And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.
Parallel translations
- WEB Everyone had four faces, and each one of them had four wings.
- BSB but each had four faces and four wings.
- NKJV Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings.
- NASB Each of them had four faces and four wings.
- NLT except that each had four faces and four wings.
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
Each creature has four faces and four wings. The fourfold form symbolizes completeness and readiness to serve in every direction.
Overview
The four faces and four wings express comprehensive perception and mobility, fitting attendants of the omnipresent God. Ancient readers would see in fourness a picture of the whole created order and the four points of the compass. These beings are equipped to do God's will instantly wherever He directs. Their design displays the wisdom and order of the God they serve.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ezek 10:14And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
- Ezek 10:21–22Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
- Ezek 1:8–11And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.
- Ezek 10:10And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel.
- Ezek 1:15Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.
- Rev 4:7–8And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
- Exod 25:20And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
- Isa 6:2Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
- 1 Kgs 6:24–27And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.
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 1:6 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
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