שֶׁ֫מַע

# שֶׁ֫מַע (shema): Sound The Hebrew word *shema* designates "sound" in its basic meaning. With only a single occurrence in the biblical text, this word represents a relatively rare term for auditory phenomena in Hebrew Scripture. The limited attestation of *shema* in the biblical corpus—appearing only once—distinguishes it from more frequently used synonyms for sound or hearing in Hebrew. This rarity suggests that while the word was part of the Hebrew vocabulary available to biblical writers, other terms were preferred for most contexts involving auditory experience. The word's presence in at least one biblical passage confirms it as a legitimate lexical item rather than a scribal anomaly. Without additional contextual examples from Scripture itself, the precise nuances of how *shema* functioned in biblical discourse—whether it carried specialized connotations or applied to particular types of sounds—cannot be determined from the available data. The single occurrence indicates the word existed and was used, but the full range of its semantic field and rhetorical significance remains limited by the minimal textual evidence.