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Bible Dictionaries
Hear
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words
or A. Verb.
Shâma‛ (שָׁמַע, Strong's #8085), “to hear, hearken, listen, obey, publish.” This word occurs throughout the Semitic languages including biblical Hebrew and Aramaic. Shâma‛ occurs in all historical layers of Hebrew, and about 1,160 times in the Bible. The word is attested 9 times in biblical Aramaic.
Basically, this verb means to “hear” something with one’s ears, but there are several other nuances. In Gen. 37:17, a man told Joseph that he “heard” Joseph’s brothers say, “Let us go to Dothan”; in other words, he unintentionally “overheard” them say it. Shâma‛ can also be used of “eavesdropping, or intentionally listening in on a conversation; so Sarah “overheard” what the three men said to Abram (Gen. 18:10).
Joseph asked his brothers to “listen” as he recounted what he had dreamed (Gen. 37:6). In 1 Chron. 28:2, David told his audience to “listen” as he spoke; they were to give him their undivided attention.
To “hear” something may imply to “have knowledge,” as when Abimelech told Abraham that he did not know about the controversy over the wills because no one had told him and neither had he “heard” it (Gen. 21:26). Shâma‛ may also imply to “gain knowledge” or to “get knowledge”: “… The Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard [the report] …” (Jer. 37:5).
Again, the word may mean to “come into knowledge about.” Moses told the unclean men to wait while he “listened” to what the Lord would command regarding them (Num. 9:8). His intent clearly was more than just to “hear” something; he intended to “gain some knowledge” from the Lord.
The verb can represent the mere “hearing” of something, as when Adam and Eve “heard” the sound of God walking in the garden (Gen. 3:8—first biblical occurrence). To “make someone hear” something (without any specification of what was heard) suggests “summoning” the person (1 Kings 15:22).
“Hearing” can be both intellectual and spiritual. Spiritually, one may “hear” God’s Word (Num. 24:4), or “learn” it from God. Conversely, God told Abraham that He had “heard” his prayer and would act accordingly (Gen. 17:20). In this context, to “hear” means not only to hear what is said, but to agree with its intention or petition (cf. Gen. 16:11). In the case of hearing and hearkening to a higher authority, shâma‛ can mean to “obey.” In Abraham’s seed, all nations would be blessed because he “heard” (obeyed) God’s voice (Gen. 22:18).
Another nuance of intellectual “hearing” appears in Gen. 11:7, in which we are told that God planned to confuse human language, “that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
To have a “hearing heart” is to have “discernment” or “understanding” (1 Kings 3:9). Certainly when Moses told Israel’s judges to “hear” cases, he meant more than listening with one’s ear. He meant for them to examine the merits of a case, so as to render a just decision (Deut. 1:16).
B. Nouns.
Shôma‛ (שֹׁמַע, Strong's #8089), means “things heard by accident; hearsay.” This word appears infrequently in the Old Testament, as in Josh. 6:27: “So the Lord was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country.” Shêma‛ (שֵׁמַע, Strong's #8088), “something heard by design; report.” The Old Testament attests this word 17 times. Gen. 29:13 contains one occurrence: “And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings [shêma‛] of Jacob his sister’s son.… Shemû‛âh (שְׁמוּעָה, Strong's #8052), “revelation; something heard.” This word appears 27 times. One appearance is in Isa. 28:9: “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine [shemû‛âh]?”
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Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Hear'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/vot/h/hear.html. 1940.
