Hesekiel 1:11

11 Und ihre Angesichter und ihre Flügel waren oben getrennt; jedes hatte zwei Flügel miteinander verbunden, und zwei, welche ihre Leiber bedeckten.

Hesekiel 1:11 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 1:11

Thus [were] their faces: and their wings [were] stretched
upward
The former clause, "thus [were] their faces", either belongs to ( Ezekiel 1:10 ) ; and the meaning is, this, as now represented, was the likeness of their faces, and this the position of them: or it may be read in connection with the following clause, and be rendered, "and their faces and their wings were stretched upwards"; as they are in the Chaldee paraphrase, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions: "their faces were stretched upwards", showing that the ministers of the Gospel look up to Christ for fresh supplies of gifts and grace, of light, knowledge, wisdom, and strength, to enable them to perform their work: "and their wings were stretched upwards", that is, two of them; not four, as the Arabic version has it; for two covered their bodies, as is after said. Those that were stretched upwards answer to the two with which Isaiah's seraphim flew; for these were, as in the original text, "parted upwards" ^F16; though they were joined together at the bottom of them, as in ( Ezekiel 1:9 ) ; yet being spread in flying, they opened wider and wider, and were at a greater distance from each other in their extreme points. This may design the agility, swiftness, and readiness of ministers in the performance of their work; two [wings] of everyone [were] joined one to another:
with which they, covered their heads and faces, as did Isaiah's seraphim, as conscious of their unworthiness and infirmities; looking upon themselves to be less than the least of all saints, unfit to be ministers of the Gospel; acknowledging they have nothing but what they have received and therefore would not glory as though they had not received, and as ashamed of their poor performances and ministrations; and two covered their bodies;
their lower and secret parts called their feet in Isaiah; which however to others beautiful upon the mountains, running and bringing the good news of peace, righteousness, and salvation by Christ; yet sensible of their deficiencies, they cover them, and confess, when they have done all they can, they are but unprofitable servants; from hence it appears that these living creatures had six wings, as the seraphim in Isaiah, and the four beasts in John's vision.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F16 (twdwrp) "disjunctae", Montanus; "divisae", Calvin, Starckius. So Ben Melech.

Hesekiel 1:11 In-Context

9 Ihre Flügel waren verbunden einer mit dem anderen; sie wandten sich nicht, wenn sie gingen: Sie gingen ein jeder stracks vor sich hin.

10 Und die Gestalt ihres Angesichts war eines Menschen Angesicht; und rechts hatten die vier eines Löwen Angesicht, und links hatten die vier eines Stieres Angesicht, und eines Adlers Angesicht hatten die vier.

11 Und ihre Angesichter und ihre Flügel waren oben getrennt; jedes hatte zwei Flügel miteinander verbunden, und zwei, welche ihre Leiber bedeckten.

12 Und sie gingen ein jedes stracks vor sich hin; wohin der Geist gehen wollte, gingen sie; sie wandten sich nicht, wenn sie gingen.

13 Und die Gestalt der lebendigen Wesen: Ihr Aussehen war wie brennende Feuerkohlen, wie das Aussehen von Fackeln. Das Feuer fuhr umher zwischen den lebendigen Wesen; und das Feuer hatte einen Glanz, und aus dem Feuer gingen Blitze hervor.