Ezekiel 10:9-19

9 And when I looked, there were four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel by one cherub and another wheel by each other cherub; the wheels appeared to have the color of a beryl stone.

10 As for their appearance, all four looked alike--as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

11 When they went, they went toward any of their four directions; they did not turn aside when they went, but followed in the direction the head was facing. They did not turn aside when they went.

12 And their whole body, with their back, their hands, their wings, and the wheels that the four had, were full of eyes all around.

13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, "Wheel."

14 Each one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, the second face the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

15 And the cherubim were lifted up. This was the living creature I saw by the River Chebar.

16 When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also did not turn from beside them.

17 When the cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still, and when one was lifted up, the other lifted itself up, for the spirit of the living creature was in them.

18 Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.

19 And the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.

Ezekiel 10:9-19 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 10

In this chapter is a vision, very much like that in the first chapter, with some difference, and with a different view, the design of it being to represent the wrath of God against Jerusalem, and his departure from the city and temple. A throne much like that in Eze 1:26 is described, Eze 10:1; orders are given from it to scatter coals over the city, Eze 10:2; the situation of the cherubim when these orders were given, Eze 10:3; the removal of the glory of the Lord from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the consequences of it; the house filled with smoke; the court with the brightness of the Lord's glory; and the sound of the cherubim's wings heard to the outer court, as the voice of God, Eze 10:4,5; the orders of taking and scattering fire over the city executed, and the manner in which they were, Eze 10:6,7; a description of the cherubim and the wheels, much like that in the first chapter, Eze 10:8-17; the departure of the glory of God from the threshold to the east gate of the Lord's house, with the motion of the cherubim and wheels along with him, Eze 10:18,19; and the chapter is concluded with observing, that the cherubim are the same with the living creatures seen in the vision of the first chapter, and had the same form, likeness, and motion, Eze 10:20-22.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally they
• [b]. Literally they
• [c]. Literally they