Ezekiel 10:20

20 This [was] the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel at the {Kebar River}, and I knew that they [were] cherubim.

Ezekiel 10:20 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 10:20

This [is] the living creature that I saw under the God of
Israel, by the river of Chebar
This is repeated from ( Ezekiel 10:15 ) ; not only for the confirmation of it; but with an addition, to show that the appearance of the man upon the throne, ( Ezekiel 1:26 ) , is no other than the God of Israel; and inasmuch as Christ is there meant, for the Father never appeared in a human form, it follows that Christ is the God of Israel, under whose power, protection, and influence, the cherubim, his ministers, are; and so this is a proof of the true and proper deity of Christ: and I knew that they [were] the cherubim;
not by having seen the cherubim on the mercy seat, and comparing these forms with them, which none but a high priest could ever see; for, though Ezekiel was a priest, it does not appear that he was a high priest; but by the forms of them he had seen carved on the doors and walls of the temple, ( 1 Kings 6:29 1 Kings 6:35 ) .

Ezekiel 10:20 In-Context

18 And the glory of Yahweh went out from the threshold of the temple, and it stood above the cherubim.

19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and they rose from the earth before my eyes. At their going out, the wheels [were] beside them. And he stood [at] the doorway of the eastern gate of the temple of Yahweh, and the glory of the God of Israel {was over them}.

20 This [was] the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel at the {Kebar River}, and I knew that they [were] cherubim.

21 {Each one had four faces}, and [there were] four wings for each, and [the] likeness of {human hands} [was] under their wings.

22 And the likeness of their faces, they [were] the faces that I saw at the {Kebar River}; [thus was] their appearance, and they each went {straight ahead}.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "these were"
• [b]. Literally "river of Kebar"