To hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell , etc.)
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שָׁמַע (šāmaʿ) is a high-frequency Hebrew verb for hearing, listening, paying attention, understanding, heeding, obeying, receiving news, or causing something to be heard. Adam hears a sound, people hear reports, languages are or are not understood, God hears cries and prayer, communities are summoned to listen, and commands may be heeded or refused.
Reader summary
Full entry for שָׁמַע (H8085) · Open the biblical lexicon
שָׁמַע (šāmaʿ) is a high-frequency Hebrew verb for hearing, listening, paying attention, understanding, heeding, obeying, receiving news, or causing something to be heard. Adam hears a sound, people hear reports, languages are or are not understood, God hears cries and prayer, communities are summoned to listen, and commands may be heeded or refused.
The BSB source-word alignment has 1,159 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Listen (136), hear (134), heard (100), listened (27), obey (27).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 3:8. Its strongest book concentrations include Jeremiah (184), Isaiah (106), Deuteronomy (91), Psalms (79).
This entry includes 7 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
שָׁמַע (šāmaʿ) is a high-frequency Hebrew verb for hearing, listening, paying attention, understanding, heeding, obeying, receiving news, or causing something to be heard. Adam hears a sound, people hear reports, languages are or are not understood, God hears cries and prayer, communities are summoned to listen, and commands may be heeded or refused. Responsive obedience is an important contextual sense, especially in covenant instruction, but the verb does not erase the distinction between auditory perception and obedient action in every verse.
The Shema begins, 'Hear, Israel,' and continues with confession of the Lord and a call to covenant love and teaching. Exodus says God hears enslaved Israel's groaning, and many prayers trust that God hears. Prophets can speak to people who hear words but do not respond, making the gap between sound and obedience explicit. Wisdom commends listening before answering and receiving counsel. These settings show attention, understanding, response, justice, and relationship without making hearing a single inward act.
Human authority must still be evaluated. Israel can wrongly heed fear or refuse a faithful warning; Tamar's brother does not listen to her and violates her; false prophets demand an audience; rulers and communities ignore truth. 'Listen and obey' language cannot authorize abuse, override consent, or make a leader's claim equal to God's word. Deaf and hard-of-hearing people, auditory-processing differences, language barriers, and communication disabilities must not be treated as spiritual deficits.
H8085 appears in ordinary hearing, news, language comprehension, prayer, divine attention, covenant summons, counsel, testimony, refusal, obedience, proclamation, and scenes where power ignores a vulnerable speaker.
At Babel, speech is confused so people will not understand one another, giving the verb a language-comprehension sense.
God hears Israel's groaning under slavery and remembers the covenant with the ancestors.
Israel is called to listen to or obey God's voice and keep the covenant within the Sinai summons.
The Shema summons Israel to hear the confession about the Lord and the covenant instruction that follows.
Samuel responds, 'Speak, for your servant is listening,' after Eli helps him recognize the call.
Samuel contrasts listening to the Lord's voice with substituting sacrifice for the commanded response.
Amnon refuses to listen to Tamar and overpowers her, making ignored speech and violated consent central to the narrative.
Solomon asks for a listening or discerning heart to judge the people and distinguish good from evil.
People hear the prophet like a performer but do not put the words into practice, exposing passive consumption without response.
Answering before hearing is called folly and shame, commending patient attention before response.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Hebrew word. Hearing that demands obedience: listening as covenantal response, not mere acoustic perception.
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 1,165 lexical occurrence verses.
שָׁמַע is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Affirms God’s attentive response to prayer.Isaiah 38:1-8
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
H8085 helps teachers connect attention and response without collapsing them. Scripture portrays God hearing enslaved people, worshipers hearing covenant instruction, rulers receiving reports, learners accepting counsel, and audiences hearing words they refuse to practice. The Shema is communal formation, not a linguistic shortcut proving that every act of hearing is obedience.
Listening also has an ethical direction: Tamar speaks and is ignored, wisdom condemns answering before hearing, and prophets expose audiences that enjoy the messenger but refuse justice. Churches should make speech and worship accessible through interpretation, captioning, visual communication, assistive technology, clear language, and patience. Deafness, hearing loss, auditory-processing difference, trauma, or language barriers are not rebellion.
Claims that God spoke must be tested and must never require violence, secrecy, abuse, medical neglect, or surrender of consent. When voices or commands create distress or danger, compassionate spiritual discernment and qualified clinical support can work together.
Deut.6.4
H8085 can describe hearing sound, understanding language, receiving news, giving attention, heeding, obeying, and causing a message to be heard. Constructions and context determine the sense. The imperative 'hear' can introduce a summons to response, but lexical breadth should not be compressed into 'obey' everywhere.
New Testament hearing language continues themes of proclamation, understanding, response, hardened reception, and prayer through several Greek terms. Jesus' calls to hear belong to their Gospel settings and should not be used to make every H8085 occurrence a direct Christological command.