כָּבוֹד (Kavod)

MEANINGGlory, weight, honor, significance. The OT's primary word for the manifest presence-weight of God. When the kavod fills the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:34) or the Temple (1 Kings 8:11), it is the divine presence made visible and felt.

GRAMMARFrom the root כָּבַד (kaved --- to be heavy, weighty). Kavod = the heaviness or significance of something --- the weight of divine presence. Used for human honor and glory but most significantly for the divine kavod that fills sacred spaces, appears in theophany, and is the goal of redemptive history (the whole earth full of his kavod --- Isaiah 6:3).

SIGNIFICANCEThe kavod is the substance of what Thread 6 traces. The goal of creation (Habakkuk 2:14 --- 'the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory/kavod of the LORD as the waters cover the sea') is the kavod filling everything. The kavod's departure from the Temple (Ezekiel 10-11) is the OT's most devastating moment. Its return (Ezekiel 43) and its permanent dwelling in the new creation (Revelation 21:11) is the thread's destination.

KEY VERSE / SCRIPTURESExodus 40:34-35; 1 Kings 8:10-11; Isaiah 6:3; Ezekiel 1:28; 10:4, 18-19; 43:2-5; Habakkuk 2:14; Psalm 19:1.

CROSS-REFERENCESExodus 40:34 · Ezekiel 10-11 · Ezekiel 43 · John 1:14 ('we beheld his glory') · Revelation 21:11