Ezekiel 1:6

6 though each had four faces and four wings.

Ezekiel 1:6 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 1:6

And or but everyone had four faces
Which are described, (See Gill on Ezekiel 1:10). The Targum multiplies the faces in a strange monstrous manner, paraphrasing the words thus,

``each had four faces, and there were four faces to everyone "of them", and every creature had sixteen faces; the number of the faces of the four creatures was sixty and four;''

and everyone had four wings;
the seraphim in ( Isaiah 6:2 ) ; and the four beasts or living creatures in ( Revelation 4:8 ) ; had six wings; and so it seems that these had also, from ( Ezekiel 1:11 Ezekiel 1:23 ) ; as will be seen there; nor is this any contradiction to the account here given, since it is not said they had only four wings. The Targum gives the same monstrous account of their wings as of their faces, saying,

``each had four wings, and there were four wings for everyone of them, sixteen wings to every face, and sixty four to every creature; and the number of the wings of the four living creatures were two hundred and fifty six.''

Jarchi is of the same opinion, and confirms it in his note on the text, which is this,

``"four faces to one"; that is, to the face of a man only were four faces, and so, to the lion, to the eagle, and to the ox, lo, sixteen to a living creature, and so to every living creature; and four wings to everyone of the faces, lo, sixty and four wings to a living creatures and which, according to the Targum of Jonathan, amounts to two hundred and fifty six wings;''

what these wings signified, (See Gill on Ezekiel 1:11);

Ezekiel 1:6 In-Context

4 As I watched, suddenly a driving storm came out of the north, a great cloud flashing fire, with brightness all around. At its center, in the middle of the fire, there was something like gleaming amber.

5 And inside that were forms of four living creatures. This was what they looked like: Each had the form of a human being,

6 though each had four faces and four wings.

7 Their feet looked like proper feet, but the soles of their feet were like calves' hooves, and they shone like burnished bronze.

8 Human hands were under their wings on all four sides. All four creatures had faces and wings, and