Reference: Shechinah
Easton
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. For references made to it during the wilderness wanderings, see Ex 14:20; 40:34-38; Le 9:23-24; Nu 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 (1Ki 8:10-13; 2Ch 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. It afterwards disappeared. (See Cloud.)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. It was a cloud and darkness to the Egyptians, but it gave light by night to the Israelites; and the one host did not come near the other all night.
Then the cloud [the Shekinah, God's visible presence] covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle! And Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud remained upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. read more. In all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the Israelites went onward; But if the cloud was not taken up, they did not journey on till the day that it was taken up. For throughout all their journeys the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.
Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord [the Shekinah cloud] appeared to all the people [as promised]. Then there came a fire out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.
But all the congregation said to stone [Joshua and Caleb] with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the Tent of Meeting before all the Israelites.
Then Korah assembled all the congregation against Moses and Aaron before the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.
When the congregation was gathered against Moses and Aaron, they looked at the Tent of Meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it and they saw the Lord's glory.
When the priests had come out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Lord's house, So the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house. read more. Then Solomon said, The Lord said that He would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built You a house of habitation, a settled place for You to dwell in forever.
Fausets
SHECHINAH or SHEKINAH. Not found in the Bible, but in the targums. From shakan "to dwell," from whence comes mishkan "the tabernacle." God's visible manifestation in a cloudy pillar and fire; the glorious light, enveloped in a cloud and thence bursting forth at times (Ex 16:7-10), especially over the mercy-seat or capporeth. (See CLOUD, PILLAR OF.) Ex 13:21-22; 14:19-20). Its absence from Zerubbabel's temple is one of the five particulars reckoned by the Jews as wanting in the second temple. In the targums, Shekinah is used as a periphrasis for God whenever He is said to "dwell" in Zion, between the cherubims, etc., to avoid the semblance of materialism. They anticipated the Shekinah's return under Messiah; Hag 1:8 they paraphrase, "I will cause My Shekinah to dwell in it in glory"; Zec 2:10, "I will cause My Shekinah to dwell in the midst of thee," etc.
The continued presence of the Shekinah down to Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of the temple seems implied in Joshua 3; 4; 6; Ps 68:1, compare Nu 10:35; Ps 132:8; 80:1; 99:1,7; Le 16:2. In the New Testament we find, corresponding to the Shekinah, "the glory of the Lord": Lu 2:9; compare De 33:2; Ac 7:2,53,55; Heb 2:2; 9:5; Ro 9:4 "the glory"; Joh 1:14, "the Word tabernacled (eskeenosen) among us, and we beheld His glory"; 2Co 4:6; 12:9, "that the power of Christ may tabernacle (episkeenosee) upon me"; Re 21:3. His coming again with clouds and fire is the antitype of this Shekinah (Mt 26:64; Lu 21:27; Ac 1:9,11; 1-28; 2Th 1:7-8; Re 1:7). Angels or cherubim generally accompany the Shekinah (Re 4:7-8; Ps 68:17; Zec 14:5). In Ge 3:24 is the earliest notice of the Shekinah as a swordlike flame between the cherubim, being the "Presence of Jehovah" from which Cain went out, and before which Adam and succeeding patriarchs worshipped.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
So [God] drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden the cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep and guard the way to the tree of life.
The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
And the Angel of God Who went before the host of Israel moved and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before them and stood behind them, Coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. It was a cloud and darkness to the Egyptians, but it gave light by night to the Israelites; and the one host did not come near the other all night.
And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, for He hears your murmurings against the Lord. For what are we, that you murmur against us? And Moses said, [This will happen] when the Lord gives you in the evening flesh to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumblings which you murmur against Him; what are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord. read more. And Moses said to Aaron, Say to all the congregation of Israel, Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your murmurings. And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud!
The Lord said to Moses, Tell Aaron your brother he must not come at all times into the Holy of Holies within the veil before the mercy seat upon the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud on the mercy seat.
Whenever the ark set out, Moses said, Rise up, Lord; let Your enemies be scattered; and let those who hate You flee before You.
He said, The Lord came from Sinai and beamed upon us from Seir; He flashed forth from Mount Paran, from among ten thousands of holy ones, a flaming fire, a law, at His right hand.
God is [already] beginning to arise, and His enemies to scatter; let them also who hate Him flee before Him!
The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands upon thousands. The Lord is among them as He was in Sinai, [so also] in the Holy Place (the sanctuary in Jerusalem).
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You Who lead Joseph like a flock; You Who sit enthroned upon the cherubim [of the ark of the covenant], shine forth
The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble [with reverential fear]! He sits [enthroned] above the cherubim, let the earth quake!
He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; they kept His testimonies and the statutes that He gave them.
Arise, O Lord, to Your resting-place, You and the ark [the symbol] of Your strength.
Go up to the hill country and bring lumber and rebuild [My] house, and I will take pleasure in it and I will be glorified, says the Lord [by accepting it as done for My glory and by displaying My glory in it].
Sing and rejoice, O Daughter of Zion; for behold, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the Lord.
And you shall flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal, and you shall flee as you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah; and the Lord my [Zechariah's] God shall come, and all the holy ones [saints and angels] with Him.
Jesus said to him, You have stated [the fact]. More than that, I tell you: You will in the future see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty and coming on the clouds of the sky.
And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone all about them, and they were terribly frightened.
And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great (transcendent and overwhelming) power and [all His kingly] glory (majesty and splendor).
And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth.
And when He had said this, even as they were looking [at Him], He was caught up, and a cloud received and carried Him away out of their sight.
Who said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? This same Jesus, Who was caught away and lifted up from among you into heaven, will return in [just] the same way in which you saw Him go into heaven.
And he answered, Brethren and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our forefather Abraham when he was still in Mesopotamia, before he [went to] live in Haran,
You who received the Law as it was ordained and set in order and delivered by angels, and [yet] you did not obey it!
But he, full of the Holy Spirit and controlled by Him, gazed into heaven and saw the glory (the splendor and majesty) of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand;
For they are Israelites, and to them belong God's adoption [as a nation] and the glorious Presence (Shekinah). With them were the special covenants made, to them was the Law given. To them [the temple] worship was revealed and [God's own] promises announced.
For God Who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts so as [to beam forth] the Light for the illumination of the knowledge of the majesty and glory of God [as it is manifest in the Person and is revealed] in the face of Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!
For if the message given through angels [the Law spoken by them to Moses] was authentic and proved sure, and every violation and disobedience received an appropriate (just and adequate) penalty,
Above [the ark] and overshadowing the mercy seat were the representations of the cherubim [winged creatures which were the symbols] of glory. We cannot now go into detail about these things.
Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall gaze upon Him and beat their breasts and mourn and lament over Him. Even so [must it be]. Amen (so be it).
The first living creature (being) was like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature had the face of a man, and the fourth living creature [was] like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, individually having six wings, were full of eyes all over and within [underneath their wings]; and day and night they never stop saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty (Omnipotent), Who was and Who is and Who is to come.
Then I heard a mighty voice from the throne and I perceived its distinct words, saying, See! The abode of God is with men, and He will live (encamp, tent) among them; and they shall be His people, and God shall personally be with them and be their God.
Morish
Shechi'nah Shekinah. Sheki'nah
A name not found in scripture, but used by the Rabbis and others for the visible symbol of the presence of God, as was seen at the dedication of the temple built by Solomon, and at the Transfiguration. See CLOUD.
Smith
Shechi'nah
(dwelling). This term is not found in the Bible. It was used by the later Jews, and borrowed by Christians from them, to express the visible majesty of the divine Presence especially when resting or dwelling between the cherubim on the mercyseat. In the tabernacle and in the temple of Solomon, but not in the second temple. The use of the term is first found in the Targums, where it forms a frequent periphrasis for God, considered its dwelling among the children of Israel. The idea which the different accounts in Scripture convey is that of a most brilliant and glorious light, enveloped in a cloud, and usually concealed by the cloud, so that the cloud itself was for the most part alone visible but on particular occasions the glory appeared. The allusions in the New Testament to the shechinah are not unfrequent.
Lu 2:9; Joh 1:14; Ro 9:4
and we are distinctly taught to connect it with the incarnation and future coming of the Messiah as type with antitype.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone all about them, and they were terribly frightened.
And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth.
For they are Israelites, and to them belong God's adoption [as a nation] and the glorious Presence (Shekinah). With them were the special covenants made, to them was the Law given. To them [the temple] worship was revealed and [God's own] promises announced.