Ezekiel 10:12
in Ezekiel 10Their entire bodies, including their backs, hands, and wings, were full of eyes all around, as were their four wheels.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had.
KJV
And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had.
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This verse in Ezekiel 10
Commentary
7 notes on this verseWherefore those who are over others are to be admonished, that through earnestness of circumspection they have eyes watchful within and round about, and strive to become living creatures of heaven. For the living creatures of heaven are described as full of eyes round about and within. And so it is meet that those who are over others should have eyes within and round about, so as both in themselves to study to please the inward judge, and also, affording outwardly examples of life, to detect the things that should be corrected in others.
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
full of eyes all around
In chapter 1 Ezekiel saw eyes on the wheels. Here he sees that the bodies, backs, hands and wings of the cherubim are full of eyes all around as well. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take this as the fruit of a closer look at the same vision.
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
And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
body--literally, "flesh," because a body consists of flesh. wheels . . . full of eyes--The description (Eze 1:18) attributes eyes to the "wheels" alone; here there is added, on closer observation, that the cherubim themselves had them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
to them was called hagalgal to my ears I heard that the angel would call the wheel “galgal.”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בְּשָׂרָם֙ | besaram | body their | H1320 → | 270 times |
| וְגַבֵּהֶ֔ם | vegabehem | and backs their | H1354 → | 13 times |
| וִֽידֵיהֶ֖ם | videihem | and hands their | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וְכַנְפֵיהֶ֑ם | vekhanfeihem | and wings their | H3671 → | 109 times |
| וְהָאֽוֹפַנִּ֗ים | vehaofanim | and the wheels | H212 → | 35 times |
| מְלֵאִ֤ים | meleim | [were] full | H4392 → | 64 times |
| עֵינַ֙יִם֙ | ʾeinayim | eyes | H5869 → | 887 times |
| סָבִ֔יב | saviv | all around | H5439 → | 336 times |
| לְאַרְבַּעְתָּ֖ם | learba'tam | [belonged] to [the] four of them | H702 → | 318 times |
| אוֹפַנֵּיהֶֽם׃ | ʾofaneihem | wheels their | H212 → | 35 times |
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
בְּשָׂרָם֙body their
besaramH1320 →270 times
וְגַבֵּהֶ֔םand backs their
vegabehemH1354 →13 times
וִֽידֵיהֶ֖םand hands their
videihemH3027 →1618 times
וְכַנְפֵיהֶ֑םand wings their
vekhanfeihemH3671 →109 times
וְהָאֽוֹפַנִּ֗יםand the wheels
vehaofanimH212 →35 times
מְלֵאִ֤ים[were] full
meleimH4392 →64 times
עֵינַ֙יִם֙eyes
ʾeinayimH5869 →887 times
סָבִ֔יבall around
savivH5439 →336 times
לְאַרְבַּעְתָּ֖ם[belonged] to [the] four of them
learba'tamH702 →318 times
אוֹפַנֵּיהֶֽם׃wheels their
ʾofaneihemH212 →35 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
Revelation 4:8And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 6:2–13
Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
- Revelation 4:6
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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.
- Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
- Exodus 15:11
Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?
- Isaiah 6:2–13
Through
Revelation 4:6And 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.
it leads to
- Revelation 15:2
And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, beside which stood those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name. They were holding harps…
- Revelation 5:6
Then I saw a Lamb who appeared to have been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven…
- Revelation 4:8–9
And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty,…
- Revelation 15:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
On this verse
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Gregory the Dialogist, Pastoral Rule, Part 3, Chapter 4; 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.