And it was made with cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Each 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;
- KJV 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;
- BSB were alternating carved cherubim and palm trees. 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 7:36On the plates of its supports, and on its panels, he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, each in its space, with wreaths all around.
- Ezek 40:16There were closed windows to the lodges, and to their posts within the gate all around, and likewise to the arches; and windows were around inward; and on each post were palm trees.
- Ezek 10:21Every one had four faces, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
- 2 Chr 3:7He also overlaid the house, the beams, the thresholds, its walls, and its doors with gold; and engraved cherubim on the walls.
- Ezek 40:22The windows of it, and its arches, and the palm trees of it, were after the measure of the gate whose prospect is toward the east; and they went up to it by seven steps; and its arches were before them.
- Rev 7:9After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.
- 1 Kgs 6:35He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted on the engraved work.
- Ezek 1:10As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man; and the four of them had the face of a lion on the right side; and the four of them had the face of an ox on the left side; the four of them also had the face of an eagle.
- 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.
- 1 Kgs 6:29–32He carved all the walls of the house around with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, inside and outside.
- Ezek 41:25There were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm trees, like as were made on the walls; and there was a threshold of wood on the face of the porch outside.
- 2 Chr 3:5He made the larger room with a ceiling of cypress wood, which he overlaid with fine gold, and ornamented it with palm trees and chains.
- Rev 4:7–9The 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.
- Ezek 41:20from the ground to above the door were cherubim and palm trees made: thus was 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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