Hebrew word · H8089

שֹׁ֫מַע

shame'o

report

A rare noun, 'report, news, rumour, fame', literally 'a hearing': what people hear and pass on about someone. It comes from shamaʿ, 'to hear', the root of the Shema.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

report, rumour, news, fame

Another spelling of she.ma (שֵׁ֫מַע "report" H8088B)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Joshua 6:27

Range of meaning

A rare noun, 'report, news, rumour, fame', literally 'a hearing': what people hear and pass on about someone. It comes from shamaʿ, 'to hear', the root of the Shema.

Against the English

'Fame' (BSB, KJV, ESV) is acceptable. Today, though, 'fame' suggests celebrity and admiration. The Hebrew is closer to 'reports about him', and for Canaanites those reports caused dread (2:9–11; 5:1). 'Reputation' or 'the news of him' is nearer.

How it drifted

English 'fame' once meant simply 'report, rumour' (Latin fama), which is why the KJV could use it. It has since narrowed to positive celebrity.

Used elsewhere in the period

Joshua 9:9: the Gibeonites say, 'we have heard his report (shomʿo)', meaning Yahweh's, and what he did in Egypt. Esther 9:4: Mordecai's 'report (shomʿo) went through all the provinces'. Also Num 14:15 ('nations who have heard your report') and Jer 6:24 ('we have heard the report of it').

From the study of Jeremiah 6:24

Range of meaning

The thing heard: a report, news, rumour, a reputation that travels. It is closely related to שְׁמוּעָה (shemuʿah, 'tidings') and is often used of news about a person or nation spreading abroad (e.g. Genesis 29:13; Joshua 6:27; 1 Kings 10:1, the 'report' of Solomon).

Against the English

The BSB, WEB and NASB have 'report' and the NIV has 'reports'. YLT's 'sound' copies the root. KJV's 'fame' was accurate in 1611 but now misleads (see drift).

How it drifted

English 'fame' (from Latin fama, 'rumour, report') used to mean news that gets around, good or bad. It has since narrowed to celebrity or renown.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint uses ἀκοή (akoē, 'hearing, report'), the same word behind 'Lord, who has believed our report?' (Isaiah 53:1 LXX, quoted in Romans 10:16). Hearing a report and collapsing in fear is a set pattern: Exodus 15:14 ('the peoples heard, they tremble; writhing seized the inhabitants of Philistia'), Joshua 2:11, 2 Samuel 4:1.

Where it appears

Joshua · 2

  1. Joshua 6:27 שָׁמְע֖וֹ [the] report of him

    So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.

    Here: 'What is heard about him': the news and talk about him. It comes from the verb 'to hear' (shamaʿ), which runs all through Joshua 2–10, where Canaanites keep 'hearing' what Israel's God has done. Grammatically 'him' most naturally means Joshua.

  2. Joshua 9:9 שָׁמְע֔וֹ [the] report of him

    “Your servants have come from a very distant land,” they replied, “because of the fame of the LORD your God. For we have heard the reports about Him: all that He did in Egypt,

    Here: A noun from the same root as 'heard', literally 'his hearing', meaning the news that has spread about him. Hebrew reads 'we heard his hearing' (shamaʿnu shomʿo), a deliberate echo: the news travelled and reached them.

Esther · 1

  1. Esther 9:4 וְשָׁמְע֖וֹ and [the] report of him

    For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 6:24 שָׁמְע֖וֹ [the] report of it

    We have heard the report; our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us, pain like that of a woman in labor.

    Here: 'The report of it/him.' The noun comes from the same root as the verb, so the phrase runs 'we heard its hearing.' 'It' is the people coming from the north (v. 22). The news of them is enough to break the city's nerve.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.