Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Eric Weiss" <eweiss AT gte.net>]

In Charismatic Christian circles, in which I have often moved, a frequent 
expression is "the presence of the Lord" (or "the presence of the Holy 
Spirit"). This is used to refer to that palpable "feeling" (whether real or 
subjective - but it is real to those who sense it) of a change (usually) in 
the "atmosphere" of the meeting room - a kind of "heaviness" or "thickness" 
or "warmness" or "closeness" of SOMETHING, which is connected with the idea 
that God has somehow drawn closer or come into the room or expressed 
Himself in a way which can be "felt."

My question is whether "presence of the Lord" is the proper terminology. 
For "presence" in the Hebrew Bible (this phrase doesn't seem to occur much 
in the New Testament) seems often to be a translation of PaNaH or LiFNeY - 
"face" or "to/before the face of (someone)." Yet those saying that "the 
presence of the Lord is here" don't usually mean that we are before the 
face of the Lord or that He is with us in the same sense as when the Bible 
says LiFNeY YHWH. My guess is that something closer to KeBoD - 
"glory/heaviness" (equivalent to the Greek DOXA?) - may be a better term 
for what is meant, though when Charismatics speak of "the glory of the 
Lord," they are probably referring to something that manifests itself 
visibly, not just to the sense of touch.

Any thoughts or help?