Dokeō, what he thinks he has.

How do I know if I am actually hearing from God, or if I just think I am?

The Lord Jesus asks the same question in Luke 8:18, and the answer sits in one Greek word.

Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.

Luke 8:18 KJV

Read it once and it sounds like a warning to people who are not listening. Read the Greek and it is sharper than that. The warning is aimed at people who are certain they are.

The three words

Blepete, "take heed", is stronger than most English translations make it. The root means to see or to look, but used this way it is a watchman's word. Watch out. Be on guard. Versions that render it "pay attention" are softer than the Greek. There is urgency in it.

Akouete, "how ye hear", is in the tense Greek uses for something ongoing. Not did you hear, but how are you hearing, right now, as a settled habit. The Lord Jesus is not asking whether they listen. He is asking what their listening is like.

Dokeō, "seemeth to have", is the word the whole verse turns on. It means to suppose, to think, to seem. It usually carries the sense of a false impression. Something that looks a certain way without being that way.

So the last clause is not about a man losing what he had. It is about a man losing what he was sure he had and never did.

Where you see it

The "therefore" matters. It points back to the two verses before, where the Lord Jesus says nothing hidden will stay hidden and nothing secret will stay secret. Everything comes to light eventually.

So: because it will all be revealed, watch how you are listening.

Then the verse gives two futures, and in Greek both are phrased so that God is the one acting without being named. This was a normal way of speaking about God reverently.

It will be given to him. Not earned, not achieved. Given.

It will be taken away from him. This is the sobering half. The word for taken away means lifted up and removed. It is not neglect, not something quietly fading. It is an action. What seemed to be there is actively taken.

Notice what the Lord Jesus does not specify. He never says what it is that a person has or does not have. He leaves it open. From the context, it is something like receptivity. A heart that is actually open.

What changes

The thing this word exposes is that the dangerous position is not ignorance. It is confidence.

A person who knows they are not listening can do something about it. A person who is sure they already understand has nothing to fix, because as far as they can tell nothing is wrong. That is the one the Lord Jesus is warning. Not the obviously closed, but the comfortably certain.

And both outcomes compound. Real receptivity gets more. Supposed understanding loses even the appearance of it. Neither stays still.

Which gives you a usable test. If what you have is real, it is growing. More is being given. If it is not growing, if you have been sitting on the same understanding for a long time while being confident about it, that is worth looking at honestly.

The practical weight is in the question the verse asks. Not what did you hear, but how are you listening. You can check that. Sitting under teaching while already deciding what you think, listening for confirmation rather than correction, hearing something true and feeling satisfied rather than changed. All of that is a posture, and posture is the thing the Lord Jesus said to watch.

One more thing worth sitting with. If you have never once suspected you might be the person in the second half of this verse, that is itself the state being described.

For your own study

How am I listening, not what have I heard?
Is what I understand actually growing, or have I been confident about the same thing for a long time?
When I sit under teaching, am I listening to be corrected or to be confirmed?
Where might I be sure I have something that I do not actually have?
What would it look like to listen with the posture this verse is asking for?

Go deeper

The full breakdown of Luke 8:18, phrase by phrase.

Take heed therefore how ye hear

βλέπετε οὖν πῶς ἀκούετε

βλέπετε (blepete), present active imperative, second person plural, from blepō. Literally to see or to look. Here the Lord Jesus uses it as a word of watchful attention: watch out, be alert. It is a warning verb, the same word used for keeping watch or being on guard. The NLT's "pay attention" is softer than the Greek implies. There is urgency here.

οὖν (oun), "therefore". This connects back to the parable of the lamp in verses 16 and 17: since everything hidden will be revealed, therefore watch how you hear.

πῶς ἀκούετε (pōs akouete), "how you are listening". Akouete is present tense, so ongoing and habitual listening, not a one-time event. The Lord Jesus is not asking whether they listen, but how, with what posture and what quality of receptivity.

For whosoever hath, to him shall be given

ὃς ἂν γὰρ ἔχῃ, δοθήσεται αὐτῷ

ὃς ἂν (hos an), an indefinite relative pronoun with the particle an, creating an open conditional: "whoever it may be that". It generalises the principle to anyone, anywhere.

ἔχῃ (echē), present active subjunctive of echō, to have. The subjunctive mood with an makes it conditional or potential. The Lord Jesus does not specify what is had. It is deliberately open. Context suggests receptivity, understanding, a willing heart.

δοθήσεται (dothēsetai), future passive indicative of didōmi, to give. The passive voice is a classic divine passive, a Jewish rhetorical device avoiding direct naming of God as the actor. God will give. This is not human achievement, it is divine bestowal.

And whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have

καὶ ὃς ἂν μὴ ἔχῃ, καὶ ὃ δοκεῖ ἔχειν ἀρθήσεται ἀπ' αὐτοῦ

μὴ ἔχῃ (mē echē), the negative particle mē with the subjunctive is standard Greek negation for conditional or potential statements. This is not simply someone who lacks. It is someone in the posture of not receiving.

ὃ δοκεῖ ἔχειν (ho dokei echein) is the most theologically striking phrase in the verse. Dokei, from dokeō, means to seem, to think, to suppose, often with a connotation of false impression. This is the same root behind the word docetism. The person does not actually have understanding. They only think they do. The Lord Jesus is exposing self-deception: the illusion of comprehension in someone who is not truly listening.

ἀρθήσεται (arthēsetai), future passive of airō, to lift up, to take away, to remove. Again a divine passive. What seemed to be possessed will be actively removed by God. This is sobering. The taking away is not neglect, it is action.

ἀπ' αὐτοῦ (ap' autou), "from him", emphasising personal loss.

The big picture

What the Lord Jesus is describing is not arbitrary. It is the law of spiritual receptivity. The Greek structure shows two parallel futures, both divine passives.

The truly receptive: dothēsetai, will receive more.
The self-deceived non-listener: arthēsetai, will lose even the illusion.

The most haunting word in the verse is dokei, thinks he has. The Lord Jesus is not warning people who know they are not listening. He is warning people who are confident they understand, but whose hearing is fundamentally closed. That is the deeper danger the Greek surfaces and English translations can soften.