Ezekiel 1:9
in Ezekiel 1and their wings were touching one another. They did not turn as they moved; each one went straight ahead.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
KJV
Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
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This verse in Ezekiel 1
Commentary
14 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Two of the wings were in the act of flying, so stretched out that the extremity of each touched a wing of a neighboring living creature, similarly stretched out. This was only when they were in motion. See Eze 1:24. They went every one straight forward - The four together formed a square, and never altered their relative position.
This site's exposition
four faces and four wings
on Ezekiel 1:6-9
Each creature had “four faces and four wings.” Under the wings were “human hands,” and “their wings were touching one another,” so the four moved as one rank. The text states the rule of their motion plainly: “They did not turn as they moved; each one went straight ahead.”
This site's exposition
each one went straight ahead
The wings of the creatures touched one another, and they did not turn as they moved. Matthew Henry takes the straight course as a picture of a single aim with no hidden purpose. Each one went where it faced.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
The four animals that bore the chariot were a type of the leading characteristics of the soul. For as the eagle rules over all the other birds and the lion is king of the wild beasts and the bull over the tamed animals and humanity …
(Verses 8, 9) And they had four wings, and their wings were joined one to another. They did not turn back when they walked, but each one moved forward before its face. The Gospels are joined to each other and cling together, and they fly to and fro throughout the whole world, running here and there, without end to their flight, never surpassing or receding, but always proceeding to further things. And both Paul and Virgil say: Forgetting the things that are past, and reaching forth towards those things that are still to come.
After I wrote the letter, I remembered what is written in Ezekiel, which he showed as an example of perfection. He saw an animal above the river Chebar that had four faces and four feet and four wings. The face of the cherub is when …
After this description of the prophet, we still cannot comprehend as we read. But if we cannot comprehend the throne that he has described, how will we be able to comprehend him who sits on it, the invisible and ineffable God? It is impossible to examine closely the nature of God, but for his works, which we see, we can offer him praise and glory.
(Vers. 8, 9.) And they had four wings, and their wings were joined one to another. They did not turn back when they walked, but each one moved forward before its face. The Gospels are joined to each other and cling together, and they fly to and fro throughout the whole world, running here and there, without end to their flight, never surpassing or receding, but always proceeding to further things. And both Paul and Virgil say: Forgetting the things that are past, and reaching forth towards those things that are still to come.
6 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistHomilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 3 · Written before 604.
proposed
"And they had faces and wings on four sides, and their wings were joined one to another." They have faces and wings in four directions, because in preaching throughout all regions of the world they demonstrate whatever they perceive concerning the humanity and whatever concerning the divinity of our Redeemer. For when they preach the incarnate God everywhere, they display their face in the four parts of the world. And when they announce that He is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit, they fly everywhere with the wing of contemplation. Their wings are joined one to another, because all their virtue and all their wisdom, by which they transcend other men through the flight of their contemplation, is mutually joined together in peace and unanimity. Hence it is written: The wisdom that is from above is first indeed pure, then peaceable. Hence also Truth says to these same preachers of His: Have salt in yourselves, and have peace among you. Therefore the wing of the living creatures is joined one to another, because the virtue and wisdom of the holy preachers is mutually united together in the peace of charity and concord. But the wing of one would be divided from another if, in that by which each one soars into wisdom, he refused to have peace with another. "They did not turn back when they went, but each one walked straight before its face." The feathered creatures, namely the holy preachers, when they advance, by no means turn back, because they pass from earthly actions to spiritual things in such a way that they are in no way turned back again to those things which they left behind. For to advance is, as it were, for them to go along a certain path, always moving in mind toward better things. On the contrary, it is said of the reprobate that they turned back in heart to Egypt. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
First, They made no blunders or mistakes, which would give them occasion to turn back to rectify them; their work needed no correction, and therefore needed not to be gone over again. Secondly, They minded no diversions; as they turned not back, so they turned not aside, to trifle with any thing that was foreign to their business. [3.] They went whither the Spirit was to go (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Their wings - The wings of the two cherubim which went foremost, and the wings of the two hindermost, were joined together when they moved. Went - This explains the former words, assuring us, that every one of those living creatures are ready, and unwearied in doing the pleasure of their Creator.
Their wings were joined one to another,....
Their going straight forward supposes that they looked straight forward, and never had any sinister intentions in what they did. And, if thus our eye be single, our whole body will be full of light. The singleness of the eye is the sincerity of the heart.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Their wings were joined one to another - When their wings were extended, they formed a sort of canopy level with their own heads or shoulders; and on this canopy was the throne, and the “likeness of the man” upon it, Eze 1:26. They turned not when they went - The wings did not flap in flying, or move in the manner of oars, or of the hands of a man in swimming, in order to their passing through the air; as they glided in reference to their feet, so they soared in reference to their wings.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חֹֽבְרֹ֛ת | choerot | [were] touching | H2266 → | |
| אִשָּׁ֥ה | ʾishah | each | H802 → | 781 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | <to> | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֲחוֹתָ֖הּ | ʾachotah | sister its | H269 → | 114 times |
| כַּנְפֵיהֶ֑ם | kanfeihem | wings their | H3671 → | 109 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִסַּ֣בּוּ | yisabu | they turned | H5437 → | 161 times |
| בְלֶכְתָּ֔ן | velekhtan | when moved they | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אִ֛ישׁ | ʾish | each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עֵ֥בֶר | ʾever | [the] side of | H5676 → | 90 times |
| פָּנָ֖יו | panav | face its | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יֵלֵֽכוּ׃ | yelekhu | they moved | H1980 → | 1546 times |
חֹֽבְרֹ֛ת[were] touching
choerotH2266 →
אִשָּׁ֥הeach
ʾishahH802 →781 times
אֶל־<to>
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אֲחוֹתָ֖הּsister its
ʾachotahH269 →114 times
כַּנְפֵיהֶ֑םwings their
kanfeihemH3671 →109 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִסַּ֣בּוּthey turned
yisabuH5437 →161 times
בְלֶכְתָּ֔ןwhen moved they
velekhtanH1980 →1546 times
אִ֛ישׁeach
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
עֵ֥בֶר[the] side of
ʾeverH5676 →90 times
פָּנָ֖יוface its
panavH6440 →2123 times
יֵלֵֽכוּ׃they moved
yelekhuH1980 →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
1 Corinthians 1:10I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree together, so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be united…
it leads to
- Philippians 2:1–4
Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,
- Ephesians 4:1–7
As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received:
- 1 Corinthians 12:25
so that there should be no division in the body, but that its members should have mutual concern for one another.
- Romans 12:16
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but enjoy the company of the lowly. Do not be conceited.
- James 3:13–18
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
- Philippians 2:1–4
Through
Ezekiel 10:11When 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.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 1:17
As they moved, they went in any of the four directions, without pivoting as they moved.
- Ezekiel 10:22
Their faces looked like the faces I had seen by the River Kebar. Each creature went straight ahead.
- Ezekiel 1:17
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 10:11
When 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.
- Ezekiel 10:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
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About Ezekiel
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ammonas of Egypt, LETTER 13:8; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 9:3; Gregory the Dialogist, Homilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 3; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Pseudo-Macarius, FIFTY SPIRITUAL HOMILIES 1:3.