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God’s Glory Leaves the Temple

10 As I watched, I saw[a] on the platform[b] above the top of the cherubim something like a sapphire, resembling the shape of a throne, appearing above them. The Lord[c] said to the man dressed in linen, “Go between the wheelwork[d] underneath the cherubim.[e] Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” He went as I watched.

(The cherubim were standing on the south side[f] of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court.) Then the glory of the Lord arose from the cherub and moved to the threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the cloud while the court was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s glory. The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard from the outer court, like the sound of the Sovereign God[g] when he speaks.

When the Lord[h] commanded the man dressed in linen, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man[i] went in and stood by one of the wheels.[j] Then one of the cherubim[k] stretched out his hand[l] toward the fire that was among the cherubim. He took some and put it into the hands of the man dressed in linen, who took it and left. (The cherubim appeared to have the form[m] of human hands under their wings.)

As I watched, I noticed[n] four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub;[o] the wheels gleamed like jasper.[p] 10 As for their appearance, all four of them looked the same, something like a wheel within a wheel.[q] 11 When they[r] moved, they would go in any of the four directions they faced without turning as they moved; in the direction the head would turn they would follow[s] without turning as they moved, 12 along with their entire bodies,[t] their backs, their hands, and their wings. The wheels of the four of them were full of eyes all around. 13 As for their wheels, they were called “the wheelwork”[u] as I listened. 14 Each of the cherubim[v] had four faces: The first was the face of a cherub,[w] the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.

15 The cherubim rose up; these were the living beings[x] I saw at the Kebar River. 16 When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them; when the cherubim spread[y] their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not move from their side. 17 When the cherubim[z] stood still, the wheels[aa] stood still, and when they rose up, the wheels[ab] rose up with them, for the spirit[ac] of the living beings[ad] was in the wheels.[ae]

18 Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. 19 The cherubim spread[af] their wings, and they rose up from the earth[ag] while I watched (when they went, the wheels went alongside them). They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the Lord’s temple as the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them.

20 These were the living creatures[ah] that I saw at the Kebar River underneath the God of Israel; I knew that they were cherubim. 21 Each had four faces; each had four wings and the form of human hands under the wings. 22 As for the form of their faces, they were the faces whose appearance I had seen at the Kebar River. Each one moved straight ahead.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 10:1 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
  2. Ezekiel 10:1 tn Or “like a dome.” See 1:22-26.
  3. Ezekiel 10:2 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  4. Ezekiel 10:2 tn The Hebrew term often refers to chariot wheels (Isa 28:28; Ezek 23:24; 26:10).
  5. Ezekiel 10:2 tc The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum mss read plural “cherubim,” while the MT is singular here, “cherub.” The plural ending was probably omitted in copying the MT due to the similar beginning of the next word.
  6. Ezekiel 10:3 tn Heb “right side.”
  7. Ezekiel 10:5 tn The name (“El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72.
  8. Ezekiel 10:6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  9. Ezekiel 10:6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man dressed in linen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  10. Ezekiel 10:6 tn Heb “the wheel.”
  11. Ezekiel 10:7 tn Heb “the cherub.”
  12. Ezekiel 10:7 tn The Hebrew text adds, “from among the cherubim.”
  13. Ezekiel 10:8 tn The Hebrew term is normally used as an architectural term in describing the plan or pattern of the tabernacle or temple or a representation of it (see Exod 25:8; 1 Chr 28:11).
  14. Ezekiel 10:9 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
  15. Ezekiel 10:9 tn The MT repeats this phrase either due to dittography or a distributive meaning of the repeated phrase (see GKC, 134q).
  16. Ezekiel 10:9 tn Heb “Tarshish stone.” The meaning is uncertain. The term has also been translated “topaz” (NEB), “beryl” (KJV, NASB, NRSV), and “chrysolite” (RSV, NIV).
  17. Ezekiel 10:10 tn Or “like a wheel at right angles to another wheel.” Some envision concentric wheels here, while others propose “a globe-like structure in which two wheels stand at right angles” (L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:33-34). See also 1:16.
  18. Ezekiel 10:11 sn That is, the cherubim.
  19. Ezekiel 10:11 tn Many interpreters assume that the human face of each cherub was the one that looked forward.
  20. Ezekiel 10:12 tc The phrase “along with their entire bodies” is absent from the LXX and may be a gloss explaining the following words.
  21. Ezekiel 10:13 tn Or “the whirling wheels.”
  22. Ezekiel 10:14 tn Heb “each one”; the referent (the cherubim) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  23. Ezekiel 10:14 sn The living creature described here is thus slightly different from the one described in Ezek 1:10, where an ox’s face appeared instead of a cherub’s. Note that some English versions harmonize the two descriptions and read the same here as in 1:10 (cf. NAB, NLT “an ox”; TEV, CEV “a bull”). This may be justified based on v. 22, which states the creatures’ appearance was the same.
  24. Ezekiel 10:15 tn Heb “it was the living creature.”
  25. Ezekiel 10:16 tn Heb “lifted.”
  26. Ezekiel 10:17 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the cherubim) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  27. Ezekiel 10:17 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  28. Ezekiel 10:17 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  29. Ezekiel 10:17 tn Or “wind.”
  30. Ezekiel 10:17 tn Heb “living creature.”
  31. Ezekiel 10:17 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  32. Ezekiel 10:19 tn Heb “lifted.”
  33. Ezekiel 10:19 tn Or “the ground” (NIV, NCV).
  34. Ezekiel 10:20 tn Heb “That was the living creature.”

10 Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. And he spake unto the man clothed in linen, and said, Go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub, and fill both thy hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and [a]scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight. Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. And the glory of Jehovah mounted up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Jehovah’s glory. And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of [b]God Almighty when he speaketh. And it came to pass, when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim, that he went in, and stood beside a wheel. And the cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire that was between the cherubim, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed in linen, who took it and went out. And there appeared in the cherubim the form of a man’s hand under their wings.

And I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like unto a [c]beryl stone. 10 And as for their appearance, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been [d]within a wheel. 11 When they went, they went [e]in their four directions: they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went. 12 And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had. 13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing the whirling wheels. 14 And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

15 And the cherubim mounted up: this is the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar. 16 And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels also turned not from beside them. 17 When they stood, these stood; and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them: for the spirit [f]of the living creature was in them.

18 And the glory of Jehovah went forth from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went forth, and the wheels [g]beside them: and they stood at the door of the east gate of Jehovah’s house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

20 This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 Every one had four faces, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. 22 And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves; they went every one straight forward.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 10:2 Or, sprinkle
  2. Ezekiel 10:5 Hebrew El Shaddai.
  3. Ezekiel 10:9 Or, stone of Tarshish
  4. Ezekiel 10:10 Hebrew in the midst of.
  5. Ezekiel 10:11 Hebrew on their four sides.
  6. Ezekiel 10:17 Or, of life. See 1:21.
  7. Ezekiel 10:19 Or, over against