Circumlocution of the Tetragrammaton

There exists in Judaism a practice of avoiding the misuse of the Name of G-d by not using the Covenant Name (Tetragrammaton) at all. This is achieved through circumlocution, i.e. using alternative titles in place of the Divine Name.¹

The Ketiv-Qere Device

There are several methods for reminding the reader not to pronounce the Name. Emanuel Tov notes that Qumran often replaces the Name with “four or five dots, sometimes preceded by a colon,”² and P.Oxy. 7.1007 (pictured above) and P967 both bear the replacement of the Tetragrammaton with two paleo-Hebrew yods. The two yods (bearing the vowel points for Adonai) is still a common method for presenting the Covenant Name in liturgical works today… nearly two millennia after its appearance in those two First Century manuscripts.
The Masoretes maintained the four consonants of the Name, but supplied the vowels belonging to the circumlocution intended to be uttered in its place, i.e. either the shewa and qametz of Ad-nai or the shewa and hireq of Elokim (sometimes with and sometimes without the intervening holem). The former is employed 6518 times in the Masoretic text of the Tanakh and the latter 305 times.

Torah Foundation for Circumlocution

The reason for the phenomenum is the desire to protect the Name from misuse or abuse, even unintentional instances. The command is found in Torah in both iterations of the Aseret haDibrot (Decalogue).

שמות כ׳:ז׳

(ז) שְׁלֹ֥א תִשָּׂ֛א אֶת־שֵֽׁם־יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ לַשָּׁ֑וְא כִּ֣י לֹ֤א יְנַקֶּה֙ יְהֹוָ֔ה אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־יִשָּׂ֥א אֶת־מ֖וֹ לַשָּֽׁוְא׃ {פ}

Exodus 20:7

(7) You shall not swear falsely by the name of your God יהוה; for יהוה will not clear one who swears falsely by God’s name.

דברים ה׳:י״א

(יא) לֹ֥א תִשָּׂ֛א אֶת־שֵֽׁם־יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ לַשָּׁ֑וְא כִּ֣י לֹ֤א יְנַקֶּה֙ יְהֹוָ֔ה אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־יִשָּׂ֥א אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ לַשָּֽׁוְא׃ {ס}

Deuteronomy 5:11

(11) You shall not swear falsely by the name of your God יהוה; for יהוה will not clear one who swears falsely by God’s name.

The great Rishonic-era Sage Rambam opines that the Name in view here includes more than just the Tetragrammaton.

משנה תורה, הלכות שבועות י״ב:י״א

(יא) וְלֹא שְׁבוּעָה לַשָּׁוְא בִּלְבַד הִיא שֶׁאֲסוּרָה אֶלָּא אֲפִלּוּ לְהַזְכִּיר שֵׁם מִן הַשֵּׁמוֹת הַמְיֻחָדִין לְבַטָּלָה אָסוּר וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁלֹּא נִשְׁבָּע. שֶׁהֲרֵי הַכָּתוּב מְצַוֶּה וְאוֹמֵר (דברים כח נח) "לְיִרְאָה אֶת הַשֵּׁם הַנִּכְבָּד וְהַנּוֹרָא". וּבִכְלַל יִרְאָתוֹ שֶׁלֹּא יַזְכִּירוֹ לְבַטָּלָה. לְפִיכָךְ אִם טָעָה הַלָּשׁוֹן וְהוֹצִיא שֵׁם לְבַטָּלָה יְמַהֵר מִיָּד וִישַׁבֵּחַ וִיפָאֵר וִיהַדֵּר לוֹ כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יִזָּכֵר לְבַטָּלָה. כֵּיצַד. אָמַר ה', אוֹמֵר בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד אוֹ גָּדוֹל הוּא וּמְהֻלָּל מְאֹד וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּזֶה, כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יְהֵא לְבַטָּלָה:

Mishneh Torah, Oaths 12:11

(11) It is not only a false oath that is forbidden. Instead, it is forbidden to mention even one of the names designated for God although one does not take an oath. For the verse [Deuteronomy 28:58] commands us, saying: "to fear the glorious and awesome name." Included in fearing it is not to mention it in vain.
Therefore if because of a slip of the tongue, one mentions [God's] name in vain, he should immediately hurry to praise, glorify, and venerate it so that it will not have been mentioned [entirely] in vain. What is implied? If he mentions God's name, he should say: "Blessed be He for all eternity," "He is great and exceedingly praiseworthy," or the like so that it will not have been [mentioned entirely] in vain.

Circumlocution in Practice

Those outside of Judaism often ask why we don't pronounce the ineffable Name, instead implementing various circumlocutions for the Name (and sometimes altering the spelling of not only the Tetragrammaton but also other titles for Hashem, e.g. Elokim/Eloqim).

משנה סנהדרין ז׳:ה׳

(ה) הַמְגַדֵּף אֵינוֹ חַיָּב עַד שֶׁיְּפָרֵשׁ הַשֵּׁם. אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן קָרְחָה, בְּכָל יוֹם דָּנִין אֶת הָעֵדִים בְּכִנּוּי יַכֶּה יוֹסֵי אֶת יוֹסֵי. נִגְמַר הַדִּין, לֹא הוֹרְגִים בְּכִנּוּי, אֶלָּא מוֹצִיאִים כָּל אָדָם לַחוּץ וְשׁוֹאֲלִים אֶת הַגָּדוֹל שֶׁבָּהֶן וְאוֹמְרִים לוֹ אֱמֹר מַה שֶּׁשָּׁמַעְתָּ בְּפֵרוּשׁ, וְהוּא אוֹמֵר, וְהַדַּיָּנִים עוֹמְדִין עַל רַגְלֵיהֶן וְקוֹרְעִין וְלֹא מְאַחִין. וְהַשֵּׁנִי אוֹמֵר אַף אֲנִי כָּמוֹהוּ, וְהַשְּׁלִישִׁי אוֹמֵר אַף אֲנִי כָּמוֹהוּ:

Mishnah Sanhedrin 7:5

(5) One who blasphemes, i.e., one who curses God, is not liable unless he utters the name of God and curses it. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa said: On every day of a blasphemer’s trial, when the judges judge the witnesses, i.e., interrogate the witnesses, they ask the witnesses to use an appellation for the name of God, so that they do not utter a curse of God’s name. Specifically, the witnesses would say: Let Yosei smite Yosei, as the name Yosei has four letters in Hebrew, as does the Tetragrammaton. When the judgment is over, and the court votes to deem the defendant guilty, they do not sentence him to death based on the testimony of the witnesses in which they used an appellation for the name of God, without having ever heard the exact wording of the curse. Rather, they remove all the people who are not required to be there from the court, so that the curse is not heard publicly, and the judges interrogate the eldest of the witnesses, and say to him: Say what you heard explicitly. And he says exactly what he heard. And the judges stand on their feet and make a tear in their garments, as an act of mourning for the desecration of the honor of God. And they do not ever fully stitch it back together again. And the second witness says: I too heard as he did, but he does not repeat the curse explicitly. And the third witness, in the event that there is one, says: I too heard as he did. In this manner, the repetition of the invective sentence is limited to what is absolutely necessary.

In the targumim, we often encounter "Memra" (מֵימְרָא meaning “the Word”) used as an Aramaic circumlocution for the Creator.³

תרגום ירושלמי, שמות כ׳:א׳

(א) וּמַלֵּיל מֵימְרָא דַיְיָ כָּל שְׁבַח דִּבְּרַיָא הָאִילֵין לְמֵימָר:

Targum Jerusalem, Exodus 20:1

(1) And the Word of the Lord spake all the excellency of these words saying:

תרגום יונתן על שמות כ׳:ז׳

(ז) עַמִּי בֵּית יִשְרָאֵל לָא יִשְׁתְּבַּע חַד מִנְכוֹן בְּשׁוּם מֵימְרָא דַיְיָ אֱלָהָכוֹן עַל מַגָּן אֲרוּם לָא מִזַכֵּי יְיָ בְּיוֹם דִּינָא רַבָּא יַת כָּל מַאן דְּמִשְׁתְּבַע בִּשְׁמֵיהּ עַל מַגָּן

Targum Jonathan on Exodus 20:7

(7) My people of the house of Israel, Let no one of you swear by the name of the Word of the Lord your God in vain; for in the day of the great judgment the Lord will not hold guiltless any one who sweareth by His name in vain.

The literal meaning of shav in the construction לֹ֥א תִשָּׂ֛א... לַשָּׁ֑וְא in both verses is "lightly" (do not use the Name of [Hashem] your [Elokim] lightly).

A circumlocution used by Rav Saadia Gaon (Rasag) is "The Cause" as a replacement for the Name in Emunot veDeot, though "Light of G-d" (nur-allah) is more frequent in Tafsir Rasag.⁴ Tafsir Rasag also employs the circumlocution "The Eternal" in places.

שמות ג׳:י״ד

(יד) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר כֹּ֤ה תֹאמַר֙ לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה שְׁלָחַ֥נִי אֲלֵיכֶֽם׃

Exodus 3:14

(14) And God said to Moses, “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh,” continuing, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites, ‘Ehyeh sent me to you.’”

תפסיר רס"ג, שמות ג׳:י״ד

(יד) קאל לה אלאזלי אלד̇י לא יזול קאל כד̇א קל לבני אסראיל אלאזלי בעת̇ני אליכם

Tafsir Rasag, Exodus 3:14

He [Hashem] said to him [Moshe]: "The Eternal who ends not"; He further said: "Say the following to the Children of Israel: 'The Eternal has sent me to you.'"

In some instances, the Name is implied by a reference to Heaven, i.e. connoting the Occupant of Heaven.

רבנו בחיי, בראשית י״ט:כ״ד:ד׳

(ד) מאת ה' מן השמים. הוא השם הגדול, כמו שאמר ואתה תשמע השמים, כי מאתו בא העונש, על כן נזכר בו לשון ארדה נא ואראה, כענין דור הפלגה שכתוב שם (שם יא) וירד ה', והבן זה.

Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 19:24:4

(4) מאת ה' מן השמים, “from G’d from heaven.” This is a reference to the “great” name of G’d. We find something similar in Kings I 8,32 when Solomon offered a prayer to G’d on the occasion of dedicating the Temple he had built. He appealed to the G’d in heaven to listen to his prayer by saying ואתה תשמע השמים, “You, the heaven, will hear,” instead of saying ואתה תשמע בשמים, “You will hear in heaven.” Clearly, Solomon did not pray to “heaven,” he prayed to G’d. The wording of Solomon’s prayer indicates that he expected an agent of G’d whom he referred to as “heaven,” to hear his prayer. The reason the Torah referred to the agent of G’d who carries out G’d’s judgment as G’d is because for the moment he acts in lieu of G’d Himself. We have encountered the expression “I will go down,” or “we will descend,” both in Genesis 18,21 and Genesis 11,4 prior to such judgment being carried out. In each such instance the reference is to the agent of G’d carrying out the punishment.

Even the greeting shalom (peace) is a Talmudic circumlocution.

שבת י׳ ב:ב׳

אֵין שָׁם שְׁאֵילַת שָׁלוֹם. מְסַיַּיע לֵיהּ לְרַב הַמְנוּנָא מִשְּׁמֵיהּ דְּעוּלָּא דְּאָמַר: אָסוּר לְאָדָם שֶׁיִּתֵּן שָׁלוֹם לַחֲבֵירוֹ בְּבֵית הַמֶּרְחָץ, מִשּׁוּם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר ״וַיִּקְרָא לוֹ ה׳ שָׁלוֹם״.

Shabbat 10b:2

It was taught in the Tosefta: There is no greeting [shalom] others permitted in the bathhouse. The Gemara comments that this statement supports the opinion of Rav Hamnuna in the name of Ulla, who said: It is forbidden for a person to greet [shalom] his friend in the bathhouse because Shalom is one of the names of God, as it is stated: “And Gideon built there an altar for God and he called Him Lord Shalom” (Judges 6:24). Therefore, it is prohibited to utter the word shalom in a dishonorable place.

Other circumlocutions include:

HaKodesh Barukh Hu (The Blessed One, Holy is He)
Shekhinah (The Presence), commonly used in kabbalistic contexts
The Eternal, particularly in Reform and Reconstructionist communities in modern parlance, but also in medieval Judeo-Arabic

So sacred is the Divine Name that a sofer STaM (Jewish scribe) must not write in a way that ink from the writing of the Name be shared with any other word or name in a Scripture scroll.

ספר חסידים קט״ו:א׳

(א) כשרבה דיו על אות לא יכתוב את ה' ממנו וכן אם רבה על שם לא יכתוב ממנו אות אחרת:

Sefer Chasidim 115:1

(1) If there is an excess of ink on a letter, let him not write God’s name from it. Thus if excess accumulated on God’s name, let him not write therefrom another letter.

Intratextual Examples from Tanakh

Sometimes the accusation is levied that the way we interpret this is incorrect and that circumlocution of the Name is not "biblical," i.e. that it was a creative invention of the rabbis. The fact is that the Sages rulings on this are in harmony with the practice of the Tanakh itself. See, for instance, how Tehillim (Psalms) 86:15 quotes from the 13 Attributes of Mercy, i.e. Shemot (Exodus) 34:6. Here, the author of Tehillim 86 employs circumlocution as early as the 10th century BCE, substituting the Tetragrammaton from Shemot 34 with the title Ad-nai.

שמות ל״ד:ו׳

(ו) וַיַּעֲבֹ֨ר יְהֹוָ֥ה ׀ עַל־פָּנָיו֮ וַיִּקְרָא֒ יְהֹוָ֣ה ׀ יְהֹוָ֔ה אֵ֥ל רַח֖וּם וְחַנּ֑וּן אֶ֥רֶךְ אַפַּ֖יִם וְרַב־חֶ֥סֶד וֶאֱמֶֽת׃

Exodus 34:6

(6) יהוה passed before him and proclaimed: “!יהוה! יהוה a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness,

תהילים פ״ו:ט״ו

(טו) וְאַתָּ֣ה אֲ֭דֹנָי אֵל־רַח֣וּם וְחַנּ֑וּן אֶ֥רֶךְ אַ֝פַּ֗יִם וְרַב־חֶ֥סֶד וֶאֱמֶֽת׃

Psalms 86:15

(15) But You, O Lord, are a God compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

In fact, we find Moshe himself already employing circumlocution several centuries before this within the text of Torah. His use of Hashem as a circumlocution is the imprimatur for our own practice to this day.

ויקרא כ״ד:י״א

(יא) וַ֠יִּקֹּ֠ב בֶּן־הָֽאִשָּׁ֨ה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִ֤ית אֶת־הַשֵּׁם֙ וַיְקַלֵּ֔ל וַיָּבִ֥יאוּ אֹת֖וֹ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וְשֵׁ֥ם אִמּ֛וֹ שְׁלֹמִ֥ית בַּת־דִּבְרִ֖י לְמַטֵּה־דָֽן׃

Leviticus 24:11

(11) The son of the Israelite woman pronounced the Name in blasphemy, and he was brought to Moses—now his mother’s name was Shelomith daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan—

אבן עזרא על ויקרא כ״ד:י״א

(א) ויקב. יש אומרים שפירושו ויפרש כמו אשר פי ה׳‎ יקבנו אשר נקבו בשמות ויש אומרים שהוא כמו מה אקוב והראשון קרוב לפי דעתי:

Ibn Ezra on Leviticus 24:11

(1) BLASPHEMED. Some say that the meaning of va-yikkov (blasphemed) is enunciated. Compare, Which the mouth of the Lord shall mark out (yikkavennu) (Is. 62:2) and that are pointed out (nikkevu) by name (Num. 1:17). Others say that va-yikkov is similar to ekkov (I curse) in How shall I curse (Num. 23:8). However, I believe that the first interpretation is correct.

רש"י על ויקרא כ״ד:י״א:א׳

(א) ויקב. כְּתַרְגּוּמוֹ "וּפָרֵשׁ", שֶׁנָּקַב שֵׁם הַמְיֻחָד וְגִדֵּף, וְהוּא שֵׁם הַמְפֹרָשׁ שֶׁשָּׁמַע מִסִּינַי (ספרא):

Rashi on Leviticus 24:11:1

(1) ויקב — Translate this as the Targum does: ופרש “and he pronounced”, thus ויקב … ויקלל means that he uttered the Tetragrammaton and by so doing blasphemed. It was the “Proper Name” which he had heard on Mount Sinai (cf. Sifra, Emor, Section 14 2 and Jeremiah Targ.).

דברים כ״ח:נ״ח

(נח) אִם־לֹ֨א תִשְׁמֹ֜ר לַעֲשׂ֗וֹת אֶת־כׇּל־דִּבְרֵי֙ הַתּוֹרָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את הַכְּתֻבִ֖ים בַּסֵּ֣פֶר הַזֶּ֑ה לְ֠יִרְאָ֠ה אֶת־הַשֵּׁ֞ם הַנִּכְבָּ֤ד וְהַנּוֹרָא֙ הַזֶּ֔ה אֵ֖ת יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃

Deuteronomy 28:58

(58) If you fail to observe faithfully all the terms of this Teaching that are written in this book, to reverence this honored and awesome Name, your God יהוה,

Truncation of the Name

In no fewer than 50 occurrences, a truncated form of the Tetragrammaton, i.e. only the first two letters, is used within the sacred text of the Tanakh. Nearly half of these (24) are found in the expression Hallelu-Yah, and the remainder stand alone.

עירובין י״ח ב:י״ז

וְאָמַר רַבִּי יִרְמְיָה בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר: מִיּוֹם שֶׁחָרַב בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ, דַּיּוֹ לָעוֹלָם שֶׁיִּשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בִּשְׁתֵּי אוֹתִיּוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״כֹּל הַנְּשָׁמָה תְּהַלֵּל יָהּ הַלְלוּיָהּ״.

Eruvin 18b:17

And Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar further said: From the day that the Temple was destroyed, it is enough for the world to use in its praise of God, or in greeting one another with the name of God, only two letters of the Tetragrammaton, namely yod and heh, as it is stated: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord [Yah]. Halleluya” (Psalms 150:6), without mentioning the full name of God, comprised of four letters.

Among the instances where it stands alone is Isaiah 12:2.

ישעיהו י״ב:ב׳

(ב) הִנֵּ֨ה אֵ֧ל יְשׁוּעָתִ֛י אֶבְטַ֖ח וְלֹ֣א אֶפְחָ֑ד כִּֽי־עׇזִּ֤י וְזִמְרָת֙ יָ֣הּ יְהֹוָ֔ה וַֽיְהִי־לִ֖י לִֽישׁוּעָֽה׃

Isaiah 12:2

(2) Behold the God who gives me triumph! I am confident, unafraid; For Yah the LORD is my strength and song, And He has been my deliverance.”

A possible/probable 51st occurrence may be found in Shir haShirim (as a grammatical affix) as well. This is rendered by the double-yodh abbreviation common to Targumic usage in the Targum to the Song of Songs and is likewise attested to by none less than Rashi.

שיר השירים ח׳:ו׳

(ו) שִׂימֵ֨נִי כַֽחוֹתָ֜ם עַל־לִבֶּ֗ךָ כַּֽחוֹתָם֙ עַל־זְרוֹעֶ֔ךָ כִּֽי־עַזָּ֤ה כַמָּ֙וֶת֙ אַהֲבָ֔ה קָשָׁ֥ה כִשְׁא֖וֹל קִנְאָ֑ה רְשָׁפֶ֕יהָ רִשְׁפֵּ֕י אֵ֖שׁ שַׁלְהֶ֥בֶתְיָֽה׃

Song of Songs 8:6

(6) Let me be a seal upon your heart, Like the seal upon your hand. For love is fierce as death, Passion is mighty as Sheol; Its darts are darts of fire, A blazing flame [of G-d].

תרגום על שיר השירים ח׳:ו׳

(ו) אָמְרִין בְּנֵי יִשְֹׁרָאֵל בְּיוֹמָא הַהוּא לְרִבּוֹנְהוֹן בְּבָעוּ מִנָּךְ שַׁוִּי יָתַן כִּגְלָף דְּעִזְקָא עַל לִבָּךְ כִּגְלָף דְּעִזְקָא עַל אֶדְרָעָךְ דְּלָא נוֹסִיף עוֹד לְמִהְוֵי גָּלְיָן אֲרוּם תַּקִּיפָא כְּמוֹתָא אַהֲבַת אֱלָהוּתָךְ וְחַסִּינָא כְּגֵיהִנָּם קִנְאֲתָא דְּעַמְמַיָּא מְקַנְּאִין לָן וּדְבָבוּ דְּנָטְרִין לָן דָּמְיָא לְגּוּמְרִין דְּאַשָּׁא דְּגֵיהִנָּם דִּבְרָא יָתֵיהּ יְיָ בְּיוֹמָא תִּנְיָנָא לִבְרִיאַת עָלְמָא לְאוֹקָדָא בֵּיהּ פָּלְחֵי פּוּלְחָנָא נוּכְרָאָה:

Aramaic Targum to Song of Songs 8:6

(6) The Children of Israel on that day will say to their Lord, “We beseech You, set us as the seal of a ring on your heart, as the seal of a ring on your arm, so that we may never again be exiled. For the love of Your Divinity is as strong as death, and the jealousy which the nations harbor against us is as powerful as Gehinnom. The enmity which they harbor against us is like the coals of the fire of Gehinnom which Hashem created on the second day of the Creation of the World to burn the idolators with it.”

רש"י על שיר השירים ח׳:ו׳:ד׳

(ד) אֵשׁ שַׁלְהֶבֶתְיָה. רְשָׁפִים שֶׁל אֵשׁ חֲזָקָה הַבָּאָה מִכֹּחַ שַׁלְהֶבֶת שֶׁל גֵּיהִנֹּם. טַעַם הַזָּקֵף הַגָּדוֹל הַנָּקוּד עַל "רִשְׁפֵּי", מְלַמְּדֵנוּ עַל תֵּבַת "אֵשׁ" שֶׁהִיא דְבוּקָה לְ"שַׁלְהֶבֶתְיָה", לוֹמַר "אֵשׁ שֶׁל שַׁלְהֶבֶתְיָה":

Rashi on Song of Songs 8:6:4

(4) Fire from the flame of God. Coals of a strong fire that comes from the force of the flame of Gehinnom. The cantillation symbol of the zakef gadol, which punctuates “רִשְׁפֵּי” teaches us about the word “אֵשׁ [fire],” that it is connected to “שַׁלְהֶבֶתְיָה,” meaning “fire from the flame of God.”

The Agentless Passive Construct

In the latter Prophets, especially from the Babylonian Conquest onward, direct use of the Tetragrammaton diminishes sharply. One means of circumlocution is the use of the Agentless Passive construct.⁵The second half of Tehillim 27:2 is an example of this, as it implies that Hashem is the Cause of the stumbling and falling without expressly naming Him.

תהילים כ״ז:ב׳

(ב) בִּקְרֹ֤ב עָלַ֨י ׀ מְרֵעִים֮ לֶאֱכֹ֢ל אֶת־בְּשָׂ֫רִ֥י צָרַ֣י וְאֹיְבַ֣י לִ֑י הֵ֖מָּה כָשְׁל֣וּ וְנָפָֽלוּ׃

Psalms 27:2

(2) When evil men assail me
to devour my flesh^-a—
it is they, my foes and my enemies,
who stumble and fall.

The Lot of Those who Speak the Ineffable Name

Those among the non-Jewish who insist on the use of the Name as an emblem of true faith deny the legitimacy of the faith of the patriarchs, to whom, per Torah, that Name had not even been revealed.

שמות ו׳:ג׳

(ג) וָאֵרָ֗א אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֛ם אֶל־יִצְחָ֥ק וְאֶֽל־יַעֲקֹ֖ב בְּאֵ֣ל שַׁדָּ֑י וּשְׁמִ֣י יְהֹוָ֔ה לֹ֥א נוֹדַ֖עְתִּי לָהֶֽם׃

Exodus 6:3

(3) I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make Myself known to them by My name יהוה.

The Tanna'itic (Mishnah) Sages suggest that severe consequences are in view.

משנה סנהדרין י׳:א׳

(א) כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל יֵשׁ לָהֶם חֵלֶק לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה ס) וְעַמֵּךְ כֻּלָּם צַדִּיקִים לְעוֹלָם יִירְשׁוּ אָרֶץ נֵצֶר מַטָּעַי מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי לְהִתְפָּאֵר. וְאֵלּוּ שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם חֵלֶק לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא, הָאוֹמֵר אֵין תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים מִן הַתּוֹרָה, וְאֵין תּוֹרָה מִן הַשָּׁמָיִם, וְאֶפִּיקוֹרֶס. רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר, אַף הַקּוֹרֵא בַסְּפָרִים הַחִיצוֹנִים, וְהַלּוֹחֵשׁ עַל הַמַּכָּה וְאוֹמֵר (שמות טו) כָּל הַמַּחֲלָה אֲשֶׁר שַׂמְתִּי בְמִצְרַיִם לֹא אָשִׂים עָלֶיךָ כִּי אֲנִי ה' רֹפְאֶךָ. אַבָּא שָׁאוּל אוֹמֵר, אַף הַהוֹגֶה אֶת הַשֵּׁם בְּאוֹתִיּוֹתָיו:

Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:1

(1) All of the Jewish people, even sinners and those who are liable to be executed with a court-imposed death penalty, have a share in the World-to-Come, as it is stated: “And your people also shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land forever; the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, for My name to be glorified” (Isaiah 60:21). And these are the exceptions, the people who have no share in the World-to-Come, even when they fulfilled many mitzvot: One who says: There is no resurrection of the dead derived from the Torah, and one who says: The Torah did not originate from Heaven, and an epikoros, who treats Torah scholars and the Torah that they teach with contempt. Rabbi Akiva says: Also included in the exceptions are one who reads external literature, and one who whispers invocations over a wound and says as an invocation for healing: “Every illness that I placed upon Egypt I will not place upon you, for I am the Lord, your Healer” (Exodus 15:26). By doing so, he shows contempt for the sanctity of the name of God and therefore has no share in the World-to-Come. Abba Shaul says: Also included in the exceptions is one who pronounces the ineffable name of God as it is written, with its letters.

Notes and Sources

For further reading, see J. Z. Lauterbach, “Substitutes for the Tetragrammaton,” PAAJR (1930-31): 39-67.
Emmanuel Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, 1992).
The term "Memra" (מֵימְרָא, “the Word”) which is the emphatic, definite state of Meemar (מימר), is the Aramaic equivalent of the Greek word “Logos” (λόγος). Both terms refer to the “Word” of G-d, the (personified) firstborn Word/Wisdom of the created order. The Aramaic “Memra” is sometimes used as a circumlocution for the name of the Creator in the Targums. However, the Greek “Logos” is not being employed as a circumlocution for the name of the Creator in the Christian Bible's book of John.
David M. Friedenreich, “The Use of Islamic Sources in Saadiah Gaon’s Tafsir of the Torah,” Jewish Quarterly Review 93, 3-4 (January-April 2003): 353-395.
Christian Macholz, ‘Das “Passivum divinum”, seine Anfänge im Alten Testament und der “Hofstil”,’ Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche 81 (1990), 247-253.