qe.shev denotes attentive hearing or attention, whether absent in a situation or intensified in listening.

The attested use concerns attentive hearing or attention: it is absent where no answer or awakening follows, and it is intensified where a watcher listens closely.

1. Attentive hearing or its absence · dominant

   In 1 Kings 18:29, the masculine singular absolute form occurs in the report that there was no voice, no answer, and no one paid attention; in 2 Kings 4:31, it occurs where there was no voice and no attentiveness before the report that the youth did not awake. In Isaiah 21:7, the same form appears twice in the clause that the watcher listened with great attentiveness.

   1 Kings 18:292 Kings 4:31Isaiah 21:7

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB presents the term through “paid attention” in 1 Kings 18:29, “attentiveness” in 2 Kings 4:31, and “great attentiveness” in Isaiah 21:7. These are translation-level presentations rather than definitions.