Listen
The Greek verb akòuo, ‘listen, comprehend' - in Akkadian aqu, ‘pay attention, understand’, and aku, 'humble'- does not only mean listening with the ears, it also endorses the intellect's comprehension - lèv-psychè-thinking heart -, indeed, more literally, it means 'perceive, adhere, obey', indicating therefore a will to observe and be humble.
In the euanghèlion it is reported more than 200 times, it is one of the most used verbs (if we include the Acts of the Apostles and the Letters, it appears 430 times).
In the Old Testament the verb 'to listen' is used 1165 times. The Hebrew root shm' of the term shamà, 'listen’, is present in all the ancient language spoken in the fertile crescent: the Akkadian shemu(m) means ' listen, experiment, obey'. In those languages listening, paying attention and obeying are the same, observance and obedience correspond to listening, they are the same thing. Even the Ugaritic has got the form shm', 'listen', meaning 'obey', as listening does not entails discussion, it rather means ' to testify': the one who listens/obeys is the testimony. But listen to what? Who or what do we need to listen to? What is it that man cannot see and understand just through seeing anymore? What is it that man has to absolutely listen to if he wants to understand, know, comprehend? What is that man needs to absolutely learn to listen to if he wants to live rather than die? To not feed himself on what kills him? What man needs to listen to and know is how everything works. What man needs to adhere to with love and respect are the instructions to use life, the wisdom and knowledge regarding how life works. Where are the instruction for using life written? Where can man read the user manual? There are two books. The first, hierarchically, and the most important is creation, nature. The second one is the revealed Word of God. Nature is the first scripture, the first letter, the first reading. The Word revealed is the second scripture, the second letter, the second reading. What is, in extreme synthesis, written in those two books, in those two life manuals? The book of creation and the book of the revealed Word, synthetically, say: The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." The word entolè, normally translated with commandment, means, more literally, procedure, as to say the way something works as could be found in a user manual. Jesus summarized the heart of all the procedures, of all the instructions in the user manual, in those two principles from which all the other procedures depend. What man needs to listen to are the procedures, the first principles, the dominant laws of how thing works. Listening is the only mean by which God communicates with man through nature and through His Word. The object of listening is in fact the Hebrew davàr, the Word, the sound-action together, meaning-function-object. When we listen to the Word of God, we listen to an alive and living reality, we listen to the reality of things, their origin, meaning and how they work. Morals and religions tell man what to do, God's Word tells how everything works.