^10:1As I watched, I saw¹ on the platform² above the top of the cherubim something like a sapphire, resembling the shape of a throne, appearing above them. ^10:2The Lord³ said to the man dressed in linen, “Go between the wheelwork⁴ underneath the cherubim.⁵ 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 side⁶ of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court.) ^10:4Then 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. ^10:5The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard from the outer court, like the sound of the sovereign God⁷ when he speaks.

^10:6When the Lord⁸ commanded the man dressed in linen, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man⁹ went in and stood by one of the wheels.¹⁰^10:7Then one of the cherubim¹¹ stretched out his hand¹² 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 form¹³ of human hands under their wings.)

^10:9As I watched, I noticed¹⁴ four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub;¹⁵ the wheels gleamed like jasper.¹⁶^10:10As for their appearance, all four of them looked the same, something like a wheel within a wheel.¹⁷^10:11When they¹⁸ 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 follow¹⁹ without turning as they moved, ^10:12along with their entire bodies,²⁰ their backs, their hands, and their wings. The wheels of the four of them were full of eyes all around. ^10:13As for their wheels, they were called “the wheelwork”²¹ as I listened. ^10:14Each of the cherubim²² had four faces: The first was the face of a cherub,²³ the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.

^10:15The cherubim rose up; these were the living beings²⁴ I saw at the Kebar River. ^10:16When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them; when the cherubim spread²⁵ their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not move from their side. ^10:17When the cherubim²⁶ stood still, the wheels²⁷ stood still, and when they rose up, the wheels²⁸ rose up with them, for the spirit²⁹ of the living beings³⁰ was in the wheels.³¹

^10:18Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. ^10:19The cherubim spread³² their wings, and they rose up from the earth³³ 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.

^10:20These were the living creatures³⁴ which I saw at the Kebar River underneath the God of Israel; I knew that they were cherubim. ^10:21Each had four faces; each had four wings and the form of human hands under the wings. ^10:22As 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 The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
2 Or “like a dome.” See 1:22–26.
3 Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 The Hebrew term often refers to chariot wheels (Isa 28:28; Ezek 23:24; 26:10).
5 The , , , and read plural “cherubim” while the is singular here, “cherub.” The plural ending was probably omitted in copying the due to the similar beginning of the next word.
6 Heb “right side.”
7 The name (“El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin . There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” 54 (1935): 173–210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” 41 (1940): 34–43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69–72.
8 Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 Heb “he”; the referent (the man dressed in linen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 Heb “the wheel.”
11 Heb “the cherub.”
12 The Hebrew text adds, “from among the cherubim.”
13 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 The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
15 The repeats this phrase, a clear case of dittography.
16 Heb “Tarshish stone.” The meaning is uncertain. The term has also been translated “topaz” (), “beryl” (, , ), and “chrysolite” (, ).
17 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 [], 1:). See also 1:16.
18 That is, the cherubim.
19 Many interpreters assume that the human face of each cherub was the one that looked forward.
20 The phrase “along with their entire bodies” is absent from the and may be a gloss explaining the following words.
21 Or “the whirling wheels.”
22 Heb “each one”; the referent (the cherubim) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
23 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. , “an ox”; , “a bull”). This may be justified based on v. 22, which states the creatures’ appearance was the same.
24 Heb “it was the living creature.”
25 Heb “lifted.”
26 Heb “they”; the referent (the cherubim) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 Heb “they”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
28 Heb “they”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
29 Or “wind.”
30 Heb “living creature.”
31 Heb “them”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
32 Heb “lifted.”
33 Or “the ground” (, ).
34 Heb “That was the living creature.”