And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces;
Parallel translations
- WEB It was made with cherubim and palm trees; and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces;
- BSB were alternating carved cherubim and palm trees. Each cherub had two faces:
- NKJV And it was made with cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Each cherub had two faces,
- NASB It was carved with cherubim and palm trees; and a palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces:
- NLT All the walls were decorated with carvings of cherubim, each with two faces, and there was a carving of a palm tree between each of the cherubim.
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 walls were carved with cherubim and palm trees, each cherub having two faces. The decoration recalls Eden and the presence of God's holy guardians.
Overview
The temple walls bore carvings of cherubim and palm trees, imagery that echoes the garden of Eden, where cherubim guarded God's presence (Genesis 3:24). The motifs portray the sanctuary as a restored paradise, a place where God dwells with the pure. This points to the gospel hope of regained access to God's presence, opened through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 1 Kgs 7:36For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about.
- Ezek 40:16And there were narrow windows to the little chambers, and to their posts within the gate round about, and likewise to the arches: and windows were round about inward: and upon each post were palm trees.
- Ezek 10:21Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
- 2 Chr 3:7He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls.
- Ezek 40:22And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees, were after the measure of the gate that looketh toward the east; and they went up unto it by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before them.
- Rev 7:9After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
- 1 Kgs 6:35And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.
- Ezek 1:10As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.
- 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.
- 1 Kgs 6:29–32And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.
- Ezek 41:25And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubims and palm trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch without.
- 2 Chr 3:5And the greater house he cieled with fir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains.
- Rev 4:7–9And 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.
- Ezek 41:20From the ground unto above the door were cherubims and palm trees made, and on the wall of the temple.
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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 41:18 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
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