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I was wondering if there is a name meaning God Who Hears me.

El Roi speaks of The God Who Sees me. From Genesis 16:13 (ESV):

13 So she called the name of the LORD [El-Roi] who spoke to her, "You are a God of seeing," for she said, "Truly here I have seen him who looks after me."

Googling God Who Hears turned up one site that (incorrectly?) said Jehovah-Shammah (usually translated The Lord Who Is Present or The Lord Is There) meant God Who Hears me. Their given verse was Psalm 17:6 (ESV):

6 I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear [shama`] my words.

I don't know Hebrew at all, but checking Strong's online out of curiosity, [shama`] and [shammah] seem (to me) to be unrelated words.

Does anyone know of a name that meant God Who Hears me?

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    This quest may be better asked here: hermeneutics.stackexchange.com or judaism.stackexchange.com as I know of no Christian denomination who uses the names of God in this way.
    – The Freemason
    Jun 9, 2015 at 12:41
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    @TheFreemason -- It's pretty common in some circles; I've seen names of God used as worship service themes in protestant churches, and there are popular bible study guides based on studying one name of God at a time.
    – Nathaniel is protesting
    Jun 9, 2015 at 13:18
  • @Nathaniel I should have been more careful. There are many different denominations and within those, different practices (snake handling comes to mind). It is almost impossible to say, "these people do not exist" in regards to any topic. With that said, I still believe the question is better placed on the two other SE's mentioned.
    – The Freemason
    Jun 9, 2015 at 14:52
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is about the Hebrew language and perhaps a bit about Jewish culture, not about Christianity.
    – fredsbend
    Jun 9, 2015 at 19:42
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    This question is being discussed in a meta post: Asking other Christians a question about God
    – fredsbend
    Jun 9, 2015 at 20:20

1 Answer 1

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You are close: 'El Shama is what you are looking for. Shama means "to hear" (Strong's) and is found in Psalm 17:6, as you mention. Furthermore, the name Ishmael is derived from these two words:

And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction. (Genesis 16:11 (ESV))

The ESV note specifically says, "Ishmael means God hears," and so does Strong's Concordance.

There's also the name "Elishama," meaning "God has heard," which belongs to several Israelites listed in the genealogies of the OT (e.g., Numbers 1:10 and 1 Chronicles 2:41).

The "Shammah" rendering you saw may be due to the pronunciation; Strong's gives the phonetic spelling of Shama as "shaw-mah."

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  • Does "El Shama" appear anywhere in the Bible?
    – Mr. Bultitude
    Jun 9, 2015 at 13:29
  • Not that I can find. But I uncovered one more name that is transliterated even more closely than Ishmael; I've added it to my answer.
    – Nathaniel is protesting
    Jun 9, 2015 at 13:49
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    And for what it is worth, "the Lord has listened" in Gen 16:11 is translated from "Yahweh shaama."
    – Nathaniel is protesting
    Jun 9, 2015 at 13:57

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