What does Hashem mean?
Hashem is Hebrew for "the Name" — a way of speaking about God without pronouncing the personal name He gave to Moses. So the question really has two halves: why the Name is avoided, and what the Name means when God Himself explains it.
"The Name" as a Substitute
The custom behind the word is old, and it grew out of one verse in the law about not blaspheming the divine name. Reference works trace the practice and its cost:
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe true pronunciation of Jehovah is said to be lost. When the Jews read the Old Testament they never say it, because of a strained reading of Leviticus 24:16, but instead say "the name," "the great and terrible name," and so on.
Substitutes were used in its place, and the habit was strict enough to be enforced with threats. William Kelly notes how the rule worked in practice:
William Kelly"Hallowed be Your Name": compare Leviticus 24:16, by misusing which the Jews came to treat Yahveh (Jehovah) as forbidden, using it only in the temple services, while in the synagogues they used Adonay (Lord) alone… In everyday life they spoke of "the Name" (in Aramaic, Shema). In the Tosefta "Sanhedrin" we read, "He who pronounces the Tetragrammaton has no part in the world to come."
What Is Being Avoided
Reverence was the motive, and commentators do not sneer at it. One writer draws a pointed comparison:
A. J. PollockIt appears the Jews had a special reverence for the name Jehovah, so much so that they would not let the name pass their lips. They put Elohim or Adonai in its place, depending on the vowel points that went with it… If only we Christians showed more reverence when we take the sacred name of God on our lips!
But the practice also carried a loss. When the Hebrew Scriptures were put into Greek, the translators followed the same custom, and later Bibles inherited it:
The Bible TreasuryThe Jews, from time immemorial, never pronounce the word Jehovah… In consequence the word Jehovah does not appear once in the Septuagint; it is always rendered by Kurios, or Lord, which was an ordinary title of respect between one man and another… From this, a great deal of the meaning of the Bible is sometimes overlooked, and the proper name of the invisible God does not appear where it ought to be. In our printed Bibles, when Lord stands for Jehovah, it is set in four capital letters: LORD.
The Meaning God Gave It
At the burning bush God did not hide the sense of His name; He unfolded it. Writers link that self-description to a promise that runs to the end of the Bible:
Frederick W. GrantJehovah is the name whose inspired translation is given in Exodus 3 — "I am" — expanded to its full meaning in the book of Revelation as, "He who is, and who was, and who is to come." So in unchanging existence He follows through the changes of created being, holding up creaturehood with the strength of eternity.
The name was not new in Moses' day, but its weight was. Earlier generations had heard the word without grasping what stood inside it:
F. B. HoleHe had been known to the patriarchs as God Almighty, He had been called the Most High, but "Jehovah" carries in itself a fulness of meaning not found in these. The actual name, Jehovah, was known to the patriarchs, yet they did not understand its full force, which was now to come to light through Moses. Having come to light, it stands good for ever.
The Name Stands for the Person
Where the Old Testament praises "the name," it is not praising a word. One commentator uses the Hebrew term itself to make the point:
Arno Clemens Gaebelein"The Name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe" (verse 10). The Name (Ha-Shem, in Hebrew) stands for Jehovah Himself. He is the place of refuge, of shelter, protection and safety for all who turn to Him in faith.
Christ and the Name
The name no Jew would pronounce was spoken by Jesus of Himself, and readers of the Gospels are meant to hear the echo:
Frederick W. GrantHe claims to be the self-existent One, as in His words to the Jews: "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). This is the incommunicable name of Deity, by which He revealed Himself to Moses and to Israel… He is the Abiding, the Unchangeable, the Eternal. Jehovah is simply the synonym of this.
And He carried the revealing of God one step further, from a title of power to a relationship:
H. J. VineIf, as Proverbs 18:10 tells us, "The Name of Jehovah is a strong tower," into which the righteous runs and is safe, the Name of the righteous Father, unknown by the world, is a dwelling of divine love, where there is safety truly, but also endless riches of holy joy.
A Man Called Hashem
The same word also appears in Scripture as an ordinary personal name, so a reader may meet it without any reference to God at all — "a Gizonite, father of some of David's mighty men. 1 Chronicles 11:34. Apparently the same as Jashen in 2 Samuel 23:32" (Morrish Bible Dictionary).
Summary
- The Name. Hashem means "the Name" — the everyday substitute Jewish speech used in place of the name God gave at the bush.
- The reverence. It came from a strict reading of Leviticus 24:16; the fear of misusing the name grew so great that its true pronunciation was lost.
- The revelation. The Name God explained is "I am" — the self-existent, unchanging One, who was known to the patriarchs as God Almighty but not yet understood as this.
- The Person. "The name of the LORD is a strong tower" is not about a word but about Him: the Name stands for the One who shelters those who run to Him.
- The fulfilment. The Name no one would speak, Jesus took on His own lips — "Before Abraham was, I am" — and then made known the Father's Name, a refuge that is also a home of love.