issachar's ears
Preserved but no longer current.
Ass's ears. The allusion is to Gen. xlix, 14: "Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens." Is't possible that you, whose ears Are of the tribe of Issachar's . . . Should yet be deaf against a noise So roaring as the public voice?
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “issachar's ears” mean?
Ass's ears. The allusion is to Gen. xlix, 14: "Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens." Is't possible that you, whose ears Are of the tribe of Issachar's . . . Should yet be deaf against a noise So roaring as the public voice?
Is “issachar's ears” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.