Ezekiel 10:20
in Ezekiel 10These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the River Kebar, and I knew that they were cherubim.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim.
KJV
This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 10
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAnd I knew that they were the cherubims - This formation of the plural is quite improper. In general, Hebrew nouns of the masculine gender end in ים im, in the plural; the s, therefore, should never be added to such. Cherub is singular; cherubim is plural. The s should be uniformly expunged. I have already referred to the end of this chapter for farther information relative to this glorious chariot of Jehovah; but I must say that I have met with nothing on the subject that entirely satisfies myself.
This site's exposition
I knew that they were cherubim
on Ezekiel 10:20-22
“These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the River Kebar, and I knew that they were cherubim.” Chapter 1 described them only by likeness and appearance, and chapter 10 names them as the cherubim who guarded Eden and stood over the ark.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(v. 18 seqq.) And the glory of the Lord went forth from the threshold of the Temple and stood over the Cherubim. And the Cherubim lifted up their wings and were exalted from the ground before me. And as they went, the wheels also followed them. And it stood at the entrance of the gate of the house of the Lord, which faces east, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. It is the creature that I saw beneath the God of Israel, by the river Chebar, and I understood that they were Cherubim.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
And this first appearing in the proper figure of a cherub, and yet it being proper to retain the number of four, that of the ox is left out and dropped, because the face of the cherub had been most abused by the worship of an ox.
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
), and yet in one thing there seems to be a material difference, that that which was there was the face of an ox, and was on the left side ( ch. i. 10 ), is here the face of a cherub, and is the first face (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel, by the river of Chebar,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
I knew . . . cherubim--By the second sight of the cherubim, he learned to identify them with the angelic forms situated above the ark of the covenant in the temple, which as a priest, he "knew" about from the high priest.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
In this departure of the glory of the Lord from the temple, the seer recognizes for the first time the full meaning of the vision which he had seen on the banks of Chebar Ezek. 1. What he had seen there (did indeed imply that Yahweh had forsaken His house; but now this is made clear. The Glory has left the holy of holies, has appeared in the court, has been enthroned on the Living Four, and with them has departed from the temple. It is now clear that these Four (in form similar to, yet differing from, the cherubim of the temple) are indeed the cherubim, in the midst of whom the Lord dwelleth.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִ֣יא | hi' | that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| הַחַיָּ֗ה | hachaiyah | [was] the living creature | H2416 → | 498 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| רָאִ֛יתִי | raiti | I had seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| תַּ֥חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| אֱלֹהֵֽי־ | ʾelohei- | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| בִּֽנְהַר־ | binhar- | at [the] river of | H5104 → | 119 times |
| כְּבָ֑ר | kevar | Kebar | H3529 → | 8 times |
| וָאֵדַ֕ע | vaeda' | and I knew | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כְרוּבִ֖ים | kheruvim | [were] cherubim | H3742 → | 91 times |
| הֵֽמָּה׃ | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
הִ֣יאthat
hi'H1931 →1879 times
הַחַיָּ֗ה[was] the living creature
hachaiyahH2416 →498 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
רָאִ֛יתִיI had seen
raitiH7200 →1300 times
תַּ֥חַתunder
tachatH8478 →505 times
אֱלֹהֵֽי־[the] God of
ʾelohei-H430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
בִּֽנְהַר־at [the] river of
binhar-H5104 →119 times
כְּבָ֑רKebar
kevarH3529 →8 times
וָאֵדַ֕עand I knew
vaeda'H3045 →945 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
כְרוּבִ֖ים[were] cherubim
kheruvimH3742 →91 times
הֵֽמָּה׃they
hemahH1992 →553 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 1:1In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Kebar, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God.
it leads to
- Revelation 19:11
Then I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse. And its rider is called Faithful and True. With righteousness He judges and wages war.
- Acts 7:56
“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
- Ezekiel 11:24
And the Spirit lifted me up and carried me back to Chaldea, to the exiles in the vision given by the Spirit of God. After the vision had gone up from me,
- Matthew 3:16
As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him.
- Acts 10:11
He saw heaven open and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.
- Revelation 19:11
Through
Ezekiel 3:23So I got up and went out to the plain, and behold, the glory of the LORD was present there, like the glory I had seen by the River Kebar, and I fell facedown.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 1:28
The appearance of the brilliant light all around Him was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the…
- Ezekiel 1:28
Through
Ezekiel 10:15Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures I had seen by the River Kebar.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 1:5
and within it was the form of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: They had a human form,
- Ezekiel 1:5
Through
Ezekiel 1:5and within it was the form of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: They had a human form,
it leads to
- Revelation 4:6–8
And before the throne was something like a sea of glass, as clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, covered with eyes in front and back.
- Revelation 4:6–8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
On this verse
On this chapter
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Calvin, Commentaries on the First Twenty Chapters of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.