H8085 — שָׁמַע (shâmaʻ)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H8085
Original: שָׁמַע
Transliteration: shâmaʻ
Pronunciation: shaw-mah
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Root: Primitive root (no derived-from reference)
Occurrences: 1072 unique verses (1487 tokens) across 39 books
First Occurrence: Gen 3:8 — "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.):— attentively, call (gather) together, carefully, certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear(-ken, tell), indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, (make a) proclaim(-ation), publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, surely, tell, understand, whosoever (heareth), witness.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	%	Typical Meaning
Qal	1051	90.0%	hear, listen, obey, understand
Hiphil	63	5.4%	cause to hear, proclaim, declare, announce
Niphal	43	3.7%	be heard, be reported, be made known
Peal	8	0.7%	hear, obey (Aramaic equivalent)
Piel	2	0.2%	summon, call together
Hithpael	1	0.1%	(reflexive/reciprocal hearing)

The overwhelming Qal dominance (90%) reflects the word's primary role as a direct action verb. The Hiphil causative ("cause to hear" = proclaim, announce) and Niphal passive ("be heard") account for most remaining usage.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
heard / hear / Hear	329	30.7%
hearken / hearkened / Hearken	136	12.7%
obey / obeyed / Obey / obedient	48	4.5%
understand / understood	8	0.7%
publish / proclaimed	10	0.9%
diligently	8	0.7%
Other (contextual renderings)	533	49.7%

The massive "other" category reflects KJV rendering shama within larger phrases ("And when he heard," "I have heard," "they would not," etc.) where the verb is embedded in context rather than translated as a standalone word.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Jeremiah	168	12.3
Deuteronomy	82	8.6
Micah	8	7.6
1 Samuel	60	7.4
Isaiah	95	7.4
1 Kings	56	6.9
Amos	10	6.8
Nehemiah	27	6.7
Nahum	3	6.4
2 Chronicles	45	5.5
2 Kings	39	5.4
Habakkuk	3	5.4
Obadiah	1	4.8
2 Samuel	28	4.0
Joshua	26	4.0
Daniel	14	3.9
Genesis	58	3.8
Zechariah	8	3.8
Zephaniah	2	3.8
Ezekiel	46	3.6
Judges	22	3.6
Exodus	44	3.6
Malachi	2	3.6
Job	37	3.5
Proverbs	30	3.3
Psalms	78	3.2
Ecclesiastes	7	3.2
Numbers	31	2.4
Lamentations	4	2.6
Esther	4	2.4
1 Chronicles	13	1.4
Hosea	3	1.5
Leviticus	7	0.8
Song of Solomon	3	—
Ruth	2	—
Haggai	1	2.6
Jonah	1	2.1
Joel	1	1.4
Ezra	3	1.1

Pattern: Heaviest concentration in Jeremiah (12.3/100v) and Deuteronomy (8.6/100v) — the two books most concerned with covenant obedience and the consequences of refusing to hear God's voice. Prophetic literature (Isaiah, Micah, Amos) and historical narrative (1 Samuel, 1-2 Kings) follow. The word spans all 39 OT books with a Strong's mapping, making it one of the most broadly distributed Hebrew verbs.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Physical / Sensory Hearing¶

Simple auditory perception — hearing sounds, voices, news, or reports. - Gen 3:8 — "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden" - Gen 14:14 — "And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants" - 1 Sam 4:6 — "And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout" - Jer 4:19 — "my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet"

2. Obedience / Covenantal Response¶

Hearing that issues in active compliance — the hinge verb of covenant fidelity. The formula "hearken to the voice of the LORD" (shama beqol YHWH) is the conditional verb for blessings and curses. - Deut 28:1 — "if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments... all these blessings shall come on thee" - Deut 28:15 — "if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God... all these curses shall come upon thee" - Exo 19:5 — "if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me" - 1 Sam 15:22 — "Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice"

3. Refusal to Hear / Covenant Rebellion¶

The negated form — Israel's characteristic failure, especially in prophetic indictment. Often paired with "inclined not their ear" and "stiffened their neck." - Jer 7:24 — "But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart" - Jer 11:8 — "Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart" - Isa 42:24 — "Who gave Jacob for a spoil... did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law" - Ezek 3:7 — "the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me"

4. God Hearing Prayer / Cries¶

God as the subject of shama — hearing the cries, prayers, and petitions of his people. A foundational theme of biblical prayer theology. - Gen 21:17 — "And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven" - Exo 2:24 — "And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham" - Deut 26:7 — "And when we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice" - Isa 65:24 — "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear"

5. Proclamation / Making Heard (Hiphil)¶

Causative usage — to cause others to hear, i.e., to proclaim, announce, publish, or declare. - Jer 4:5 — "Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet" - Isa 52:7 — "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace" - Deut 4:36 — "Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee" - Jer 31:7 — "shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people"

6. Understanding / Discernment¶

Hearing in the sense of comprehension — grasping meaning, not just sound. Overlaps with biyn (understand). - Gen 11:7 — "let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech" - Gen 42:23 — "And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter" - Isa 6:9 — "Hear ye indeed, but understand not" (judicial hardening: hearing without comprehension) - Deut 29:4 — "Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day"

7. Wisdom Reception¶

Proverbs-specific usage — hearing instruction, counsel, and reproof as the mark of wisdom versus folly. - Prov 1:5 — "A wise man will hear, and will increase learning" - Prov 1:33 — "But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil" - Prov 8:33 — "Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not" - Prov 12:15 — "he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	371x (35%)	"hearken to the voice of the LORD" — covenant formula
אָמַר (ʼamar)	H559	317x (30%)	narrative frame: "said... heard"
קוֹל (qowl)	H6963	235x (22%)	"heard the voice" / "obey the voice" (shama beqol)
דָּבָר (dabar)	H1697	209x (19%)	"heard the words" / "hear the word of the LORD"
אֱלֹהִים (elohim)	H430	199x (19%)	"obey the voice of the LORD your God"
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisrael)	H3478	151x (14%)	"Hear, O Israel" (Shema formula)
עַם (am)	H5971	140x (13%)	"the people heard" — communal hearing
עָשָׂה (asah)	H6213	122x (11%)	"hear and do" — the obedience sequence
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	121x (11%)	"when the king heard" — royal response narratives
דָבַר (dabar, verb)	H1696	120x (11%)	"speak... hear" complementary pair

The shama + qowl collocation (22%) is the most theologically significant: it forms the standard covenant-obedience formula "hearken to the voice of the LORD" (Deut 28:1, 15) and the common refusal formula "they hearkened not to his voice."

Synonyms¶

H238 אָזַן (ʼazan) — give ear, listen attentively (formal; often paired with shama in parallel: "give ear... and hear")
H7181 קָשַׁב (qashab) — prick up the ears, attend closely (more intensive than shama; focused attention)
H14 אָבָה (ʼabah) — be willing, consent (overlaps with the obedience sense; about willingness)
H3045 יָדַע (yadaʻ) — know (overlaps with the understanding/discernment sense)
H995 בִּין (biyn) — understand, discern (overlaps with the comprehension sense)

Antonyms¶

(From context: no formally curated antonyms in SDBH, but functional opposites appear in the text) - Refusing to hear: expressed by negated shama (loʼ shamaʻ) rather than a separate antonym - H4784 מָרָה (marah) — rebel, be contentious (appears in antithesis: "rebel and not obey") - H3988 מָאַס (maʼas) — reject, despise (refusing the word heard)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
אָזַן (ʼazan)	H238	"hearken," "give ear"	ʼazan = deliberate ear-inclining; shama = broader hearing/obeying
קָשַׁב (qashab)	H7181	"hearken," "attend"	qashab = intensive focused attention; shama includes obedient response
שְׁמַע (shemaʻ)	H8086	"hear," "obey"	H8086 is the Aramaic cognate, used only in Daniel/Ezra
עָנָה (ʻanah)	H6030	"hear" (occasionally)	ʻanah = answer/respond; shama = perceive/obey
ὑπακούω (hupakouō)	G5219	"obey"	Greek NT term: "hear under" = submit to what is heard

Semantic Domains¶

[002004001003] Hear — primary domain; alongside ʼazan (H238), ʼozen (H241)
[002001002028] Willing — obedience sense; alongside ʼabah (H14), bachar (H977)
[002004002006] Judge — hearing judicial cases (Deut 1:16-17)
[002004002007] Know — understanding/perception sense

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
ἀκούω (akouō) G191	750	4.34	Dominant equivalent — covers hearing, obeying
εἰσακούω (eisakouō) G1522	173	4.15	"Listen to" — esp. God hearing prayer
φωνή (phōnē) G5456	228	3.47	"Voice" — paired with hearing contexts
οὖς (ous) G3775	63	3.16	"Ear" — physical hearing organ contexts
ἀκοή (akoē) G189	27	3.90	"Hearing/report" — noun form
ὑπακούω (hupakouō) G5219	25	3.46	"Obey" — specifically the obedience sense

The primary LXX mapping is overwhelmingly to ἀκούω (akouō) G191, which mirrors the same hear-obey duality in Greek. The secondary mapping to εἰσακούω (eisakouō) G1522 is notable — this compound form is used especially when God "listens to" human prayer. The mapping to ὑπακούω (hupakouō) G5219 captures only the obedience sense, showing how Greek sometimes disambiguates what Hebrew holds together.