Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Because someone queried me off-list whether my question was more 
theological than linguistic, and since I am reading some helpful responses 
to my question - AND to keep any more good thoughts coming - permit me to 
elaborate a little more on what I mean by "the presence of the Lord" and 
what I am perhaps seeking a better term for:

As I wrote the off-list questioner:

"Well, I hoped to keep it theological/linguistic, i.e., what (if any) term 
should be employed to refer to this quasi-biblical phenomenon, which to me 
is a scaled-down version of what happened when Solomon dedicated the Temple 
(I Kings 8:11) and the priests couldn't stand upright and/or when the place 
the disciples were praying in was shaken (Acts 4:31) -- i.e., a physical 
manifestation by or of God.

"From my own experience I don't think that it's just psychological, since I 
have experienced it on rare occasions and do not think I worked it up 
somehow -- since it came on its own with no desire for it on my part, kind 
of like a breeze on an otherwise calm day, or like the sudden change when 
the temperature sharply drops before a thunderstorm; in other words, a 
definite "atmospheric" change in the room. I don't think (when it's
the real thing) that it's psychological, and I don't think it's demonic, 
since it usually results in a greater awareness of and respect for the Lord 
-- and it doesn't come just because people "want" God to make Himself 
present.

"My best guess is still to call it the "glory" of the Lord -- since that is 
what filled the Temple so the priests couldn't stand."

Thanks!