Shekinah (alternative transliterations Shekinah, Shechinah, Shekina, Shechina, Schechinah, שכינה) is the English spelling of a grammatically feminine Hebrew word that means the dwelling or settling, and is used to denote the dwelling or settling divine presence of God, especially in the Temple in Jerusalem.
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Shekinah is derived from the Hebrew verb שכן. In Biblical Hebrew the word means literally to settle, inhabit, or dwell, and is used frequently in the Hebrew Bible. (See Exodus 40:35, "Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting, for the cloud rested [shakhan] upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle." See also e.g. Genesis 9:27, 14:13, Psalms 37:3, Jeremiah 33:16), as well as the weekly Shabbat blessing recited in the Temple in Jerusalem ("May He who causes His name to dwell [shochan] in this House, cause to dwell among you love and brotherliness, peace and friendship"). In Mishnaic Hebrew the noun is often used to refer to birds' nesting and nests. ("Every bird nests [shekhinot] with its kind, and man with its like, Talmud Baba Kammah 92b.) and can also mean "neighbor" ("If a neighbor and a scholar, the scholar is preferred" Talmud Ketubot 85b).
The word for Tabernacle, mishkan, is a derivative of the same root and is used in the sense of dwelling-place in the Bible, e.g. Psalm 132:5 ("Before I find a place for God, mishkanot (dwelling-places) for the Strong One of Israel.") Accordingly, in classic Jewish thought, the Shekhinah refers to a dwelling or settling in a special sense, a dwelling or settling of divine presence, to the effect that, while in proximity to the Shekhinah, the connection to God is more readily perceivable.
Some Christian theologians have connected the concept of Shekhinah to the Greek term "Parousia", "presence" "arrival," which is used in the New Testament in a similar way for "Divine Presence".[1]
The Shekinah is held by some to represent the feminine attributes of the presence of God (shekhinah being a feminine word in Hebrew), based especially on readings of the Talmud.[2]
The Shekinah is referred to as manifest in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem throughout Rabbinic literature. It is also reported as being present in the acts of public prayer, ("Whenever ten are gathered for prayer, there the Shekhinah rests" Talmud Sanhedrin 39a); righteous judgment ("when three sit as judges, the Shekhinah is with them." Talmud Berachot 6a), and personal need ("The Shekhinah dwells over the headside of the sick man's bed" Talmud Shabbat 12b; "Wheresoever they were exiled, the Shekhinah went with them." Megillah 29a).
The Talmud expounds a Beraita (oral tradition) which illuminates the manner in which the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) is to sprinkle the blood of the bull-offering towards the Parochet (Curtain) separating the Hekhal (sanctuary) from the Kodesh Hakodashim (Holy of Holies):
The Talmud reports that the Shekinah is what caused prophets to prophesy and King David to compose his Psalms. The Shekinah manifests itself as a form of joy, connected with prophecy and creativity: Talmud Pesachim 117a) The Talmud also reports that "The Shekinah does not rest amidst laziness, nor amidst laughter, nor amidst lightheadedness, nor amidst idle conversation. Rather, it is amidst the joy associated with a mitzvah that the Shekinah comes to rest upon people, as it is said: 'And now, bring me for a musician, and it happened that when the music played, God's hand rested upon him' [Elisha] [2 Kings 3:15]" (Pesachim 117a). Thus the Shekinah is associated with the transformational spirit of God regarded as the source of prophecy:
The prophets made numerous references to metaphorical visions of the presence of God, particularly in the context of the Tabernacle or Temple, with figures such as thrones or robes filling the Sanctuary, which have traditionally been attributed to the presence of the Shekhinah. Isaiah wrote "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the Temple." (Isaiah 6:1). Jeremiah implored "Do not dishonor the throne of your glory" (Jeremiah 14:21) and referred to "Thou throne of glory, on high from the beginning, Thou place of our sanctuary" (Jeremiah 17:12). Ezekiel spoke of "the glory of the God of Israel was there [in the Sanctuary], according to the vision that I saw in the plain."
Hassidic Judaism regards the Kabbalah, in which the Shekinah has special significance, as having scriptural authority. The word 'Matronit' is also employed to represent this usage.
This recurrent theme is best known from the writings and songs of the legendary mystic of the 16th century, Rabbi Isaac Luria. Here is a quotation from the beginning of his famous shabbat hymn:
A paragraph in the Zohar starts: "One must prepare a comfortable seat with several cushions and embroidered covers, from all that is found in the house, like one who prepares a canopy for a bride. For the Shabbat is a queen and a bride. This is why the masters of the Mishna used to go out on the eve of Shabbat to receive her on the road, and used to say: 'Come, O bride, come, O bride!' And one must sing and rejoice at the table in her honor ... one must receive the Lady with many lighted candles, many enjoyments, beautiful clothes, and a house embellished with many fine appointments ..."
The tradition of the Shekinah as the Shabbat Bride, the Shabbat Hamalka, continues to this day.
The 17th blessing of the daily Amidah prayer said in Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform services is "Blessed are You, God, who returns His Presence (shekhinato) to Zion."
The Liberal Jewish prayer-book for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Machzor Ruach Chadashah) contains a creative prayer based on Avinu Malkeinu, in which the feminine noun Shekhinah is used in the interests of gender neutrality.[3]
The concept of Shekinah is also associated with Holy Spirit in Jewish tradition, such as in Yiddish song: Vel ich, sh'chine tsu dir kummen "Will I, shekinah, to you come".[4]
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,
References to the Shekhinah in Christianity often see the presence and the glory of the Lord as being synonymous,[5] as illustrated in the following verse from Exodus;
The Shekinah 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. In contradistinction with the Old Testament where the Holy of Holies signified the presence of God, from the New Testament onwards, it is the Holy Spirit that reminds us of God's abiding presence. Furthermore, in the same manner that the Shekhinah is linked to prophecy in Judaism, so it is in Christianity:
Where references are made to the Shekinah 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)[6] 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).[7] 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).
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 سكينة (Sakinah) is mentioned six times in Quran. It stands for peace, reassurance, calmness, and tranquillity. Chapter 2, verse 248 says: "And their messenger said to them: Verily! The sign of his kingdom is that there shall come to you At-Tabut (the lost arc), wherein is Sakinah from your Lord and a remnant of that which Moses and Aaron left behind, carried by the angels. Verily, in this is a sign for you if you are indeed believers." It is often described as "reassuring feeling of being in the presence (or under the protection) of God."
Imam al-Qurtubi mentions in his famous exegesis, in explanation of the mentioned verse, that according to Wahb ibn Munnabih, Sakinah is a spirit from God that speaks, and (in the case of the Israelites) where people disagreed on some issue, this spirit came with clarification in their matters, and used to be a cause of victory for them in wars. According to Ali ibn Abi Talib, " Sakinah is a sweet breeze/wind, whose face is like the face of a human", Mujahid mentions, "that when sakinah glanced at an enemy, they were defeated." and Ibn Atiyyah mentions about the Ark of covenant (at-Tabut) to which the Sakina was associated, that souls found therein peace, warmth, companionship and strength.
Imam Muslim narrates in his Sahih from 'Bara, that a certain man (during the time of Muhammad), was reciting the Surah Kahf from the Quran, by his tied horse, and as he was reciting, a cloud engulfed him, which was encircling and descending, whose sight caused his horse to jump and move, and so when morning came he went to Muhammad and informed him of what occurred, to which Muhammad replied that was the Sakinah that descended for the Quran.
According to Sunni traditions, when Muhammad was persecuted in Makkah, and the time came for him to emigrate to Madinah, he took temporary refuge with his companion Abu Bakr in the cave of Thawr. Seeking to be hidden from the Makkans who were looking for him, it was at Thawr where God brought down His 'sakinah' over them, protecting them from their enemies. According to Sufism, it was at Thawr where Abu Bakr was blessed (through Muhammad) with divine secrets; whose transmission from him to the latter generations formed the Naqshbandi path of Sufism. It was this experience that the second Caliph Umar ibn Khattab mentioned that all the good Umar did cannot stand as an equivalent to Abu Bakr's sole virtue of companionship with Muhammad at the Thawr cave.
Muhammed's grandson Hussain bin Ali named one of his daughters Sakina who tragically perished in a Syrian prison during the imprisonment of Hussain's family members who survived the battle of Karbala, mostly women and children. She was the first person in the history of Islam to have been given the name Sakina. Presently it is a popular female name in most Islamic cultures. See Sakina.
In the work by anthropologist Raphael Patai entitled The Hebrew Goddess, the author argues that the term Shekhinah refers to a goddess by comparing and contrasting scriptural and medieval Jewish Kabbalistic source materials. Patai draws a historic distinction between the Shekhinah and the Matronit.
In the bestselling thriller The Torah Codes by Ezra Barany, the storyline refers to the Shekhinah as a goddess and one of the characters is even named Patai. In the appendix are essays by Rabbi Shefa Gold, Zvi Bellin, and Tania Schweig about the Shekhinah. [8]
American poet Gustav Davidson listed Shekhinah as an entry in his reference work A Dictionary of Angel, stating that she is the female incarnation of Metatron.
Lois Roden, whom the original Branch Davidian Seventh-Day Adventist Church acknowledged as their teacher/prophet from 1978 to 1986, laid heavy emphasis on women's spirituality and the feminine aspect of God. She published a magazine, Shekinah, often rendered SHEkinah, in which she explored the concept that the Shekinah is the Holy Spirit. Articles from Shekinah are reprinted online at the Branch Davidian website.[10]
In their book, The Cosmis Shekhinah, David Rankine and Sorita D'Este explore the Wisdom Goddess of the Bible; as well as the Kabbalah, her precedents in the history and practices of earlier cultures and later developments.