Ezekiel 10:3-4

10:3 (The cherubim were standing on the south side ¹  of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court.) 10:4 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.

Genesis 3:24

3:24 When he drove ²  the man out, he placed on the eastern side ³  of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries ⁴  who used the flame of a whirling sword ⁵  to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 3:2

3:2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat ⁶  of the fruit from the trees of the orchard;

Genesis 2:11

2:11 The name of the first is Pishon; it runs through ⁷  the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.

Psalms 18:10

18:10 He mounted ⁸  a winged angel ⁹  and flew;

he glided ¹⁰  on the wings of the wind. ¹¹ 

Psalms 68:17-18

68:17 God has countless chariots;

they number in the thousands. ¹² 

The Lord comes from Sinai in holy splendor. ¹³ 

68:18 You ascend on high, ¹⁴ 

you have taken many captives. ¹⁵ 

You receive tribute ¹⁶  from ¹⁷  men,

including even sinful rebels.

Indeed the Lord God lives there! ¹⁸ 

[10:3]  ¹ tn Heb “right side.”

[3:24]  ² tn The verb with the vav (ו) consecutive is made subordinate to the next verb forming a temporal clause. This avoids any tautology with the previous verse that already stated that the Lord expelled the man.

[3:24]  ³ tn Or “placed in front.” Directions in ancient Israel were given in relation to the east rather than the north.

[3:24]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew word is traditionally transliterated “the cherubim.”

[3:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “the flame of the sword that turns round and round.” The noun “flame” is qualified by the genitive of specification, “the sword,” which in turn is modified by the attributive participle “whirling.” The Hitpael of the verb “turn” has an iterative function here, indicating repeated action. The form is used in Job 37:12 of swirling clouds and in Judg 7:13 of a tumbling roll of bread. Verse 24 depicts the sword as moving from side to side to prevent anyone from passing or as whirling around, ready to cut to shreds anyone who tries to pass.

[3:2]  ⁶ tn There is a notable change between what the Lord God had said and what the woman says. God said “you may freely eat” (the imperfect with the infinitive absolute, see 2:16), but the woman omits the emphatic infinitive, saying simply “we may eat.” Her words do not reflect the sense of eating to her heart’s content.

[2:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “it is that which goes around.”

[18:10]  ⁸ tn Or “rode upon.”

[18:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “a cherub.” Because of the typical associations of the word “cherub” in English with chubby winged babies, the term has been rendered “winged angel” in the translation.

[18:10]  ¹⁰ tc 2 Sam 22:11 reads “appeared” (from רָאָה, ra’ah); the relatively rare verb דָאָה (da’ah, “glide”) is more difficult and probably the original reading here in Ps 18.

[18:10]  ¹¹ sn The wings of the wind. Verse 10 may depict (1) the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option (2) is that two different vehicles (a cherub and the wind) are envisioned. Yet another option (3) is that the wind is personified as a cherub. For a discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in v. 10, see M. Weinfeld, “‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” JANESCU 5 (1973): 422-24.

[68:17]  ¹² tn Heb “thousands of [?].” The meaning of the word שִׁנְאָן (shin’an), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Perhaps the form should be emended to שַׁאֲנָן (sha’anan, “at ease”) and be translated here “held in reserve.”

[68:17]  ¹³ tc The MT reads, “the Lord [is] among them, Sinai, in holiness,” which is syntactically difficult. The present translation assumes an emendation to אֲדֹנָי בָּא מִסִּינַי (’adonay ba’ missinay; see BHS note b-b and Deut 33:2).

[68:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to the elevated place”; or “on high.” This probably refers to the Lord’s throne on Mount Zion.

[68:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you have taken captives captive.”

[68:18]  ¹⁶ tn Or “gifts.”

[68:18]  ¹⁷ tn Or “among.”

[68:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “so that the Lord God might live [there].” Many take the infinitive construct with -לְ (lamed) as indicating purpose here, but it is unclear how the offering of tribute enables the Lord to live in Zion. This may be an occurrence of the relatively rare emphatic lamed (see HALOT 510-11 s.v. II לְ, though this text is not listed as an example there). If so, the statement corresponds nicely to the final line of v. 16, which also affirms emphatically that the Lord lives in Zion.