Ezekiel 10:9
in Ezekiel 10Then I looked and saw four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub. And the wheels gleamed like a beryl stone.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like unto a beryl stone.
KJV
And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone.
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This verse in Ezekiel 10
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThe color of a beryl stone - אבן תרשיש eben Tarshish, “the stone of Tarshish.” The Vulgate translates it chrysolith; Symmachus, the jacinct; the Septuagint, the carbuncle. In the parallel place, Eze 1:16, it is כעין תרשיש keeyn Tarshish, “like the eye of Tarshish;” i.e., the color of tarshish, or the stone so called, which the Vulgate translates visio maris, “like the sea,” i.e., azure. The beryl is a gem of a green color, passing from one side into blue, on the other side into yellow.
This site's exposition
four wheels
on Ezekiel 10:9-13
The prophet counts four wheels, one beside each cherub, colored like beryl, and every wheel appears as a wheel within a wheel, able to move in any of its four directions without turning. Their rims, like the rest of the cherubim, are full of eyes round about, and a voice cries out to them by name, O wheel, as though the machinery of the throne answers to its own address. Keil takes the eyes as a picture of the all seeing providence that directs the throne's movement, nothing escaping the notice of the one it carries. Wesley reads the wheel within a wheel as a sign that God's providence works by means within means, one wheel of second causes turning inside another that only he directs.
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 Awakening4 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
); sometimes one spoke is uppermost and sometimes another; they are still ebbing and flowing like the sea, waxing and waning like the moon, 1 Sam. ii. Nay, their appearance is as if there were a wheel in the midst of a wheel (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
And when I looked, behold, the four wheels by the cherubim,.... The churches by the ministers: of these "wheels", and why the churches are so called, and of their number "four", and their situation "by" the cherubim; see Gill on Eze 1:15; one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: a minister to a church; every church has its own pastor, elder, or overseer, by it, and over it: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone; a precious stone of a sea green; See Gill on Eze 1:
We think it a satisfaction to us if under the wise God there are wise men employed in managing the affairs of the kingdoms and churches; whether there be so or no, it appears by this that there are wise angels employed, a cherub to every wheel. That all the motions of Providence and all the ministrations of angels are under the government of the great God.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
wheels--(See on Eze 1:15, 16). The things which, from Eze 10:8 to the end of the chapter, are repeated from the first chapter are expressed more decidedly, now that he gets a nearer view: the words "as it were," and "as if," so often occurring in the first chapter, are therefore mostly omitted.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֶרְאֶ֗ה | vaereh | and I saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֨ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אַרְבָּעָ֣ה | ʾarbaah | four | H702 → | 318 times |
| אוֹפַנִּים֮ | ʾofanim | wheels | H212 → | 35 times |
| אֵ֣צֶל | ʾetzel | [were] beside | H681 → | 61 times |
| הַכְּרוּבִים֒ | hakeruvim | the cherubim | H3742 → | 91 times |
| אוֹפַ֣ן | ʾofan | a wheel | H212 → | 35 times |
| אֶחָ֗ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| אֵ֚צֶל | ʾetzel | beside | H681 → | 61 times |
| הַכְּר֣וּב | hakeruv | the cherub | H3742 → | 91 times |
| אֶחָ֔ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| וְאוֹפַ֣ן | veofan | and a wheel | H212 → | 35 times |
| אֶחָ֔ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| אֵ֖צֶל | ʾetzel | beside | H681 → | 61 times |
| הַכְּר֣וּב | hakeruv | the cherub | H3742 → | 91 times |
| אֶחָ֑ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| וּמַרְאֵה֙ | umareh | and [the] appearance of | H4758 → | 103 times |
| הָא֣וֹפַנִּ֔ים | haofanim | the wheels | H212 → | 35 times |
| כְּעֵ֖ין | keein | [was] like [the] appearance of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| אֶ֥בֶן | ʾeven | a stone of | H68 → | 273 times |
| תַּרְשִֽׁישׁ׃ | tarshish | chrysolite | H8658 → | 7 times |
וָאֶרְאֶ֗הand I saw
vaerehH7200 →1300 times
וְהִנֵּ֨הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
אַרְבָּעָ֣הfour
ʾarbaahH702 →318 times
אוֹפַנִּים֮wheels
ʾofanimH212 →35 times
אֵ֣צֶל[were] beside
ʾetzelH681 →61 times
הַכְּרוּבִים֒the cherubim
hakeruvimH3742 →91 times
אוֹפַ֣ןa wheel
ʾofanH212 →35 times
אֶחָ֗דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
אֵ֚צֶלbeside
ʾetzelH681 →61 times
הַכְּר֣וּבthe cherub
hakeruvH3742 →91 times
אֶחָ֔דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
וְאוֹפַ֣ןand a wheel
veofanH212 →35 times
אֶחָ֔דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
אֵ֖צֶלbeside
ʾetzelH681 →61 times
הַכְּר֣וּבthe cherub
hakeruvH3742 →91 times
אֶחָ֑דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
וּמַרְאֵה֙and [the] appearance of
umarehH4758 →103 times
הָא֣וֹפַנִּ֔יםthe wheels
haofanimH212 →35 times
כְּעֵ֖ין[was] like [the] appearance of
keeinH5869 →887 times
אֶ֥בֶןa stone of
ʾevenH68 →273 times
תַּרְשִֽׁישׁ׃chrysolite
tarshishH8658 →7 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
6 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
Daniel 10:6His body was like beryl, his face like the brilliance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of polished bronze, and his voice like the sound of…
it leads to
- Revelation 19:12
He has eyes like blazing fire, and many royal crowns on His head. He has a name written on Him that only He Himself knows.
- Matthew 17:2
There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.
- Revelation 1:13–17
and among the lampstands was One like the Son of Man, dressed in a long robe, with a golden sash around His chest.
- Revelation 10:3–4
Then he cried out in a loud voice like the roar of a lion. And when he cried out, the seven thunders sounded their voices.
- Ezekiel 1:14
The creatures were darting back and forth as quickly as flashes of lightning.
- Revelation 19:12
Through
Revelation 21:20the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.
it leads to
- Revelation 4:3
The One seated there looked like jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow that gleamed like an emerald encircled the throne.
- Revelation 4:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
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About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.