Ezekiel 10:11
in Ezekiel 10When they moved, they would go in any of the four directions, without turning as they moved. For wherever the head faced, the cherubim would go in that direction, without turning as they moved.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When they went, they went in their four directions: they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went.
KJV
When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went.
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This verse in Ezekiel 10
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The head - Either “the leading wheel which the others followed,” or more probably, the head of a cherub (one for all), the description passing from the wheels to the cherubim Eze 10:12.
This site's exposition
four wheels
on Ezekiel 10:9-13
The prophet sees “four wheels beside the cherubim,” going “in any of the four directions, without turning as they moved.” Their bodies and wheels are “full of eyes all around,” as in Ezekiel 1:18. The prophet hears the wheels called “the whirling wheels,” named as part of the throne.
This site's exposition
without turning as they moved
The wheels and cherubim can head in all four directions and never need to turn. The whole vision moves where the head faces. Albert Barnes weighs two readings of the head: the leading wheel that the others follow, or more likely the head of a cherub.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Versed 8 and following) And I saw, and behold, there were four wheels beside the Cherubim. One wheel beside one Cherub, and another wheel beside another Cherub. The appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a chrysolite stone, and they all had the same likeness, like a wheel within a wheel. When they moved, they went in the four directions without turning as they went. And the wheels went toward the place where the first wheel went, and they followed in its tracks and did not turn back.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
4 Then the glory of the L ORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the L ORD 's glory. 5 And the sound of the cherubims' wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:94%@v4-5
When they went, they went upon their four sides,....
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּלֶכְתָּ֗ם | belekhtam | when moved they | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַרְבַּ֤עַת | ʾarbaat | [the] four | H702 → | 318 times |
| רִבְעֵיהֶם֙ | riveihem | sides their | H7253 → | 7 times |
| יֵלֵ֔כוּ | yelekhu | they moved | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִסַּ֖בּוּ | yisabu | they turned | H5437 → | 161 times |
| בְּלֶכְתָּ֑ם | belekhtam | when moved they | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הַמָּק֞וֹם | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִפְנֶ֤ה | yifneh | it turned | H6437 → | 135 times |
| הָרֹאשׁ֙ | harosh | the head | H7218 → | 599 times |
| אַחֲרָ֣יו | ʾacharav | after it | H310 → | 715 times |
| יֵלֵ֔כוּ | yelekhu | they moved | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִסַּ֖בּוּ | yisabu | they turned | H5437 → | 161 times |
| בְּלֶכְתָּֽם׃ | belekhtam | when moved they | H1980 → | 1546 times |
בְּלֶכְתָּ֗םwhen moved they
belekhtamH1980 →1546 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אַרְבַּ֤עַת[the] four
ʾarbaatH702 →318 times
רִבְעֵיהֶם֙sides their
riveihemH7253 →7 times
יֵלֵ֔כוּthey moved
yelekhuH1980 →1546 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִסַּ֖בּוּthey turned
yisabuH5437 →161 times
בְּלֶכְתָּ֑םwhen moved they
belekhtamH1980 →1546 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
הַמָּק֞וֹםthe place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יִפְנֶ֤הit turned
yifnehH6437 →135 times
הָרֹאשׁ֙the head
haroshH7218 →599 times
אַחֲרָ֣יוafter it
ʾacharavH310 →715 times
יֵלֵ֔כוּthey moved
yelekhuH1980 →1546 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִסַּ֖בּוּthey turned
yisabuH5437 →161 times
בְּלֶכְתָּֽם׃when moved they
belekhtamH1980 →1546 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 1:20Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise alongside them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 1:12
Each creature went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they moved.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 10:17
When the cherubim stood still, the wheels also stood still, and when they ascended, the wheels ascended with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
- 1 Corinthians 14:32
The spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.
- Ezekiel 1:12
Through
Ezekiel 1:17As they moved, they went in any of the four directions, without pivoting as they moved.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 1:9
and their wings were touching one another. They did not turn as they moved; each one went straight ahead.
- Ezekiel 10:1–11
And I looked and saw above the expanse, above the heads of the cherubim, the likeness of a throne of sapphire.
- Isaiah 55:11
so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.
- Ezekiel 1:9
Through
Ezekiel 10:22Their faces looked like the faces I had seen by the River Kebar. Each creature went straight ahead.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 1:10
The form of their faces was that of a man, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side,…
- Hosea 14:9
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in…
- Ezekiel 1:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
On this verse
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.