From where does the term “shekinah glory” originate?

I have been asked this question a couple of times and had to confess that I didn’t know the answer. I was familiar with the term. I used to hear it a lot when I was growing up. Preachers used to talk about the shekinah glory filling the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34,35). It was the glory of God’s presence, but why “shekinah?”

In his book, “Christ plays in ten thousand places” Eugene Peterson comes up with an answer. (This is an excellent book that I am reading at a slow pace).

He says that many years after the Hebrew Bible was completed, the Hebrew verb shakan meaning “dwell” or “tabernacle” was given a noun form shekinah that was widely used in the Hebrew religious community to mark God’s presence, God dwelling among his people accompanied by a visible display of bright glory.

So if you didn’t know before….now you do!

Of course, the impact of this spectacular extravagant light is amazing – even when it is veiled in a cloud - Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting, the priests could not perform their service in Solomon’s temple, Ezekiel fell face down at the temple entrance.

Ponder then:

Hebrews 1:3a “The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being,”

John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”