^1:5In the fire¹⁶ were what looked like¹⁷ four living beings.¹⁸ In their appearance they had human form,¹⁹^1:6but each had four faces and four wings. ^1:7Their legs were straight, but the soles of their feet were like calves’ feet. They gleamed²⁰ like polished bronze. ^1:8They had human hands²¹ under their wings on their four sides. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, ^1:9their wings touched each other; they did not turn as they moved, but went straight ahead.²²

^1:10Their faces had this appearance: Each of the four had the face of a man, with the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left and also the face of an eagle.²³

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Footnotes

16 Heb “from its midst” (מִתּוֹכָהּ, mitokhah). The reads ἐν τῷ μέσῳ (en tō mesō, “in the midst of it”). The also reads ἐν for מִתּוֹךְ (mitokh) in v. 4. The translator of the of Ezekiel either read בְּתוֹךְ (bétokh, “within”) in his Hebrew exemplar or could not imagine how מִתּוֹךְ could make sense and so chose to use ἐν. The Hebrew would be understood by adding “from its midst emerged the forms of four living beings.”
17 Heb “form, figure, appearance.”
18 The Hebrew term is feminine plural yet thirty-three of the forty-five pronominal suffixes and verbal references which refer to the living beings in the chapter are masculine plural. The grammatical vacillation between masculine and feminine plurals suggests the difficulty Ezekiel had in penning these words as he was overcome by the vision of God. In ancient Near Eastern sculpture very similar images of part-human, part-animal creatures serve as throne and sky bearers. For a discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (), 1:. Ezekiel’s vision is an example of contextualization, where God accommodates his self-revelation to cultural expectations and norms.
19 They had human form may mean they stood erect.
20 The Hebrew verb translated gleamed occurs only here in the OT.
21 The reads “his hand” while many Hebrew as well as the Qere read “hands of.” Two similar Hebrew letters, vav and yod, have been confused.
22 Heb “They each went in the direction of one of his faces.”
23 The has an additional word at the beginning of v. 11, וּפְנֵיהֶם (ufénehem, “and their faces”), which is missing from the . As the rest of the verse only applies to wings, “their faces” would have to somehow be understood in the previous clause. But this would be very awkward and is doubly problematic since “their faces” are already introduced as the topic at the beginning of v. 10. The Hebrew scribe appears to have copied the phrase “and their faces and their wings” from v. 8, where it introduces the content of 9–11. Only “and (as for) their wings” belongs here.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.

Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

The likeness of four living creatures came from it, and this was their appearance: They looked something like a human, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, sparkling like the gleam of polished bronze. They had human hands under their wings on their four sides. All four of them had faces and wings. Their wings were touching. The creatures did not turn as they moved; each one went straight ahead. Their faces looked something like the face of a human, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left, and the face of an eagle.

NLTNew Living Translation

From the center of the cloud came four living beings that looked human, except that each had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight, and their feet had hooves like those of a calf and shone like burnished bronze. Under each of their four wings I could see human hands. So each of the four beings had four faces and four wings. The wings of each living being touched the wings of the beings beside it. Each one moved straight forward in any direction without turning around.

Each had a human face in the front, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle at the back.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And from its midst was the likeness of four living creatures, and this was their appearance: a human form, and each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. And their legs were straight legs, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of the foot of a calf, and they were sparkling like the outward appearance of polished bronze. And under their wings were human hands on their four sides. And their faces and their wings for the four of them were as follows: their wings were touching one another; each of them went straight forward, without turning right or left. The likeness of their faces was the face of a human in front, and the face of a lion on the right of each of them, and the face of an ox on the left of each of them, and the face of an eagle for each of them.

KJV 1900King James Version

Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

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