Classical Hebrew: לשם שמים יַעֲשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל

[Ali Smith]

שלום

לשם שמים
יַעֲשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל
If this means “For the God of Heaven…may He make peace for us and for all of Israel,” shouldn’t the verb be in the jussive rather than the indicative? I would have expected it to be יַ֫עַשׂ.

אני מודה לכם מאוד

 

[Drink]

These are fragments.

The actual phrase is:

עושה שלום במרומיו הוא יעשה שלום עלינו ועל כל ישראל

I don't know where the "לשם שמים" is from, but it probably had to do with something coming before it.

 

[Hamster Huey]

So why isn’t it jussive?

 

[GeriReshef]

Religious Jews will use the expression "לשם שמיים" to describe something which is done not for a personal profit, but for the God, as a charity, for the religious needs of the community, etc.

The verse Drink quoted is most known as the ending verse of the Kadish prayer which is said in the funeral.

 

[Hamster Huey]

In that case, why isn't it לשם השמיים?

 

[GeriReshef]

I think, but I am not sure, that with the article is the sky, and without is the God:
שומו שמיים - the God
השמיים מספרים כבוד אל - the sky tells about the God (obviously no he about himself).

 

[GeriReshef]

Well, I checked and found this link with all the occurrences of שמים in the Bible:
חיפוש בתנך - שמים
חיפוש בתנך - השמים
I think my previous guess was wrong,
and in second thought - maybe this is the classical issue of the article rules: there are no clear explanations why in some cases we use it and in others don't (not just in Hebrew).