Shekinah
Shekinah
SEE SHECHINAH.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
SHEKINAH
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 Gods 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 Gods glory or to the reality of his presence among his people (Num 14:10; Num 14:22; Isa 60:1-2; see also GLORY).
Fuente: Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
Shekinah
SHEKINAH (Heb. that which dwells or resides, the dwelling).This term, together with the Glory () and the Word or Memra (, ), is used in the Targums as an indirect expression in place of God. It denotes Gods visible presence or glorious manifestation which dwells among men: the localized presence of the Deity. See art. Shekinah in Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible . In the NT the term Shekinah appears in more than one Greek form. The invisible Shekinah is also alluded to, as well as the visible. The visible Shekinah, though distinct from the glory, was associated in the closest way with the Divine glory. It was conceived of as the centre and source from which the glory radiated. In the NT this Shekinah-glory is several times denoted by . The classical passage is Rom 9:4, where St. Paul, enumerating the list of Israels privileges, says: whose is the adoption, and the glory, i.e. the Shekinahglory, the visible presence of God among His people (cf. also Act 7:2 where St. Stephen speaks of the God of glory, i.e. the God whose visible presence, manifested in the Shekinah, had sanctified Jerusalem and the Temple). In the Gospels this glory is referred to in Luk 2:9 the glory of the Lord ( ) shone round about them. There is also an obvious allusion to the Shekinah in the description of the theophanic cloud of the transfiguration-narrative (Mat 17:5 a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud, saying, etc.; cf. Mar 9:7, Luk 9:34 f.). Here the same verb () is used as in the LXX Septuagint of Exo 40:34-35 of the cloud which rested on the Tabernacle when it was filled with the glory of the Lord, which in the Targum (pseudo-Jonathan) becomes the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord. The voice out of the cloud is also, doubtless, the voice of the Shekinah; cf. 2Pe 1:17 where, in reference to the transfiguration, a voice uttered by the excellent glory (i.e. the Shekinah-glory) is spoken of.* [Note: Similarly in the Jerus. Targum to Gen 28:13 the glory of J says, I am the God of Abraham (Marshall in Hastings DB, loc. cit.).] In Heb 9:5 the cherubim of glory must be explained in the same way, as meaning the cherubim on which the Shekinah was enthroned.
In three NT passages (all having reference to Christ) [Note: See Marshall, ib.] an allusion to the Shekinah is probable, though disputed, viz. (a) Rom 6:4 Christ was raised from the dead by means of () the glory of the Father. Here glory prob. = the Shekinah-glory rather than glorious power (cf. the Midrash Rabbe to Gen 44:8, in which the Shekinah is said to release the bound in Sheol); [Note: A similar idea may be implied in the words ascribed to our Lord in Joh 11:40, where, with reference to the release of Lazarus from the grave, Jesus says to Martha: Said I not unto thee, that, if thou believedst, thou shouldest see the glory of God?] (b) 1Pe 4:14 the (Spirit) of glory and the Spirit of God ( ). Here glory may = Shekinah, which is identified with Christ. This identification may be seen more clearly, perhaps, in (c) Jam 2:1 , which not improbably = the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Shekinah (Mayor). For further doubtful reff. in the NT, see below.
There can be no doubt that the word , tabernacle (and its verb , to tabernacle), has been chosen for use in Joh 1:14 and Rev 21:3 from its likeness both in sound and meaning to the word Shekinah, and conveys a direct allusion to the latter. The Revelation passage runs: Behold the tabernacle () of God is with men, and he will tabernacle () with them. In Joh 1:14 The Word (Logos) tabernacled () among us, and we beheld his glory, etc., all the three Hebrew terms, Memra ( = ), Shekinah, and Yekara ( = ) are represented. All the three entities became incarnate in Jesus.* [Note: Dalman, Words of Jesus, p. 231. To these should be added the great passage in Heb 1:3, where the Son is said to be the effulgence of the glory, i.e. of the Shekinah-glory as the manifested Deity.]
The identification of Jesus with the Shekinah has already been referred to above in connexion with 1Pe 4:14 and Jam 2:1. Another example where the same idea may be implicit is Mat 18:20 Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them; compare with this Pirke Aboth iii. 5: Two that sit together and are occupied with words of Torah, have the Shekinah among them. Cf. also 2Co 4:6 God that said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is he who shone in our hearts for the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God in face of Jesus Christ. The last phrase may = the glory of God made manifest in the presence of Jesus Christ, i.e. Jesus is the Shekinah of God. Shekinah in these connexions is practically = Immanuel (God with us).
Other passages worth examination in this connexion are Eph 1:17 (the remarkable phrase the Father of the glory [ ] =? the father of the Shekinah (incarnate in Jesus)), Luk 2:32 (the glory of thy people Israel). Cf. also 1Co 2:8 (Jesus Lord of glory). The representation of man as a temple in which God dwells (cf. 2Co 6:16 we are a temple of the living God, Joh 14:23 we will come and make our abode with him) was probably suggested by the Shekinah-idea, which may also have influenced the language applied to Christ in Col 2:9 (for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily).
In the identification of the Shekinah and cognate conceptions with the incarnate Christ, a use is made of these ideas, as Dalman says, which is at variance with their primary application. It marks a specifically Christian development, though the way had certainly been prepared by hypostatizing tendencies.
Literature.Weber, Jd. Theol.2 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] esp. pp. 185190; Gfrrer, Das Jahrhundert des Heils, i. esp. p. 301 ff.; Langen, Judenthum zur Zeit Christi, 201 ff.; art. Shekinah in Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible and in JE [Note: E Jewish Encyclopedia.] ; the Lexicons, s.v. (Buxtorf, Levy, Jastrow, Kohut); Taylor, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers2 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] , p. 43; the Comm. on Ep. of St. James by Mayor and Knowling (on Jam 2:1).
G. H. Box.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Shekinah
SHEKINAH (from Heb. shkanto 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 mishkn, 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. Gods 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 Hannahs 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. sknoun, 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.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Shekinah
she-kna (, shekhnah, that which dwells, from the verb , shakhen, or , shakhan, 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.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Shekinah
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.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Shekinah
The visible sign of God’s presence on the ark of testimony in the holy of holies.
Exo 25:22; Lev 16:2; 2Sa 6:2; 2Ki 19:14-15; Psa 80:1; Isa 37:16; Eze 9:3; Eze 10:18; Heb 9:5