What Does Proverbs 7:24 Mean?
And now, sons, hear and respond to me, and set your ear to 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
Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.THE KEY
The verse pairs hearing with sustained attention, showing that listening is a movement from receiving a voice to staying with its words.
THE MEANING
The voice addresses you now: hear and respond, then hold your attention on the words being spoken. Listening here is active reception, not sound merely passing through.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the assumption that hearing is only sound reaching the ear: the verse joins hearing to deliberate attention.
THE ROOT
שִׁמְעוּ
shim'u
GROWS FROM
שמע
To hear, listen, and heed; when response is implied, to hear and respond.
“hear and respond” in this verse is shim'u. The root שמע holds hearing and heeding together, so the first command already leans toward response. Paired with the next verb, it begins a movement from receiving the voice to attending to what it says.
ALSO GROWS
shomeaʿ: One who hears; a listener.
שֹׁמֵעַ
This branch names the person receiving the voice, making the command a call to active listening.
shemuʿah: A report or tidings; what is heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
The same root can name a message received by hearing, linking the listener to the words carried by the voice.
הַקְשִׁיבוּ
haqshivu
GROWS FROM
קשב
To listen attentively, give ear, or pay heed.
“set your ear” in this verse is haqshivu. The second verb gathers attention toward the words. Beside שמע, it shows listening as both receiving the voice and staying with its meaning.
ALSO GROWS
qashav: To listen attentively or give ear.
קָשַׁב
This verb carries the focused attention called for in the verse.
maqshiv: One who listens attentively.
מַקְשִׁיב
This form describes the attentive listener toward whom the command points.
THE PATTERN
Living instruction calls for hearing that receives the message and attention that stays with it.
Hear and respond, O Israel. The LORD our God is one LORD.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.Know this, my beloved brothers. Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to swell.THE THREAD
Hear and respond, children, the straightening of a father, and give ear to perceive understanding.Proverbs 4:1 repeats the same Hebrew commands for “hear” and “attend,” linking this appeal to receiving instruction. It makes the paired commands a movement from hearing into understanding.
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