שָׁמַע
shâmaʻ · shaw-mah'
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)
Lexicon
Derivation: a primitive root;
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)
- to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.
- causatively, to tell, etc.)
Definition from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890). Wording is Strong's own, including his etymological notes, which are not separate meanings.
KJV renderings: [idiom] attentively, call (gather) together, [idiom] carefully, [idiom] certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, [idiom] diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear(-ken, tell), [idiom] indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, (make a) proclaim(-ation), publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, [idiom] surely, tell, understand, whosoever (heareth), witness.
Letters
- שShin300
Picture: two front teeth (or a composite bow)
- Concrete
- teeth · sharp · press · bow
- Extended
- to consume · to destroy · to press or grind · to change · again
- מMem40
Picture: waves of water
- Concrete
- water · sea · blood · liquid
- Extended
- chaos · mighty and uncontrollable · the masses · from / out of
- עAyin70
Picture: an eye
- Concrete
- eye · spring of water
- Extended
- to see · to know · experience · to watch
Possible cultural reading (auto-composed)
to consume, to destroy › water, chaos, the mighty deep › to see and know
To consume, to destroy of water, chaos, the mighty deep that works to see and know.
Interpretive, not lexical. The dictionary sense of שָׁמַע above is the attested meaning; this pictographic reading is a tradition about how the sign-shapes may have been heard. Both can be held at once, they are answering different questions.
Usage
1160 occurrences · 1160 OT · 0 NT · 539 distinct forms
KJV renderings of this word, by how often each one is used.
- heard130 · 26%
- hear124 · 24%
- hearken30 · 6%
- hearkened26 · 5%
- and hear26 · 5%
- to hear19 · 4%
- then hear13 · 3%
- shall hear12 · 2%
- i have heard11 · 2%
- hath heard11 · 2%
- not hearken10 · 2%
- to be heard9 · 2%
- heareth9 · 2%
- therefore hear9 · 2%
- was heard8 · 2%
- obey7 · 1%
- we have heard7 · 1%
- and i heard7 · 1%
- unto them, hear6 · 1%
- and publish6 · 1%
- is heard6 · 1%
- will hear6 · 1%
- had heard6 · 1%
- and hearken5 · 1%
- obeyed5 · 1%
Where it is used, by book.
Inflected forms found in the text.
Counts are computed from the tagged Hebrew and Greek text aligned to the King James Version, not from an estimate.