II from resemblance to an ear,
II.1 handle, especially of pitchers, cups, etc., οὔατα δ᾽ αὐτοῦ τέσσαρ᾽ ἔσαν Refs 8th c.BC+
II.2 in Architecture texts, ={παρωτίς}Refs
II.3 οὖς Ἀφροδίτης, a kind of shell-fish, Antig.Car. cited in Refs 2nd c.AD+; οὖς θαλάττιον, ={ἀγρία λεπάς}, Refs 4th c.BC+
II.4 τὰ ὦτα (οὔατα Refs 5th c.BC+ the auricles of the heart, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.5 name of part of a bandage, Heraclas cited in Refs 4th c.AD+. [prev. cited]] (Cogn. with Latin auris, Lithuanian ausìs, ORefs 5th c.BC+ éar, etc.; details obscure; nominative singular οὖς perhaps from *ο(ϝ)ος (contained in ἀμφώης).)
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 or object direct | ouem2×οὖς | oueim2×ὦτα |
| of, belonging to genitive | oueu | oueiu |
| to, for dative | oue | ouei6×ὠσὶν |
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
oue 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
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
36 occurrences, every one of them listed
ouem“ear”subject or objectdirect singular2×
1 Corinthians 2:9… grafotē; Heim ofthalmos ouk horata kai ouem ouk akouata kai epi kardian anthrōpou …… written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined …
1 Corinthians 12:16kai ean legateia tem ouem; Hoti ouk amō ofthalmos, ouk amō …And if the ear should say, “Because I am not …
oueim“ears”subject or objectdirect plural2×
Matthew 13:16… tois ofthalmois hoti blepalō, kai teim oueim vu hoti akoualō.… eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
1 Peter 3:12hoti ofthalmois kuriou epi dikaioin kai oueim autou eis deēsian autoiu, prosōpem de …… are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But …
ouei“ears”to, fordative plural6×
Matthew 13:15… kardias tou laou houtou, kai tei ouei bareōs akouala, kai toin ofthalmoin autoiu …… callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes …
Matthew 13:15… mēpote horaleia toi ofthalmoi kai tei ouei akoualeia kai ta kardia suniēkaleia kai …… with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn …
Luke 4:21“ears”… plērotē tas grafas houtas en tei ouei vu.… saying, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Acts 7:51Sklērotrachēloir kai aperitmētoir kardiai kai tei ouei, vis aei te pneume te hagie …… stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit …
Acts 28:27… kardias tou laou houtou, kai tei ouei bareōs akouala, kai toin ofthalmoin autoiu …… callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes …
Acts 28:27… mēpote horaleia toi ofthalmoi kai tei ouei akoualeia kai ta kardia suniēkaleia kai …… with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn …
oueim15×
Matthew 11:15tos echarōntos oueim akouatōr.He who has ears, let him hear.
Matthew 13:9tos echarōntos oueim akouatōr.He who has ears, let him hear.”
Matthew 13:43… basileia tou patrou autoiu. tos echarōntos oueim akouatōr.… of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
Mark 4:9kai legate; Hos echatō oueim akouarō akouatōr.Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Mark 4:23ei tinos echatō oueim akouarō akouatōr.If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Mark 7:33… balata toin daktuloin autou eis teim oueim autou kai ptuarantos hapteta tau glōssau …… put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the …
Mark 8:18ofthalmoin echarōntois ouk blepavō kai oueim echarōntois ouk akouavō? kai ouk mnēmoneuavō… do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear?’ And do …
Luke 1:44… fōnas tou aspasmou su eis teim oueim mu, skirtata en agalliasia tem brefem …… sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped …
Luke 8:8… hekatontaplasiōnon. houteim legarōntos fōnate; Tos echarōntos oueim akouarō akouatōr.… He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Luke 9:44Tithevar vis eis teim oueim vu toin logoin houtoin, tos gar …“Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about …
Luke 14:35… atō; exō balalō autem. tos echarōntos oueim akouarō akouatōr.… is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Acts 7:57krazarantois de fōna mega sunechala teim oueim autoiu, kai hormala homothumadōs epi auton,At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice …
Acts 11:22akouita de tos logos eis teim oueim tau ekklēsau tau arōntau en Ierousalēm …When news of this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, they …
Romans 11:8… katanuxiau, ofthalmoin teu mē bleparō kai oueim teu mē akouarō, heōs tau sēmeron …… eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this …
James 5:4… tais boais toiu therizarantoiu eis teim oueim Kuriou Sabaōth eiserchalē;… of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
ouem11×
Matthew 10:27… te fōte; kai hem eis tem ouem akouavō, kērussavar epi teiu dōmeiu.… daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops.
Luke 12:3“ear”… fōte akouiti, kai hem pros tem ouem lalava en tei tameiei kērussiti epi …… will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.
Luke 22:50… archierevou ton doulon kai afairata tem ouem autou tem dexem.… high priest, cutting off his right ear.
Revelation 2:7tos echarōntos ouem akouatar tinem tem pneumem legatō tai …He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit …
Revelation 2:11tos echarōntos ouem akouatar tinem tem pneumem legatō tai …He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit …
Revelation 2:17tos echarōntos ouem akouatar tinem tem pneumem legatō tai …He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit …
Revelation 2:29tos echarōntos ouem akouatar tinem tem pneumem legatō tai …He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit …
Revelation 3:6tos echarōntos ouem akouatar tinem tem pneumem legatō tai …He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit …
Revelation 3:13tos echarōntos ouem akouatar tinem tem pneumem legatō tai …He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit …
Revelation 3:22tos echarōntos ouem akouatar tinem tem pneumem legatō tai …He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit …
Revelation 13:9Ei tinos echatō ouem akouatar.He who has an ear, let him hear: