Shekhinah

Shekinah, Shechinah, or Schechinah (Hebrew: שְׁכִינָה‎), is the English transliteration of a Hebrew noun meaning dwelling or settling, and denotes the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God and his cosmic glory.

A similar Arabic word, Sakina (السكينة), is used in the Qur'an where it has a somewhat similar meaning.

Etymology

Shekinah is derived from the Hebrew verb שכן. The Semitic root means literally to settle, inhabit, or dwell. The abstract noun is unattested in the Tanakh, and is first encountered in rabbinical writings. The root word is often used to refer to birds' nesting and nests. ("Every bird nests [shekinot] 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.") and Numbers 24:5 ("Your dwelling places, Israel," where the word for "your dwelling places", transliterated, is mishkenotecha). Accordingly, in classic Jewish thought, the Shekinah 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 Shekinah, the connection to God is more readily perceivable.