He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

 Lent started this week and on Ash Wednesday we paraphrase part of Ecclesiastes 3:20: τὰ πάντα πορεύεται εἰς τόπον ἕνα τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο ἀπὸ τοῦ χοός καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐπιστρέφει εἰς τὸν χοῦν

All go to the same place. All came from the dust (earth-heap) and all return to the dust (earth-heap).

et omnia pergunt ad unum locum. De terra (earth) facta sunt, et in terram pariter revertuntur.

I made sure to use the accented Greek - they matter (sometimes).  (Easy word:  panta = all)

εἰς = to, but ἕνα comes from εἷς, which is 'one'.

εις (Adjective)   Masculine   Feminine   Neuter   Sing. Plur.   Sing. Plur.   Sing. Plur. Nom. εις     μια     μια μια Acc. ενα     μιαν μια   ενα μια Dat. ενι     μια     ενι   Gen. ενος     μιας     ενος

Chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes starts with the very famous "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven--"... which I may return to in another post.  I want really to go back to the start of the book and look at a few things which I think profoundly connect (and contrast) to the New Testament.

Ecclesiastes 1
8.	All things are hard: man cannot explain them by word. The eye is not filled with seeing, neither is the ear filled with hearing.	πάντες οἱ λόγοι ἔγκοποι οὐ δυνήσεται ἀνὴρ τοῦ λαλεῖν καὶ οὐκ ἐμπλησθήσεται ὀφθαλμὸς τοῦ ὁρᾶν καὶ οὐ πληρωθήσεται οὖς ἀπὸ ἀκροάσεως	Cunctæ res difficiles ; non potest eas homo explicare sermone. Non saturatur oculus visu, nec auris auditu impletur.
9.	What is it that hath been? the same thing that shall be. What is it that hath been done? the same that shall be done.	τί τὸ γεγονός αὐτὸ τὸ γενησόμενον καὶ τί τὸ πεποιημένον αὐτὸ τὸ ποιηθησόμενον καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν πᾶν πρόσφατον ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον	Quid est quod fuit ? Ipsum quod futurum est. Quid est quod factum est ? Ipsum quod faciendum est.

(Greek verse 9 ends: and there is nothing new under the sun - helios (helion here), as in heliocentric.  This starts verse 10 in the Latin and English below.)

All hindered words (all words are hindered) - man is not able to speak - that's what the first part looks like to me, but Jerome and others probably know better.  Anyway, the 2nd sentence is the one I want to focus on.  No matter how much the ear takes in or the eye takes in, it is not filled, not satisfied.

(Notes Greek word opthalmos (opthamology) and Latin oculus should be pretty familiar...)  Verse 9 seems to be saying that even if we hear or see it all, there is nothing new (all is vanity - his main theme).  This is explicitly said in(to) the next 2 verses:

10.	Nothing under the sun is new, neither is any man able to say: Behold this is new: for it hath already gone before in the ages that were before us.	ὃς λαλήσει καὶ ἐρεῖ ἰδὲ τοῦτο καινόν ἐστιν ἤδη γέγονεν ἐν τοῖς αἰῶσιν τοῖς γενομένοις ἀπὸ ἔμπροσθεν ἡμῶν	Nihil sub sole novum, nec valet quisquam dicere : Ecce hoc recens est : jam enim præcessit in sæculis quæ fuerunt ante nos.
11.	There is no remembrance of former things: nor indeed of those things which hereafter are to come, shall there be any remembrance with them that shall be in the latter end.	οὐκ ἔστιν μνήμη τοῖς πρώτοις καί γε τοῖς ἐσχάτοις γενομένοις οὐκ ἔσται αὐτοῖς μνήμη μετὰ τῶν γενησομένων εἰς τὴν ἐσχάτην	Non est priorum memoria ; sed nec eorum quidem quæ postea futura sunt erit recordatio apud eos qui futuri sunt in novissimo.

(Notes:  eschatos - eschatology - that which is to come/study of the end times.  futurus in Latin...  Mneme - memory, mnemonic...  memoria in Latin, later recordatio in Latin, records, memories.  Novissimo - the latest (newest), the last, the end)

This is the natural state of fallen man.  But all of this changes with the Gospel:

Matthew 11
4.	And Jesus making answer said to them: Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen.	και αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν αυτοις πορευθεντες απαγγειλατε ιωαννη α ακουετε και βλεπετε	Et respondens Jesus ait illis : Euntes renuntiate Joanni quæ audistis, et vidistis.
5.	The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them.	τυφλοι αναβλεπουσιν και χωλοι περιπατουσιν λεπροι καθαριζονται και κωφοι ακουουσιν νεκροι εγειρονται και πτωχοι ευαγγελιζονται	Cæci vident, claudi ambulant, leprosi mundantur, surdi audiunt, mortui resurgunt, pauperes evangelizantur :

(Notes:  akouete - accoustics.  Latin audistis - audiology.  Nekroi / necro- (dead), Latin mortui - mortuary...  Latin paupers - paupers, the poor.  Euangelion, evangelium - the Gospel, here used in a verb)

A lot of meaning to seeing and hearing - truly new things here.

Even more, we are told in verse 11:

15.

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

ο εχων ωτα ακουειν ακουετω

Qui habet aures audiendi, audiat.

And a little later:

Matthew 13
15.	For the heart of this people is grown gross, and with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.	επαχυνθη γαρ η καρδια του λαου τουτου και τοις ωσιν βαρεως ηκουσαν και τους οφθαλμους αυτων εκαμμυσαν μηποτε ιδωσιν τοις οφθαλμοις και τοις ωσιν ακουσωσιν και τη καρδια συνωσιν και επιστρεψωσιν και ιασωμαι αυτους	Incrassatum est enim cor populi hujus, et auribus graviter audierunt, et oculos suos clauserunt : nequando videant oculis, et auribus audiant, et corde intelligant, et convertantur, et sanem eos.
16.	But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.	υμων δε μακαριοι οι οφθαλμοι οτι βλεπουσιν και τα ωτα υμων οτι ακουει	Vestri autem beati oculi quia vident, et aures vestræ quia audiunt.

This is no longer vanity.  This is finally something that will satisfy the ears and eyes.  This is something new!  We are not the same as the animals.  Our lives are not vanity.  We have been saved from that.

Revelation 21
5.	And he that sat on the throne, said: Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me: Write, for these words are most faithful and true.	και ειπεν ο καθημενος επι του θρονου ιδου καινα παντα ποιω και λεγει μοι γραψον οτι ουτοι οι λογοι αληθινοι και πιστοι εισιν	Et dixit qui sedebat in throno : Ecce nova facio omnia. Et dixit mihi : Scribe, quia hæc verba fidelissima sunt, et vera.