beheld his glory
John 1:14
1:14 beheld his glory. The Greek word for “tabernacle” (skene) is a cognate word to shakan, the Hebrew word for “dwell,” both being related to what has come to be known as the shekinah glory cloud that filled the ancient tabernacle (Exodus 40:34). The latter term is not directly used in either Testament, but was used in Talmudic literature with this meaning. It is thus commonly associated with the glory of God dwelling in either the tabernacle (or the later temple) or in Christ’s human body. In this sense, the disciples “beheld His glory” while He was on earth, and Christ prayed that we would also behold His glory in heaven (John 17:5,22,24). Even now, we can, in a spiritual sense, behold His glory as we see Him in the written Word, just as the disciples recognized Him as the living Word (see II Corinthians 3:18).