their wings were joined to one another; they didn’t turn when they went; each one went straight forward.
Parallel translations
- KJV Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
- BSB and their wings were touching one another. They did not turn as they moved; each one went straight ahead.
- NKJV Their wings touched one another. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward.
- NASB their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward.
- NLT The wings of each living being touched the wings of the beings beside it. Each one moved straight forward in any direction without turning 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
Their wings touch one another, and they move straight ahead without turning. They act in perfect unity and unwavering obedience.
Overview
The joined wings depict harmony and coordinated service among the heavenly beings. Moving straight forward without turning pictures single-minded obedience to God's direction. There is no hesitation or deviation in their service. This unified, undivided devotion models the worship and obedience God's people are called to render.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ezek 10:22As for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves; they went every one straight forward.
- Ezek 1:11–12Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above. Two wings of each one touched another, and two covered their bodies.
- 1 Cor 1:10Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
- 2 Chr 3:11–12The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
- Luke 9:62But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for God’s Kingdom.”
- Prov 4:25–27Let your eyes look straight ahead. Fix your gaze directly before you.
- Ezek 10:11When they went, they went in their four directions: they didn’t turn as they went, but to the place where the head looked they followed it; they didn’t turn as they went.
- Luke 9:51It came to pass, when the days were near that he should be taken up, he intently set his face to go to Jerusalem,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 1:9 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.