Shekhinah Shekhinah Weston Category="Hebrew Bible/Tanakh"Category="Hebrew words"Category="Judaism"Category="Torah"This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality

Shekhinah (הניכש - alternative transliterations Shechinah, Shekina, Shechina) is the English spelling of the Hebrew language word that means the glory or radiance of God, or God's presence. It is derived from the Hebrew verb 'sakan' - to dwell. (The Greek word 'skene' - dwelling - is thought to be derived from 'shekinah' and 'sakan'.) This noun form of this Hebrew term is not used in the Hebrew Bible, but it is full of references to the glory of God. In classic Jewish thought, the Shekhina refers to extraordinary manifestation of divine spirituality at given times and locations, to the effect that, while Man is in proximity to the Shekhina, the connection to God is more readily perceivable by Man.

The Shekinah is held by many to represent the Feminine attributes of the presence of God, based especially on readings of the Talmud and the Kabbalah. The word 'Matronit' is also used to represent this usage.

Comparative religionists suggest a comparison to Shakti, the female energy of Hindu gods, and to the Christian concept of the Holy Spirit.

The public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, published in 1897, says:

Shechinah: a Chaldee word meaning resting-place, not found in Scripture, but used by the later Jews to designate the visible symbol of God's presence in the Tabernacle, and afterwards in Solomon's Temple. When the Lord led Israel out of Egypt, he went before them "in a pillar of a cloud." This was the symbol of his presence with his people. God also spoke to Moses through the 'shekhinah' out of a burning bush. For references made to it during the wilderness wanderings, see Exodus 14:20; 40:34-38; Leviticus 9:23, 24; Numbers 14:10; 16:19, 42. It is probable that after the entrance into Canaan this glory-cloud settled in the tabernacle upon the ark of the covenant in the most holy place. We have, however, no special reference to it till the consecration of the temple by Solomon, when it filled the whole house with its glory, so that the priests could not stand to minister (1 Kings 8:10-13; 2 Chr. 5:13, 14; 7:1-3). Probably it remained in the first temple in the holy of holies as the symbol of Jehovah's presence so long as that temple stood.

The next reference to the Glory filling a place arguably is in the book of Isaiah, in a vision he had of God in Heaven.

Allusions to the 'glory' can be found in the New Testament (John 1:14; John 9:4). The New Testament presents it as both literal as well as spiritual (Luke 2:9; John 17:22).

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