An ancient Jewish saying promised God's presence for even two or three gathered to study his law (m. 'Abot 3:2, 6; Mek. Bahodesh 11.48ff.; compare m. Berakot 7:3). Here Jesus himself fills the role of the Shekinah, God's presence, in the traditional Jewish saying (compare Smith 1951:152-53; Meier 1980:206; Barth 1963:135; Ziesler 1984). Jewish teachers often called God "the Place," that is, "the Omnipresent One" (see Keener 1991a:150 n. 27); Jesus is "God with us" (Mt 1:23; 28:20).