shekhinah

The Hebrew term (not itself in OT) for the important idea of God's dwelling in the midst of his people, usually located in the Tabernacle [[➝ tabernacle]] or the Temple, and described as his ‘glory’ (Exod. 40:35). There were theological difficulties in reconciling the idea of the localized presence with that of the one God who could be encountered throughout the world; but the concept provides a way of holding that God is both transcendent and immanent, and it became available to Christians who struggled to relate their Jewish monotheism with a doctrine of the incarnation of Christ. The concept underlies the doctrine of the Word [[➝ word]] (John 1:14), the narratives of the Transfiguration [[➝ transfiguration]] (Luke 9:31) and the Ascension [[➝ ascension]] (Acts 1:9), and the promise of the presence of Jesus where ‘two or three are gathered in my name’ (Matt. 18:20) ‘to the end of the age’ (Matt. 28:20).