שֶׁ֫מַע
she.ma
Shema
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew word שֶׁ֫מַע (She.mah) appears only once in the Bible. It is a proper noun, referring to a specific person, and is part of the semantic domain of proper names. This uniqueness of occurrence suggests that the information conveyed by She.mah might be of personal or family significance, but its specific meaning remains unclear without further context. Since the short definition is limited to "Shema" and this word is also known widely as a declaration, a more probable explanation for this single occurrence would be that it refers not to a person but possibly a declaration named after its author who was called She.mah. This leaves more room for interpretation about its meaning but suggests it's not a common name used in Hebrew society. Given the lack of context and definition, it's uncertain how significant She.mah is to our understanding of the biblical narrative. Without further research or context, it's difficult to draw any broader conclusions or implications from this enigmatic word.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
1 total occurrence across the text