Discovery BoxPsalms 18:10
Context18:10 He mounted 1 a winged angel 2 and flew;
he glided 3 on the wings of the wind. 4
Psalms 80:1
ContextFor the music director; according to the shushan-eduth style; 6 a psalm of Asaph.
80:1 O shepherd of Israel, pay attention,
you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep!
You who sit enthroned above the winged angels, 7 reveal your splendor! 8
Exodus 25:22
Context25:22 I will meet with you there, 9 and 10 from above the atonement lid, from between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will command you for the Israelites.
Ezekiel 10:1-22
Context10:1 As I watched, I saw 11 on the platform 12 above the top of the cherubim something like a sapphire, resembling the shape of a throne, appearing above them. 10:2 The Lord 13 said to the man dressed in linen, “Go between the wheelwork 14 underneath the cherubim. 15 Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” He went as I watched.
10:3 (The cherubim were standing on the south side 16 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. 10:5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard from the outer court, like the sound of the sovereign God 17 when he speaks.
10:6 When the Lord 18 commanded the man dressed in linen, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man 19 went in and stood by one of the wheels. 20 10:7 Then one of the cherubim 21 stretched out his hand 22 toward the fire which was among the cherubim. He took some and put it into the hands of the man dressed in linen, who took it and left. 10:8 (The cherubim appeared to have the form 23 of human hands under their wings.)
10:9 As I watched, I noticed 24 four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; 25 the wheels gleamed like jasper. 26 10:10 As for their appearance, all four of them looked the same, something like a wheel within a wheel. 27 10:11 When they 28 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 29 without turning as they moved, 10:12 along with their entire bodies, 30 their backs, their hands, and their wings. The wheels of the four of them were full of eyes all around. 10:13 As for their wheels, they were called “the wheelwork” 31 as I listened. 10:14 Each of the cherubim 32 had four faces: The first was the face of a cherub, 33 the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.
10:15 The cherubim rose up; these were the living beings 34 I saw at the Kebar River. 10:16 When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them; when the cherubim spread 35 their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not move from their side. 10:17 When the cherubim 36 stood still, the wheels 37 stood still, and when they rose up, the wheels 38 rose up with them, for the spirit 39 of the living beings 40 was in the wheels. 41
10:18 Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. 10:19 The cherubim spread 42 their wings, and they rose up from the earth 43 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.
10:20 These were the living creatures 44 which I saw at the Kebar River underneath the God of Israel; I knew that they were cherubim. 10:21 Each had four faces; each had four wings and the form of human hands under the wings. 10:22 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.
[18:10] 2 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] 3 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] 4 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.
[80:1] 5 sn Psalm 80. The psalmist laments Israel’s demise and asks the Lord to show favor toward his people, as he did in earlier times.
[80:1] 6 tn The Hebrew expression shushan-eduth means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title. See the superscription to Ps 60.
[80:1] 7 sn Winged angels (Heb “cherubs”). Cherubs, as depicted in the OT, possess both human and animal (lion, ox, and eagle) characteristics (see Ezek 1:10; 10:14, 21; 41:18). They are pictured as winged creatures (Exod 25:20; 37:9; 1 Kgs 6:24-27; Ezek 10:8, 19) and serve as the very throne of God when the ark of the covenant is in view (Ps 99:1; see Num 7:89; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; 2 Kgs 19:15). The picture of the Lord seated on the cherubs suggests they might be used by him as a vehicle, a function they carry out in Ezek 1:22-28 (the “living creatures” mentioned here are identified as cherubs in Ezek 10:20). In Ps 18:10 the image of a cherub serves to personify the wind.
[80:1] 8 tn Heb “shine forth.”
[25:22] 9 sn Here then is the main point of the ark of the covenant, and the main point of all worship – meeting with God through atonement. The text makes it clear that here God would meet with Moses (“you” is singular) and then he would speak to the people – he is the mediator of the covenant. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 272) makes the point that the verb here is not the word that means “to meet by chance” (as in Exod 3:18), but “to meet” by appointment for a purpose (וְנוֹעַדְתִּי, vÿno’adti). The parallel in the NT is Jesus Christ and his work. The theology is that the Law condemns people as guilty of sin, but the sacrifice of Christ makes atonement. So he is the “place of propitiation (Rom 3:25) who gains communion with the Father for sinners. A major point that could be made from this section is this: At the center of worship must be the atoning work of Christ – a perpetual reminder of God’s righteous standard (the testimony in the ark) and God’s gracious provision (the atonement lid).
[25:22] 10 tn The verb is placed here in the text: “and I will speak”; it has been moved in this translation to be closer to the direct object clause.
[10:1] 11 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
[10:1] 12 tn Or “like a dome.” See 1:22-26.
[10:2] 13 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
[10:2] 14 tn The Hebrew term often refers to chariot wheels (Isa 28:28; Ezek 23:24; 26:10).
[10:2] 15 tc The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum
[10:3] 16 tn Heb “right side.”
[10:5] 17 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.
[10:6] 18 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[10:6] 19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man dressed in linen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:7] 21 tn Heb “the cherub.”
[10:7] 22 tn The Hebrew text adds, “from among the cherubim.”
[10:8] 23 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).
[10:9] 24 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
[10:9] 25 tn The MT repeats this phrase, a clear case of dittography.
[10:9] 26 tn Heb “Tarshish stone.” The meaning is uncertain. The term has also been translated “topaz” (NEB), “beryl” (KJV, NASB, NRSV), and “chrysolite” (RSV, NIV).
[10:10] 27 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.
[10:11] 28 sn That is, the cherubim.
[10:11] 29 tn Many interpreters assume that the human face of each cherub was the one that looked forward.
[10:12] 30 tc The phrase “along with their entire bodies” is absent from the LXX and may be a gloss explaining the following words.
[10:13] 31 tn Or “the whirling wheels.”
[10:14] 32 tn Heb “each one”; the referent (the cherubim) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:14] 33 sn The living creature described here is thus slightly different from the one described in Ezek 1:10, where a bull’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.
[10:15] 34 tn Heb “it was the living creature.”
[10:17] 36 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the cherubim) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:17] 37 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:17] 38 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:17] 40 tn Heb “living creature.”
[10:17] 41 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
