שָׁמַע shama

Hebrew word for “to hear” · Strong’s H8085 · used 1,159 times in 1,072 verses

Explore it in the Word Atlas

Meaning

: hear; v; 1) to hear, listen to, obey;

Senses in the lexicon

• to hear: hear (965)
• to hear: obey (133)
• to hear: proclaim (49)
• to hear: understand (9)
• to hear: judge (2)
• to hear: welcome (1)

How it is translated

Glosses given for shama in context, with how often each is used:

• heard 169
• hear 132
• listen 110
• listened 101
• have heard 76
• will hear 73
• will listen 57
• have listened 30
• when heard 29
• listen to 24
• hearing 20
• has heard 15

Where it is used

Also in 27 more books.

Chapters where it is used most

1 Kings 8 (12), 2 Kings 19 (10), 2 Chronicles 6 (10), Isaiah 48 (10), Deuteronomy 4 (9), Isaiah 37 (9), Jeremiah 11 (9), Jeremiah 26 (9), Numbers 30 (8), Jeremiah 7 (8)

Forms

• שׁמעו 164
• שׁמע 162
• וישׁמע 94
• שׁמעתי 48
• תשׁמע 44
• ישׁמע 43
• לשׁמע 43
• שׁמעת 41
• וישׁמעו 39
• ישׁמעו 30

Words used with it

Words that share verses with shama more often than their overall frequency would suggest:

• קוֹל qol “voice” 235
• דָּבָר davar “word” 211
• דָבַר davar “to speak” 120
• אֹזֶן ozen “ear” 75
• זֶה zeh “this” 90
• אִם im “if” 80
• אַתָּה attah “you(m.s.)” 80
• רָאָה raah “to see” 80
• נִי ni “me” 69
• רַע ra “bad” 61
• יָשַׁב yashav “to dwell” 69
• הָלַךְ halakh “to go” 76

Key verses

The verses using shama that are most connected by cross-references (King James Version):

• Exodus 19:5 — Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
• Deuteronomy 28:15 — But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command…
• Isaiah 1:15 — And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
• Isaiah 45:21 — Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the…
• Isaiah 48:1 — Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and…
• Isaiah 50:10 — Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the…
• Isaiah 55:3 — Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
• Isaiah 66:19 — And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and…
• Jeremiah 31:18 — I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed turn thou me, and I shall be turned;…
• Ezekiel 33:31 — And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth…
• Zechariah 7:11 — But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
• Malachi 3:16 — Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that…

See all 1,072 verses in the Word Atlas

Hebrew and Greek text, tagging, glosses and lexicon definitions: STEPBible.org, Tyndale House Cambridge (TAHOT, TAGNT, TBESH, TBESG; CC BY 4.0), adapted. Counts follow King James verse numbering; a word counts each time it is written.