What Does Genesis 37:6 Mean in the King James?

And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:

Genesis 37:6 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The dream enters shared life through a request to be heard before anyone weighs what it means.

THE MEANING

When a private image or insight presses toward expression, this verse shows it entering shared life through a request to be heard. Reception comes before interpretation: the listener is asked to make room for the dream before its meaning is weighed.

THE ROOT

שִׁמְעוּ

shimʿu

GROWS FROM

שמע

To hear or listen, with the sense extending to heeding and responding.

The plural imperative makes this a request to a group, while the root ⁨שמע⁩ (shamaʿ, hear and heed) gives listening the sense of engaged reception. Joseph asks for the dream to reach his brothers as something they attend to, not merely as sound.

ALSO GROWS

shamaʿ: Hear, listen, heed.

שָׁמַע

This verbal form shows that hearing can include taking in and responding to what is heard.

shemuʿah: A report or news; something heard.

שְׁמוּעָה

The branch links hearing with what is carried from one person to another, as Joseph’s dream is shared with his brothers.

THE PATTERN

A word or vision becomes relational through attentive hearing before it becomes understood.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

Deuteronomy 6:4 · KJVThe same root ⁨שמע⁩ (shamaʿ, hear and heed) opens a call to receive what follows.

And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

1 Samuel 3:10 · KJVHearing is presented as receptive attention that is ready to answer.

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Romans 10:17 · KJVHearing is the way the word reaches a person and gives rise to trust.

THE THREAD

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

Deuteronomy 6:4 · KJV

Deuteronomy opens with the same root ⁨שמע⁩ (shamaʿ, hear and heed), giving Joseph’s request the sense of attentive reception. Here, as there, hearing is the threshold through which what follows can be received.

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