shama, “to hear,” strong’s H8085

First occurrence

And they heard the voice of YHVH God walking in the garden toward the cool of the day; and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of YHVH God amongst the trees of the garden. Gen 3:8

Original Hebrew

Strong’s H8085  שמע  shama, a primitive root, “to hear, to listen and attend, to hear and answer, to obey or give heed.” The pictographs are shin + mem + ayin.

shin ש = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again
mem מ = the water, thus chaos, mighty, blood
ayin ע = the eye, thus watch, know, shade

Breath passes through the front teeth (shin) expelling water (mem) as vapor from the body. When we listen, we breathe intently as we focus on what is being said so that we can comprehend it (ayin). In the Hebraic worldview, shama, to listen, is an active and not a passive verb. If we hear what is said but do not act on or respond to what is said, then we have not heard at all. Thus shama includes an implication of obedience as Deu 6:4 indicates.

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