Shekiʹnah (shachan, to reside)

The glory of the Divine Presence in the shape of a cloud of fire, which rested on the mercy-seat between the Cherubim.

Shekinah or Shechinah is not a biblical word. It was first mentioned in the Jerusalem Targum. The Sheckinah was not supposed to dwell in the Second Temple. Its responses were given either by the Urim and Thummim of the high priest, by prophets, or orally. (See Deut. iii. 24; and Luke xvi. 2.)

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.