What Does Proverbs 5:7 Mean?
And now, sons, hear and respond to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.THE KEY
The Hebrew pairs “hear me” with “do not turn aside,” making hearing a way of staying close to the words spoken.
THE MEANING
You are addressed now as a child: hear, and do not turn away from the words being spoken. The verse holds listening and staying near together; what reaches your ears remains present to you. Its urgency begins with “now.”
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that hearing is finished once sound reaches the ear: here, hearing continues as staying near the words.
THE ROOT
שִׁמְעוּ
shimʿu
GROWS FROM
שמע
To hear, listen, or heed.
“hear and respond to me” in this verse is shimʿu. The verse sets שִׁמְעוּ (hear) beside “do not turn aside,” so hearing means receiving the words in a way that keeps you near them. The same root names a report or message, something heard and carried onward, so the spoken words are more than passing sound.
ALSO GROWS
shemiʿah: Hearing or listening.
שְׁמִיעָה
This noun from the same root makes hearing an ongoing act, fitting the verse’s call to remain with the words.
shemuʿah: A report or news; something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch shows how what is heard becomes a message received, deepening the verse’s focus on the words being spoken.
nishmaʿ: Heard or audible.
נִשְׁמָע
This form from the same root describes what reaches the ear, while the verse asks for attention that does not then turn away.
THE PATTERN
Receiving the spoken word means remaining with it, so hearing continues as a lived response.
Tilt your ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and let the earth hear and respond to the words of my mouth.Bend your ear and come to me. Hear and respond, and your living soul shall live. I will cut a covenant of the ages with you, the steady faithful loves of David.But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.THE THREAD
Bend your ear and come to me. Hear and respond, and your living soul shall live. I will cut a covenant of the ages with you, the steady faithful loves of David.The same Hebrew root, שמע (shamaʿ, “hear”), appears in both commands. Proverbs links hearing with remaining near the spoken words; Isaiah shows that same receiving opening toward life and covenant.
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