except that each had four faces and four wings.
Parallel translations
- WEB Everyone had four faces, and each one of them had four wings.
- KJV And every one had four faces, and every one 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.
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 10:14Every one them had four faces. The first face was the face of the cherub. The second face was the face of a man. The third face was the face of a lion. The fourth was the face of an eagle.
- Ezek 10:21–22Every one had four faces, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
- Ezek 1:8–11They had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and the four of them had their faces and their wings thus:
- Ezek 10:10As for their appearance, the four of them had one likeness, like a wheel within a wheel.
- Ezek 1:15Now as I saw the living creatures, behold, one wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, for each of the four faces of it.
- Rev 4:7–8The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle.
- Exod 25:20The cherubim shall spread out their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another. The faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat.
- Isa 6:2Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew.
- 1 Kgs 6:24–27Five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub. From the tip of one wing to the tip of the other was ten cubits.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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
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.