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אֱלִישָׁמָע

𐤀𐤋𐤉𐤔𐤌𐤏

Elishama

H476 noun

SILEX Entry

Root אל-שמע God, to hear, to listen, to attend

Definition

A personal name meaning 'El/God has heard' or 'My God has heard.' Used as the name of several individuals in the Hebrew Bible, primarily Israelite men. The name combines the divine element 'El' (God) with a form of the verb 'to hear.' The sense reflects either the declarative statement of divine attentiveness or a commemoration of answered petition.

Semantic Range

a male personal name; used for Israelite men as an affirmation that God has heard (a prayer, a plea, a birth, or suffering); commemoration of divine response through child-naming; expression of faith in divine attentiveness; not a title or office

Root / Etymology

Compound formed from אֵל (El, 'God') and שָׁמַע (shamaʻ, 'to hear'). The name reflects a Hebrew naming practice in which theological affirmation or prayer is embedded in personal names. The verb element is likely a perfect form with 1st person singular suffix ('[God] has heard me/my') or a nominal form ('God of hearing').

Historical & Contextual Notes

In the Hebrew Bible, אֱלִישָׁמָע is used for at least seven different males, including a son of David and prominent figures during the monarchic period. These names often functioned as faith statements or remembrances of divine intervention. The name is not a title but a theophoric personal name. Later English translations sometimes read this as 'Elishama,' with no change in meaning. In ancient Israelite onomastics, such names emphasized a theological worldview in which divine attentiveness or answered prayer was memorialized through naming. The phrase 'God of hearing' in some glosses is less precise; the construction more naturally means 'My God has heard' or 'God has heard.' The English term 'Jew' does not apply to any bearers of this name in biblical usage, as they are all pre-exilic Israelites or Judahites.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from אֵל and שָׁמַע; God of hearing; Elishama, the name of seven Israelites; Elishama.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

אל-שמע (ʾ-l-š-m-ʿ) — God, to hear, to listen, to attend

Word Forms

2 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H476-01 אֱלִישָׁמָ֖ע elishama HNp Elishama My God has heard 13
H476-02 וֶ/אֱלִישָׁמָ֥ע veelishama HC/Np and Elishama and My-God-has-heard 4

Occurrences in Scripture

17 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H476-01 Numbers 1:10 אֱלִישָׁמָ֖ע elishama HNp Elishama My God has heard
H476-01 Numbers 2:18 אֱלִישָׁמָ֖ע elishama HNp Elishama My God has heard
H476-01 Numbers 7:48 אֱלִֽישָׁמָ֖ע elishama HNp Elishama My God has heard
H476-01 Numbers 7:53 אֱלִישָׁמָ֖ע elishama HNp Elishama My God has heard
H476-01 Numbers 10:22 אֱלִישָׁמָ֖ע elishama HNp Elishama My God has heard
H476-02 2 Samuel 5:16 וֶ/אֱלִישָׁמָ֥ע veelishama HC/Np and Elishama and My-God-has-heard
H476-01 2 Kings 25:25 אֱלִ֨ישָׁמָ֜ע elishama HNp Elishama My God has heard
H476-01 Jeremiah 36:12 אֱלִישָׁמָ֣ע elishama HNp Elishama My God has heard
H476-01 Jeremiah 36:20 אֱלִישָׁמָ֣ע elishama HNp Elishama My God has heard
H476-01 Jeremiah 36:21 אֱלִישָׁמָ֣ע elishama HNp Elishama My God has heard
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