Ezekiel 1:8

8 Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings,

Ezekiel 1:8 in Other Translations

8 And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.

8 Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus:

8 Under each of their four wings I could see human hands. So each of the four beings had four faces and four wings.

8 On all four sides under their wings they had human hands. All four had both faces and wings,

8 [They had] human hands under their wings on their four sides. All four of them had faces and wings.

Ezekiel 1:8 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 1:8

And [they had] the hands of a man under their wings on their
four sides
"Hands of a man" denote action, according to knowledge; ministers of the Gospel are men of practice and business, as well as have the theory and knowledge of things; and they act like men in a rational way, according to the will of God revealed in the word: and these being "on their four sides", show that they have much work to do all around, on every side; in ministering the word, administering ordinances; visiting their people; giving counsel, caution, comfort, exhortation, instruction and that they have many hands to do, it with, much grace and strength from above; and they have need of all the hands they have; and what they have they constantly employ, and are steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Briareus, a man of business, is represented by the poets as having a hundred hands. These being "under their wings", show that, besides their public ministrations, they do much work secretly and privately, in their closet and studies, where no eye sees them but the eye of God, as well as in private houses, by their visits and conversation; and is also expressive of their modesty and humility, not doing what they do to be seen of men, nor boasting of their works; but ascribing all to the grace of God, and strength of Christ, by which they perform them, and which give them success The Jews, in the Talmud ^F13, interpret this of the hand of God himself which is stretched out under the wings of the living creatures, to receive penitent persons; because it is written (wdy) , "his hand", but read (ydy) , "hands". And they four had their faces and their wings; that is, on their four sides; a face and a wing before, and a face and a wing behind, and a face and a wing on each side; and under each wing a man's hand and arm. The Targum of the whole is,

``and hands, as the hands of a man, were made for them under their wings on their four sides; to take in them coals of fire from between the cherubim under the firmament, which was over their seats, to, put them into the hands of the seraphim, to scatter upon the place of the ungodly, to destroy the wicked that transgress his word; and their faces and their wings were equal to them four;''

see ( Ezekiel 10:2 Ezekiel 10:6-8 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 Bab. Pesachim, fol. 119. 1.

Ezekiel 1:8 In-Context

6 but each of them had four faces and four wings.

7 Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze.

8 Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings,

9 and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.

10 Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle.

Cross References

• 1. Ezekiel 10:8