Lema'an hashem (למען השם) means for heaven's sake in Hebrew.
It can also mean for the love of God. It is an interjection, and the Hebrew dictionary's own definitions are below.
for heaven's sake, for the love of God
The stress falls on the part in bold.
The dictionary gives one meaning for Lema'an hashem.
The definitions are in Hebrew, as the dictionary writes them.
- 1נאמר כדי לבטא רגש שלילי חזק.
The word Lema'an hashem is an interjection.
- Written with vowel points
- לְמַעַן הַשֵּׁם
- Written without vowel points
- למען השם
- Said
- lema'an hashem
- Root
- מ־ע־נ
- Gematria
- 535
This is how Lema'an hashem is said in other languages.
- English
- for heaven's sake, for the love of God
These words mean nearly the same as Lema'an hashem.
- השם ישמור
- רחמנא ליצלןGod forbid
- יא יאללה
A word with a dashed border has no page of its own in this dictionary yet.
The word Lema'an hashem comes from the root מ־ע־נ, like these words.
These words come before and after Lema'an hashem in the dictionary.
These are the questions people ask about the word Lema'an hashem.
What does Lema'an hashem (למען השם) mean in Hebrew?
Lema'an hashem (למען השם) means for heaven's sake and for the love of God. It is said lema'an hashem, with the stress on ma'.
What is a synonym for Lema'an hashem (למען השם)?
Words that mean nearly the same as Lema'an hashem (למען השם) are השם ישמור, רחמנא ליצלן, and יא יאללה.
The definitions, pronunciation, synonyms and translations on this page are adapted from the entry למען השם of the Hebrew Wiktionary, read on 1 November 2026, and are shared under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.