Exodus 25:20

25:20 The cherubim are to be spreading their wings upward, overshadowing ¹  the atonement lid with their wings, and the cherubim are to face each other, ²  looking ³  toward the atonement lid.

Exodus 37:9

37:9 The cherubim were spreading their wings ⁴  upward, overshadowing the atonement lid with their wings. The cherubim ⁵  faced each other, ⁶  looking toward the atonement lid. ⁷ 

Exodus 37:1

The Making of the Ark

37:1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; its length was three feet nine inches, its width two feet three inches, and its height two feet three inches.

Exodus 6:24

6:24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.

Exodus 6:27

6:27 They were the men who were speaking to Pharaoh king of Egypt, in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. It was the same Moses and Aaron.

Exodus 8:7

8:7 The magicians did the same ⁸  with their secret arts and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt too. ⁹ 

Ezekiel 1:6

1:6 but each had four faces and four wings.

Ezekiel 1:9

1:9 their wings touched each other; they did not turn as they moved, but went straight ahead. ¹⁰ 

Ezekiel 1:24

1:24 When they moved, I heard the sound of their wings – it was like the sound of rushing waters, or the voice of the Almighty, ¹¹  or the tumult ¹²  of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

Ezekiel 10:21

10:21 Each had four faces; each had four wings and the form of human hands under the wings.

Revelation 4:8

4:8 Each one of the four living creatures had six wings ¹³  and was full of eyes all around and inside. ¹⁴  They never rest day or night, saying: ¹⁵ 

“Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God, the All-Powerful, ¹⁶ 

Who was and who is, and who is still to come!”

[25:20]  ¹ tn The verb means “overshadowing, screening” in the sense of guarding (see 1 Kgs 8:7; 1 Chr 28:18; see also the account in Gen 3:24). The cherubim then signify two things here: by their outstretched wings they form the throne of God who sits above the ark (with the Law under his feet), and by their overshadowing and guarding they signify this as the place of atonement where people must find propitiation to commune with God. Until then they are barred from his presence. See U. Cassuto, Exodus, 330-35.

[25:20]  ² tn Heb “their faces a man to his brother.”

[25:20]  ³ tn Heb “the faces of the cherubim will be” (“the cherubim” was moved to the preceding clause for smoother English).

[37:9]  ⁴ tn The construction is a participle in construct followed by the genitive “wings” – “spreaders of wings.”

[37:9]  ⁵ tn “The cherubim” has been placed here instead of in the second clause to produce a smoother translation.

[37:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “and their faces a man to his brother.”

[37:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “to the atonement lid were the faces of the cherubim.”

[8:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “thus, so.”

[8:7]  ⁹ sn In these first two plagues the fact that the Egyptians could and did duplicate them is ironic. By duplicating the experience, they added to the misery of Egypt. One wonders why they did not use their skills to rid the land of the pests instead, and the implication of course is that they could not.

[1:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “They each went in the direction of one of his faces.”

[1:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Shaddai” (probably meaning “one of the mountain”), a title that depicts God as the sovereign ruler of the world who dispenses justice. The Old Greek translation omitted the phrase “voice of the Almighty.”

[1:24]  ¹² tn The only other occurrence of the Hebrew word translated “tumult” is in Jer 11:16. It indicates a noise like that of the turmoil of a military camp or the sound of an army on the march.

[4:8]  ¹³ tn Grk “six wings apiece,” but this is redundant with “each one” in English.

[4:8]  ¹⁴ tn Some translations render ἔσωθεν (eswqen) as “under [its] wings,” but the description could also mean “filled all around on the outside and on the inside with eyes.” Since the referent is not available to the interpreter, the exact force is difficult to determine.

[4:8]  ¹⁵ tn Or “They never stop saying day and night.”

[4:8]  ¹⁶ tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”