MAT 13:9 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 13:1–17: Jesus told the parable about the man who sowed seeds

In this section, Jesus told the first of eightSome commentators do not consider 13:51–52 a parable, so they count seven parables in this chapter. parables about the kingdom of heaven. These parables helped the disciples understand the kingdom of heaven. They also helped the disciples understand why some people did not accept Jesus’ message.

The first parable is about a farmer who sows seed in different kinds of soil. The different kinds of soil represent different kinds of people and how they accept God’s Word. In 13:18 Jesus referred to this parable as “the parable of the sower.”

After Jesus told this parable, he explained why he told parables (13:10–17).

Some other examples for a heading for this section are:

A story about a farmer planting seed

The parable about the four kinds of soil

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 4:1–12 and Luke 8:4–10.

13:9

He who has ears, let him hear.”

Everyone who is able to hear should listen to what I am saying.”
You^(plur) who are able to hear what I say, think about it.”

The saying in this verse also occurs in Matthew 11:15, Mark 4:9, Mark 4:23, Luke 8:8, Luke 14:35. You should translate all these passages in the same way.

He who has ears, let him hear: These words are a saying that Jesus used to command or urge the crowd to carefully think about the words that they had just heard. This saying assumes that everyone in the crowd had ears and were able to hear. So it is addressed to all the people who were listening to Jesus.

Here are some other ways to translate this saying:

Use “they” or “you” instead of He. For example:
All those who have ears, let them hear.
All of you who have ears, hear/listen.
Use a different type of clause. In some languages it may be more natural to use an “if” clause or a reason clause. For example:
If/Since you have ears, then pay attention.
In some languages, it may be more natural to refer to the event of hearing instead of the fact of having ears. For example:
You people who can hear me, listen. (NCV)
Anyone who can hear, think about that parable.

let him hear: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as let him hear is a command in the third person. It does not express permission. For example:

Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!

You people who can hear me, listen (NCV)

In some languages it may be necessary to supply some information and say what the listener should be listening to. For example:

let him listen to me

he should hear my words

he must listen to what I say

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

ὁ ἔχων ὦτα, ἀκουέτω

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὁ ἔχων ὦτα ἀκουέτω)

This verse is almost identical to [11:15](../11/15.md), although that verse includes the phrase “to hear” after ears. Express the idea as you did in [11:15](../11/15.md), but omit the phrase “to hear” if you expressed it explicitly there.

Note 2 topic: translate-textvariants

ἔχων ὦτα

having ears

Many ancient manuscripts read having ears. The ULT follows that reading. Other ancient manuscripts read “having ears to hear.” If a translation of the Bible exists in your region, you may wish to use the reading that it uses. If a translation of the Bible does not exist in your region, you may wish to use the reading of the ULT.

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear MAT 13:9

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 13:1–17: Jesus told the parable about the man who sowed seeds

13:9

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)