Bible Strands
Mark 8:18
‘Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear?’ And do you not remember?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses the disciples in Mark 8 after they debate lacking bread, directly questioning their spiritual perception following the feeding miracles.
The words — The Greek ἔχοντες (echontes) means "having" or "possessing," emphasizing physical possession of ὀφθαλμοὺς (ophthalmous) "eyes" and ὦτα (ōta) "ears."
The thread — This pattern of possessing sensory faculties yet failing to perceive appears in Jeremiah 5:21, Matthew 13:14, and Acts 28:26, with Matthew 13:14 explicitly tying it to Isaiah’s prophecy.
Why it lands — The text demands the reader acknowledge physical sight and hearing alongside spiritual recall, challenging them to stop debating material lack and remember God’s prior actions.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?
Cross-references
- Acts 28:26 ‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
- Matthew 13:14 In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
- Jeremiah 5:21 “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
- Mark 4:12 so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’”
- Ezekiel 12:2 “Son of man, you are living in a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.
- John 12:40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.”
- Isaiah 6:9 And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
- Isaiah 42:18 Listen, you deaf ones; look, you blind ones, that you may see!
- Romans 11:8 as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”
- Psalms 115:5 They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see;