First occurrence
Speak, you who ride on white donkeys, who sit in judges’ attire,
and who walk along the road. Jud 5:10
The primitive root
Strong’s H7878 שיח siyach, “to germinate,” either of new shoots, or of the thoughts of the mind, to consider thoughts and speak them. The modern letters are shin + yud + chet, but according to the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon, the shin was transposed from an original sin in the ancient pictographs.
sin ס = thorn (grab, hate, protect)
yud י = closed hand (work, throw, worship)
chet ח = wall (outside, divide, half)
The parable being told by the Hebrew Root Word is of taking that which has grabbed hold (sin) within, and throwing it (yud) outside (chet); thus a plant puts forth new shoots, and the mind or heart of a man puts forth or meditates on his thoughts. As well, a cognate word is “to sweep,” as what is tracked in and accumulates inside, is thrown outside.
This verb has a positive spin, and a negative spin. Its positive spin is to meditate, to mull over, often aloud to oneself, but also, dwelling on a thing with God in the conversation, so it is sometimes translated as “pray,” however, that shortchanges this word’s meaning.
The idea is that throwing your thoughts outside in meditation results in a positive, contented, or peaceful humming.
Its negative spin is to murmur, the negative “humming” as the expressed disquietude of the heart or mind. In its negative spin siyach is often translated as “murmuring,” “complaining,” or “grumbling against.”
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