Shekinah

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SHEKINAH (from Heb. shâkan—‘to dwell,’ meaning ‘dwelling’ [abstract], or ‘that which dwells’).—The word is not found in OT, but occurs often in other Jewish literature, always of God. The OT, particularly in certain of its writings, uses ‘anthropomorphisms’ freely, e.g. it speaks of God dwelling in a place or being seen. Later thought objected to this, as materializing the Divine nature; hence in the Targums (Aram. [Note: Aramaic.] paraphrases of the OT used, though not in their present form, by the 1st cent. a.d.) various devices were adopted to prevent popular misunderstandings. Periphrases were used for the Divine name, ‘the Word’ (Memra), ‘Spirit,’ or’ ‘Wisdom’ being substituted. One of the most important of these was the ‘Shekinah.’ ‘God dwells’ usually became ‘the Shekinah rests’; ‘the temple of God’ became ‘the house of the S.’ (note the Tabernacle was the mishkân, from the same root). Gen_28:18 becomes ‘the glory of the S. of J″ [Note: Jahweh.] is in this place’; Isa_6:5 ‘my eyes have seen the glory of the S. of the King of the world.’ God’s hiding His face is the removal of the S. Now the presence of God (especially in P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] and related writings) was often manifested by a fiery appearance, or a light in a cloud. It was so in nature (Psa_18:10), on Sinai (Exo_24:16), in the wilderness and in the Tabernacle (Exo_16:7; Exo_29:43; Exo_40:34, Num_14:10), in the Temple (1Ki_8:11); cf. Eze_1:28 etc. This glory was not God, but an effluence from Him, or from His Shekinah. For the S. was not ‘the glory,’ as is usually imagined, but the source and centre of it. It is a stage nearer to God Himself, and, though often used in connexion with the physical manifestation, represents an invisible and universal presence. E.g. it is the source of inspiration. Eli failed to recognize Hannah’s condition, because it had left him. It was present where three were gathered to administer justice. According to some. it was inseparable from Israel, still hovering over the west wall of the Temple. But it was commonly taught that it had always been absent from the second Temple, as had been ‘the glory’ (cf. Eze_11:23; Eze_43:2); or again, that on the successive sins of Adam and his descendants it had been withdrawn from earth to the first heaven, and finally to the seventh. The conception, in fact, varied. It was disputed whether it was an entity distinct from God, or only the essence of God as manifested. Though at first regarded as impersonal and passive, as distinct from the Memra, the agent of creation, in the Talmud it becomes active and takes the place of the latter. The tendency to personification is significant. Insisting one-sidedly on the transcendence or aloofness of God, the Jew had to bring Him to earth again by such mediatorial agencies, which were semi-personal and Divine, but not God, and by the development of an elaborate angelology. In the NT the word ‘glory’ seems often to refer to the Shekinah (cf. Eth. Enoch ‘Lord of glory,’ and ‘the Great Glory,’ as titles of God). Rom_9:4 speaks of ‘the glory’ as a Jewish privilege; Heb_9:5 of ‘the cherubim of glory.’ It was believed that the Shekinah would return with the Messiah; ‘the glory of the Lord shall he seen and the cloud’ (2Ma_2:8). (a) It is connected with Christ (Luk_2:9, Mat_17:5; cf. 2Pe_1:17 RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] , where the Shekinah is personified). In 1Pe_4:14 ‘the spirit of glory’ rests upon Christ, as upon the Tabernacle; in He is He is ‘the effulgence of the glory’; in Jam_1:3 He is apparently called ‘the Shekinah.’ Of special significance is Joh_1:14, which combines the expressions ‘glory’ and ‘tabernacle’ (Gr. skçnoun, probably intentionally chosen to represent ‘Shekinah,’ as in Rev_21:3). It connects the personal presence of God in Christ with the earlier presence in the Tabernacle; what was formerly symbol is now manifest ‘in flesh.’ The vagueness of the Jewish conception gives place to the definite presence of the personal Christ. Cf. with Mat_18:20 and 1Co_11:11, sayings such as ‘when two sit together and are occupied with the words of the Law, the Shekinah is with them,’ or ‘the man is not without the woman, nor the woman without the man, nor both of them without the Shekinah.’ (b) It is connected with the Christian. The first of the six things lost by Adam was ‘the glory,’ i.e. the reflexion upon him of the Divine glory, or perfection. Of this we fall short (Rom_3:23), but it is in process of being recovered by the Christian (Rom_5:2; Rom_8:18; Rom_8:30, 2Co_3:18; 2Co_4:6; cf. 2 Es 7:97, 98).
C. W. Emmet.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

The Hebrew word transliterated ‘Shekinah’ refers to the glory of God that symbolizes his presence. The word is not found in the Old Testament, but was introduced into the Jewish religious vocabulary by rabbis of a later era.
These rabbis spoke of the Shekinah in order to encourage Israelites to have a higher idea of God. They wanted people to think of him as a dazzling light or a shining presence, rather than as a human-like figure with physical features such as hands, arms, eyes, mouth and the like. The Shekinah became particularly associated with God’s symbolic presence in the tabernacle and later the temple (Exo_40:34-35; 1Ki_8:11; Eze_44:4). It also referred to other displays of God’s glory or to the reality of his presence among his people (Num_14:10; Num_14:22; Isa_60:1-2; see also GLORY).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.

shḗ-kı̄?na (שׁכינה, shekhı̄nah, ?that which dwells,? from the verb שׁכן, shākhēn, or שׁכן, shākhan, ?to dwell,? ?reside?): This word is not found in the Bible, but there are allusions to it in Isa_60:2; Mat_17:5; Luk_2:9; Rom_9:4. It is first found in the Targums. See GLORY.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.

Shekinah or Shechinah, A term applied by the ancient Jews, especially in the Chaldee Targums, to that visible symbol of the divine glory which dwelt in the tabernacle and temple. It is evident from many passages of Scripture that the Most High, whose essence no man hath seen, or can see, was pleased anciently to manifest himself to the eyes of men by an external visible symbol. As to the precise nature of the phenomenon thus exhibited, we can only say, that it appears to have been a concentrated glowing brightness, a preternatural splendor, an effulgent something, which was appropriately expressed by the term 'Glory;' but whether in philosophical strictness it was material or immaterial, it is probably impossible to determine. A luminous object of this description seems intrinsically the most appropriate symbol of that Being of whom, perhaps in allusion to this very mode of manifestation, it is said that 'he is light,' and that 'he dwelleth in light unapproachable, and full of glory.' The presence of such a sensible representation of Jehovah seems to be absolutely necessary in order to harmonize what is frequently said of 'seeing God' with the truth of his nature as an incorporeal and essentially invisible spirit. While we are told in one place that 'no man hath seen God at any time,' we are elsewhere informed that Moses and Aaron, and the seventy elders, 'saw the God of Israel,' when called up to the summit of the Holy Mount. So also Isaiah says of himself (Isa_6:1; Isa_6:5) that 'in the year that King Uzziah died he saw the Lord sitting upon His throne,' and that, in consequence, he cried out, 'I am undone; for mine eyes have seen the Lord of hosts.' In these cases it is obvious that the object seen was not God in His essence, but some external visible symbol, which, because it stood for God, is called by His name.
Of all the divine appearances granted in the earlier ages of the world, the most signal and illustrious was undoubtedly that which was vouchsafed in the pillar of cloud that guided the march of the children of Israel through the wilderness on their way to Canaan. There can be little doubt that the columnar cloud was the seat of the shekinah. Within the towering aerial mass, we suppose, was enfolded the inner effulgent brightness, to which the appellation 'Glory of the Lord' more properly belonged, and which was only occasionally disclosed. In several instances in which God would indicate His anger to His people, it is said that they looked to the cloud and beheld the 'Glory of the Lord' (Num_14:10; Num_16:19; Num_16:42). So when he would inspire a trembling awe of his Majesty at the giving of the Law, it is said, the 'Glory of the Lord appeared as a devouring fire' on the summit of the mount. Nor must the fact be forgotten in this connection, that when Nadab and Abihu, the two sons of Aaron, offended by strange fire in their offerings, a fatal flash from the cloudy pillar instantaneously extinguished their lives. The evidence would seem then to be conclusive, that this wondrous pillar-cloud was the seat or throne of the shekinah, the visible representative of Jehovah dwelling in the midst of His people.




The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.


SEE SHECHINAH.



CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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