The Name: Ha Shem and Divine Identity

The House of David Article 4

The Name of God: Ha Shem in The House of David

The Divine Identity: Glory and Presence

As you watch The House of David, you may notice that they refer to God in different ways. One of the things that I really appreciate about HOD is that they bring in Hebraic phrases and words to introduce us to the history and culture of the time. One of the ways they do this is through the phrase ha shem, meaning "the name." This is often how they refer to God, and it is deeply rooted in the tradition of the Israelites and even developed into something called "Name Theology."

For the ancient Israelites, there were two aspects of God that dominated their thinking. First, the immense weight and glory of God. The Hebrew word kābôd really captures this—it can literally be understood as "weighty" and has connotations of the "otherness" of God. The kābôd of God was unapproachable as it put on display the awe and grandeur of God.

The second aspect was the presence of God. Now, there is a bit of a crossover in …