July 5th, 2010THE SHEKINAH
Shekhinah is the presence or manifestation of God which has descended to “dwell” among humanity.
The term never appears in the Hebrew Bible; later rabbis used the word when speaking of God dwelling either in the Tabernacle or amongst the people of Israel.
The root of the word means “dwelling”. Of the principal names of God, it is the only one that is of the feminine gender in Hebrew grammar. Some believe that this was the name of a female counterpart of God, but this is unlikely as the name is always mentioned in conjunction an article (e.g.: “the Shekhina descended and dwelt among them” or “He removed Himself and His Shekhina from their midst”). This kind of usage does not occur in Semitic languages in conjunction with proper names.
The Arabic form of the word “Sakina is also mentioned in the Quran.This mention is in the middle of the narrative of the choice of Saul to be king and is mentioned as descending with the ark of the covenant here the word is used to mean “security” and is derived from the root sa-ka-na which means dwell:
And (further) their Prophet said to them: “A Sign of his authority is that there shall come to you the Ark of the Covenant, with (an assurance) therein of security from your Lord, and the relics left by the family of Moses and the family of Aaron, carried by angels. In this is a Symbol for you if ye indeed have faith.”
The Shekhinah in Christianity
In addition to the various accounts indicating the presence or glory of God recorded in the Hebrew Bible, many Christians also consider the Shekhinah to be manifest in numerous instances in the New Testament.
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 YHWH’s presence so long as that temple stood. It afterwards disappeared.
References to the Shekhinah in Christianity often see the presence and the glory of the Lord as being synonymous as illustrated in the following verse from Exodus;
And Moses went up into the mount, and the cloud covered the mount. And the glory of YHWH abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the appearance of the glory of YWHH was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. (Exodus 24:15-17 ASV)
The Spirit of the Lord
The Shekhinah in the New Testament is commonly equated to the presence or indwelling of the Spirit of the Lord (generally referred to as the Holy Spirit, or Spirit of Christ) in the believer, drawing parallels to the presence of God in Solomon’s Temple. Furthermore, in the same manner that the Shekhinah is linked to prophecy in Judaism, so it is in Christianity:
For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21 ASV)
The Glory of the Lord
Where references are made to the Shekhinah as manifestations of the glory of the Lord associated with his presence, Christians find numerous occurrences in the New Testament in both literal (as in Luke 2:9 which refers to the “glory of the Lord” shining on the shepherds at Jesus’ birth)[5] as well as spiritual forms (as in John 17:22, where Jesus speaks to God of giving the “glory” that God gave to him to the people)[6]. A contrast can be found in Ichabod, so named as a result of the Ark of the Covenant being captured by the Philistines: “The glory is departed from Israel” (1 Samuel 4:22 KJV).
The Divine Presence
By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. (Exodus 13:21)
The word Shekhina, in Hebrew, is derived from the Biblical verb shakhan, meaning “the act of dwelling” but taking the feminine form. Therefore, at the beginning of the Talmudic era, the word Shekhina meant the aspect of God that dwelt among people and could be apprehended by the senses.
For example, one Talmudic verse said: “Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell (ve’shakhanti) among them.” However, in a later version, the translation said “Let them make Me a Sanctuary so that My Shekhina will dwell among them.” In other words, a separate entity.
Slowly, the manifested entity became stronger. A complete distinction appears in a Talmudic quotation from the end of the 1st century BCE: “…while the Children of Israel were still in Egypt, the Holy One, blessed be He, stipulated that He would liberate them from Egypt only in order that they built him a Sanctuary so that He can let His Shekhina dwell among them… As soon as the Tabernacle was erected, the Shekhina descended and dwelt among them.”
Another quotation from early 3rd century says: “On that day a thing came about which had never existed since the creation of the world. From the creation of the world and up to that hour the Shekhina had never dwelt among the lower beings. But from the time that the Tabernacle was erected, she did dwell among them.”
Another tradition claimed that she had always dwelt among her people, but their sins drove her, on and off, into Heaven. However, she was drawn back to her children and tried to save them, over and over. By that time, her image was so ingrained into real historical events, that when the Jews were exiled to Babylonia, she transferred her seat there, and appeared alternately in two major synagogues.
She often made herself visible to the congregations there, particularly in one synagogue, which was built of stones and dust taken from a holy place in Jerusalem.
As the Jews dispersed further, sightings occurred in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Russia – in every town where Jews lived. Shekhina comforted the sick, the poor, the suffering, and had a particular concern for repentant sinners “These are accepted by the Shekhina as if they were righteous and pious persons who never sinned.
They are carried aloft and seated next to the Shekhina…he whose heart is broken and whose spirit is low, and whose mouth rarely utters a word, the Shekhina walks with him every day…”.
The paradox of dwelling in one place, and being in various places and with many people at the same time, had to be resolved. The Talmud reconciled the two ideas beautifully in a well-known anecdote. “The Emperor said to Raban Gamaliel: ŒYou say that wherever ten men are assembled, the Shekhina dwells among them.
As time went by, her position strengthened.
An interesting Medieval anecdote shows the Shekhina as a total separate entity, in her most important role – interceding on behalf of her children.
“The Shekhina comes to the defense of sinful Israel by saying first to Israel: ‘Be not a witness against thy neighbor without a cause’ and then thereafter saying to God: ‘Say not: I will do to him as he hath done to me..’ ”
This is obviously a conversation taking place among three distinct entities – Israel, God, and the Shekhina.
Another significant passage from the 11th century, describes Rabbi Akiva (a second century sage) saying: “When the Holy One, blessed be He, considered the deeds of the generation of Enoch and that they were spoiled and evil, He removed Himself and His Shekhina from their midst and ascended into the heights with blasts of trumpets…”
Like any good mother, she could punish too.
When she behaved violently, her character came closer to her powerful aspect of the great Asherah, Yahweh’s Canaanite Consort.
She descended to Earth to punish Adam, Eve, and the Serpent when they sinned at the Garden of Eden.
She confused the builders of the Tower of Babel.
She drowned the Egyptians at the Red Sea crossing during Exodus.
