Danny Hickman Supporter Believer in The Gospel Of Jesus Christ

Since we know that Jesus didn't have access to a megaphone, microphone, or any device of that kind, we might wonder how was He able to be heard by such a large gathering of people.

It just might be that many could not hear Him clearly that day preaching the most famous sermon of all time, the "Sermon On The Mount" (Matt: 5,6,7). Nowhere in scripture is it asserted that 'the whole crowd was able to hear every word spoken on that mountain that day.' 

However, we do know that someone heard the sermon because we have it recorded in scripture, and that is what truly matters. Someone was enlisted by the Spirit of The Everlasting One to hear and to keep a record of the words of our God to us. I seriously doubt that the people in the back could hear well enough to be the ones who gave us the record of His discourse, but they wouldn't have to; there were the ones up front. 

Matt 5:1 says that He saw this multitude of people and He went up on the mountain and "when He was set, His disciples came to Him." The writer of this gospel book was one of those disciples mentioned in that text. Surely he heard him, he was right there with Him. 

It would be great to imagine that when the Son of God spoke His voice could be heard by anyone interested in what He had to say, but I have doubts about this. I imagine it was hard hearing Him for many in attendance, but one thing is for sure;

Matthew heard Him... Selah

February 04 2017 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Graham Ries Supporter

As both Cassius d'Souza and Tim Maas say above, people of this period were far more resourceful than we give them credit for. As Tim says, they used a network of "repeaters," people just at the edge of the orators audibly vocal limit who would listen intently to what the speaker was saying, and then repeat it on, as the process repeated itself. IN this manner, crowds of untold thousands could "hear" Jesus' words... An excellent portrayal of this method is seen in the Sermon on the Mount scene of the incredible made for TV series, "The Chosen." (It's in the opening episode of Season 2 I think...)

January 09 2024 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Tim Maas Supporter Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

Speakers from ancient to modern times delivered orations and addresses to large outdoor crowds long before the advent of voice-amplification equipment. I would say that a combination of voice projection on the part of the speaker; proximity of the listeners to the speaker; attention on the part of the listeners; physical elevation of the speaker (as in the Sermon on the Mount); and the natural acoustics of the setting could all have played a part. Also, perhaps there were individuals spaced at outward intervals from the speaker who repeated or relayed what the speaker was saying to those who were located outside of normal hearing range.

February 04 2017 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Cassius D'Souza Learn More'>Supporter

People were more resourceful then as compared to now, they knew how to make do with whatever was available they surely knew how to find a way out. 
I would say that they would follow a certain hierarchy where the elders and the men would find a place close enough to Jesus to hear his voice clearly, then as a natural course they would discuss and calibrate what they heard among themselves and then finally take the message to their families who were at some distance. 
It does sound like a game of Chinese whispers, however i don't doubt they they had much better memory retention at that time.
e.g before cell phones when only landlines were used, many people would actually memorize scores of phone numbers, try doing that now?

February 10 2017 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report