Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.
Parallel translations
- WEB As for their rims, they were high and dreadful; and the four of them had their rims full of eyes all around.
- KJV As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.
- NKJV As for their rims, they were so high they were awesome; and their rims were full of eyes, all around the four of them.
- NASB As for their rims, they were high and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were covered with eyes all around.
- NLT The rims of the four wheels were tall and frightening, and they were covered with eyes all around.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The wheels' rims are tall, awesome, and full of eyes all around. The eyes signify God's all-seeing knowledge.
Overview
Eyes covering the rims symbolize comprehensive vision and awareness, fitting the throne of the omniscient God. Nothing escapes His sight, in Jerusalem or in exile. The 'dreadful' height conveys the awesome majesty of the whole apparatus. This assures the faithful that God sees all injustice and every hidden faithfulness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ezek 10:12Their entire bodies, including their backs, hands, and wings, were full of eyes all around, as were their four wheels.
- Rev 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.
- Rev 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, who was and is and is to come!”
- Isa 55:9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
- Job 37:22–24Out of the north He comes in golden splendor; awesome majesty surrounds Him.
- Zech 4:10For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven eyes of the LORD, which scan the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”
- Ps 77:16–19The waters saw You, O God; the waters saw You and swirled; even the depths were shaken.
- Prov 15:3The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.
- Ps 97:2–5Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are His throne’s foundation.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 1:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.