Cherubim

By this name are denoted the whiged creatures which, in the religious symboli.sm of UT, are not infrequently mentioned as attending upon the Most High, and as possessed of certain sacred duties in the court of the heavenly beings that surround the throne of God. What the Heb. conception of a 'cherub' was, does not appear at all certain. And if, as seems most probalile, both name and thing were derived from a primitive stage of religious thought in W. Asia, this uncertainty in the Israelitish writings admits of a natural explanation. For writers who were under the infiuence of the worship of J" would shrink from giving a description that might lend itself to obvious comparison with the idolatrous symbolism of other religions. i. In UT we find references to the cherubim (1) in the Israelite version of primitive myth; (2) in early Heb. poetry j (3) in apocalyptic vision ; and (4) in the descriptions of tlie furniture and adornments of the ark, the tabernacle, and the temjde. 1. (in 3" ' And he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubim, and the ll.ime of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.' The function of the cherubim here is to guard the approach to the sacred tree. The number of the cherubim appointed for this duty is not mentioned ; nor is it stated, as is usually supposed, that each of the cherubim bore in his hand a flaming sword. We are only told that a sword with darting flames was entrusted to them for the purjjose of keeping the way. It has been natural to compare with these guardian, or sentinel, 'cherubim' the monster winged bulls with human heads which stood at the entrance of Assyr. palaces and temples. M. Le- normant having suggested, on the authority of a talismanic inscription, that kirubu was an Assyr. name in use for the steer-god, the temptation to connect the cherubim of Gn 3 with the Assyr. figures was almost irresistible. But this use of kirubu is questionable ; the cherubim in our passage are not limited to two ; there is no mention of a gate of Paradise ; and the function of the cherubim is evidently primarily connected with the sword, which, to judge from the description, is probably intended to denote lightning. 2. Ps IS'" ( = 2 S 22") 'And he rode upon a cherub, and did Uy.' In the context of this poetical description, the Psalmist describes the power of J" as manifested in the thunderstorm. J" is represented in flight through mid-air, borne up upon the wings of a cherub, while the light- nings flash before Him ('at the brig'htness before him,' v."). The cherub appears to be the mighty winged spirit of the storm, — on whose back J" Himself is seated. He is the personification of the swift storm-cloud that sweeps down as upon eagles' wings. J" is carrieil by the cherub, as the Indian god Vishnu by Garuda, and as Oceanus by the grillin (.Ksch. I'mm. li'.l.j). 3. In the prophetical writings of Ezekiel we have two allusions to the cherubim. (1) In Ezk 2S" 'Thou wast the anointed cherub that coveretli ; and I set thee so th/it thou wast upon the holy mountain of tiod ; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.' Here the prophet compares 'the Prince of Tyre' to one of the chosen attend.-ints upon God, a cherub whose wings, as in the Holy of Holies, shaded the mercy- seat, one whoso abode was in the holy mountain, and one who there walked among the fl.ashing lightnings that surrounded the Divine Presence. A 'cherub,' according to this account, abides in the sacred precincts of the Most High, and round about him play the thunderbolts. The idea of th« 378 CHERUBIM CHERUBIM thundercloud U combined ydth that of heavenly guardianship. . , , ,, u^t (2) The imagery employed by the same prophet in the Vision of the Cherubim (Ezk 10) is very obscure, and introduces a much more complex idea. The prophet recognises them as identical with the livin" creatures that I saw under the God of Israel bv the river Chebar' (10»), referring to the vision 'the chariot' in ch. 1. These were four in number (lO'O); they had each four faces the face of a cherub, a man, a lion, and an eagle (»), and ' four wings' (=')• As one of their faces was that of 'a chel-ub,' and the prophet on seeing them ' knew that they were cherubim ' (=»), the shape of a ' cherub ' as of a fabulous creature must have been well known through popular representations (cf. 1 K 7^). Unfortunately, the prophet s description throws no further light upon their shape. But pre- sumably it must have resembled that of an ox (ct. Ezk 1") He tells us that the ' glory of the LORD rested above 'the cherubim' (10'") ; that their pro- gress was straight forward D ; whUe they moved Sot with wings only, but with whirlmg wheels, and burning fire was between them («• '). We have the thought of the thunderstorm connected with their appearance in Ezk 1 ; the noise of their wings (I'-i) suggests the thunder; fare and lightning attend them (1"). , , , Altogether, this description, though much more complex and involved than any that has been sug- gested by the previous passages which we have con- sidered, presents no sort of contradiction to them. In all probability it represents an elaboration, in accordance with the general style and character- istics of Ezekiel's literary work, of the older and simpler conception. The 'cherub,' as one of the powers of heaven, in poetry impersonatea the storm-clouds that do j'^s bidding ; m Ezekiel s vision there are four such ' cherubim, correspond- ing to the four quarters of the sky. In poetry, J h!& ridden on the cherub; in the vision the cherubim not only flew, but moved on wheels, supporting the glory of J". In poetry the light- nings flashed before the cherub; in the vision there is fire between the cherubim, and the living creatures' ran and returned as the appear- ance of a flash of lightning. ^ , 4. The representation of the 'cherubim occu- pied an important place in Heb. sacred art. (1) The ficures of two ' cherubim ' were placed on the mercy'seat of the ark ( Ex 25'»-»>)- Unfortunately, no niinute account is given of their appearance. We are only told that their wings lifted upwards, and were outspread so as to cover the ark, and that they were presented in a posture facing one another, but looking do%vn upon the ark—an atti- tude to which we may suppose the apostle makes reference in 1 P 1". They were «°!?J'°««'^, "' ' wrought gold, ' possibly hammered solid gold as opposed to plated gold. As the mercy-seat covered by their wings was only 3 ft. 9 in. (2i cubits) long, the tigures of the cherubim were quite (2) Fi'mres of cherubim were introduced iato the veif or hanging screen which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies (Ex 26" ). It has commonly been considered that, as the w-ay into the Holiest was through this curtam, the thought intended by these representations of cherubim may have been similar to that expressed by the guardian cherubim who guarded ' the way of the tree of life ' in Gn 3. . tr i t (3) Solomon's temple contained in its Uoly ot Holies two colossal cherubim, 10 cubits (or 15 ft.) high, made of olive wood and overlaid with goUl. The wings of the cherubim were spread out, and measured 10 cubits from the extremity of one wing to the extremity of the other. The Holy ot Holies was a cube of 20 cubits or 30 ft. ; and the two cherubim touched with their outer wings the wall on either side, while they touched one another with their outstretched inner wings. Ihe whole span of their four wings was 20 cubits, equal to the width of the sanctuary. They each therefore stood at the same distance from one another as they did from the waU on either side (1Kb ). From this description we should certainly infer that they had each only two wings. In i L.h 6 the same general account is given of the cheru- bim' of 'image-work' in Solomons temple; but it is added that ' they stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house, by which is probably meant, facing the entrance. It has been disputed whether the smaller cherubim which protected the mercy-seat of the ark were retained m Solomon's temple. And it may be granted that the height of the Solomonic cherubim made it perfectly possible, but scarcely probable. (4) ' Cherubim ' were introduced, along witn 'palm-trees and open flowers,' into the carved woodwork with which the walls and doors of the exterior and interior of the temple were adorned (1 K6-' '"") In the description of the brazen sea' it is recorded that in the ornamentation there were figures of ' lions, oxen, and cherubim (1 JV / ). From these OT passages we can gather no pre- cise conclusion as to the shape and general figure of the cherub, according to Hebrew treatment in poetry and art. It had Nvings ; it stood on feet (2 Ch) ; its face was not that of a man, a lion, or an eagle (Ezk 10"). It may have resembled an ox^ But we are driven rather to suppose that it^ hgure was an imaginary one, like that of a griffin or a ^\f hethcr its name is of Sem. origin or not, is a disputed point (see below). There is not sufti_ cient reason to doubt that the original idea belonga to the early childhood of Israel's religion, and is thus related to simUar conceptions in other races. The prominence given to the cherubim in the passages we have passed in review makes it very Jinlikely that they had been borrowed from other countries or foreign religions. For we can hardly imagine the one representation of a living creature, which was permitted in the construction of the ark, the tabernacle, and the temple, to have been derived from an alien source. 1 lie tact that the making and designing of the cherubim is apparently recorded without any consciousness of the violation of the second commandment, is in itself an indication that tlie conception of these creatures belongs to an original national idea, the superstitious element of which was destined to be removed by the teaching of J" worship. 1 bus the 'cherub' survived as one of the traces of a Heb. mythology, which was retained by the nropliets because tt represented pictorially the attrtbutes of the majesty of tlie God of Israel, and was emploved to express more vividly the means by which His glory is revealed to man. Besides the winged bulls familiar to us from the Assyr. remains, we come across many representa- tions of winged monsters and chima-ras in the countries adjoining Palestine. J-K.YP- ''el^S"'" "t, is said to have borrowed from byna the hg»re of the Sefer, or Seref (cf . the Heb. seraph ). I hoen. monuments contain representations of wint,ea grilUns guarding the sacred tree (cf. a \yhite marUe relief from AraSos in the Museum of the Louvre). The famous monster represented on t^f t"'»l> of Chuecu-hotep, an Egyp. kmg (r B.C. 2100) gves us a leopard, from whose back issues a ''uman l>oad, with wings on either side of the neck. All these are attempts apparently to comome the attributes of strength and swiftness in an>">a'8 with the intellect of man, in representation ot the CHERUBIM CHERUBIM 379 ' demon ' spirits (see Pietsclimann's Gcsch. dcr Phon- izier, pp. 176, 177). To this category belongs in all riobawlity the earliest Ileb. idea of the cherubim, laving been popularly associated with the thunder- cloud, their presence and form were transferred, in the language of Heb. jjoetry and vision, to the personal court and attendance of J", whose presence was proclaimed by the voice of thunder (cf. Ex 19", 1 S 12", Ps 77"). They therefore bear a close analogy to the seraphim (Is 6), who personified tlie lightnings that surround the throne. Perhaps the two groups of attendant beings are referred to in Ps 104»«. The expression applied to J', He ' sitteth upon, or inhabiteth, the clierubim ' (c':nD.T 3P'), which we find in 2 K 19", Ps 80' 99', Is 37", is not with- out difficulty. The rendering ' sitteth between the cherubim ' is an explanation, not a transla- tion, of the original : nor does it give the full meaning of the words. To the Heb. poet the cherubim are not only the attendants of J", but the bearers and upholders of His throne. The thunderclouds are the dark wings of these minis- ters of God. They bear Him up. And to this, which is the picture presented by the ser^-ice of the mute forces of nature, there is an analogy presented by the serv'ice of God's people. Hence the earthly correlative to ' thou that sittest upon the cheru- bim ' is ' thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel ' (Ps 22, and see Cheyne's note). In later Jewish theology the cherubim take their place among the higliest angels of heaven. Thus Enoch speaks of the court of the palace of heaven. ' Its ceiling was like tlie path of the stars and lightnings, with fiery cherubim between in a transparent heaven ' (xiv. 11, ed. Charles). Of the throne he says, ' Its circuit was as a shining sun and the voice of cherubim ' (xiv. 18, ed. Charles). Speaking of the host of heaven, he mentions ' Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who is over Paradise, and the serpents, and the cheru- bim' (XX. 7, ed. Charles); and in another passage he speaks of ' all the host of the heavens, and all the holy ones al>ove, and the host of God, the cherubim, seraphim, and ophanim, and all the angels of power, etc. (Ixi. 10, ed. Charles). Cf. ' and round about were seraphim, cherubim, and oph- anim : these are they wlio sleep not, and guard tlie throne of His glory ' (Ixxi. 7, ed. Charles). The Jews regarded them as supernatural beings, without attempting to define tlicm. Josephus, speaking of the cherubim in the temple, says none could tell or even guess what they were like (rds S^ X^pov^iU ovdeU OTrolai Tivts J}(jav eltrdv ouoi eUdtrai SwoTtu, A7it. VIII. iii. 3). Philo, referring to the cherubim over the ark, mentions that in the opinion of some they represented the two hemi- spheres (so Philo himself, De Chf.rub. § 7) ; but his own preference was to identify them witli tlie two most ancient and smireme attributes of the Al- mighty— the [lower of creating, and the power of ruling [4yCj 6i tv itiroi^t, 6rj\ova6aL ol vvovoiCtP tAs iTfKfffiirTdTai Kal dvundro} 5vo toO "Oi'tos duvdfieis ttJc Te woirjTiKTii' Kal ^SaffiXiKTjf, 'Oco^d^rro 5i i) fjUv TOiTfTiKTi 5vi^a/ut avTov &e6s, KaO' ^v fOijKe Kal itrolTjtrc Kal dLfKii(Tfirj(Te ride t6 irdc ij d^ ^aai\iKij Kvpioi, y rCtv yivofUvujv dpxft Kal civ biKri fif^aiu)S iviKpaTet, Vit. Mns. iii. 8, ed. Mangcy, ii. liiO). ii. In NT they are spoken of in the Ep. to the Hebrews in connexion with the ark, ' above it the cherubim of glorv overshadowing the mercv-seat' (He y), where tlie expression, "the cherubim of glory,' conve3's the special thought of created beings ministering to the manifestation of the divine glory. In the Ajioc. they are reiiresented as ' living creatnres,' four in number, full of eyes, stnnding in the midst of the throne, and rouml ib'mt the throne of God (Rev 4'-'). Prom this description it is difficult to understand their exact position. But presumably the words are intended to convey the picture of the four ' living animals ' upliolding the throne, and facing outwards towards the four quarters of heaven, and the scene is de- rived from Ezekiel's vision. Rabbinic theology regarded the cherubim as youthful angels, but also as those who were ad- mitted into the special group of spirits attending the throne of God. The ' livin" creatures ' support the throne at rest ; the cherubim bear the glory of God as it passes through heaven (cf. Weber, Altsynag. Palast. Theolog. 163, 164). There is a strange passage in the treatise Chagigah (lob, i. 25) which has reference to the cherubim, and tht passages in Ezk 1 and 10. The passage concludes, 'What is the meaning of cherub'; R. Abohu said, It is equivalent to a growing chUd. For so in Babylon a young chSd is called Rabya. R. Papa said to Abohu, But, as it is written. The lirst face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the tliird the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle, this shows that the face of a cherub is the same as the face of a man. There are large faces, and there are small faces ' (see trans- lation by Streane, pp. 73, 74). iii. It remains Co mention the various deriva- tions which have been given of the word. (1) As has been mentioned above, it was derived from the Assyr. kirubu ; but apparently considerable uncertainty hangs over this derivation. (2) Renouf (PSBA, 1S84, p. 103) conjectured that it was do- rived from the Egyp. xeref. (3) Gesenius con- nected it with a SjT. word meaning ' strong.' (4) Others have suggested another Syr. word nieaning ' to plough.' It is difficult to resist the impression that the word must have a common origin with ypvxp, ' griffin,' ' hippogriti'.' Bu^, for the present, the etymology of the word must be considered doubtful. The explanations which were given of the name by the Fathers may be illustrated by the following. diem. Alex. Utrom. v. 240 : ^W\ei Si t4 tvo/xa Tujy x^/'o^'yStM OTjXouv atcdrjaiv iToWrjv. Theodorus ap. Theodoret, Qaiest. in Gen. iii. : ctXXd x^po^l^^M- KaXei vav rb bwarbv ouriai X^et, h naOri- ficvos (irl tCjv xfpovi:li^, dvrl tov 6 Swaruii ^atriXevwVj Kalf iir^^Tj inl x^P^^t^^P- ftt' iverdaOrif dvTl ToO, /icrd woXX^x Trapey^veTo t^s ovvdfjLetos, Jerome, CoTtiin. in Is. lib. iii. cap. vi. : In septuagesimo nono psalnio legimus : Qui sedes ^iiper vlierubim manijcstare ; qui in nostra lingua interpretantur 4'Ptcn<iVc m«//i('«(/o. Unde et Doiiii- nus in auriga; nioduni super cherubim aperte sedere ostenditur. ... In cherubim ergo ostendi- tur Dominus ; in seraphim ex parte ostenditur, ex parte celatur. Augustine, Enarrat. in Ps 79' [Eng. 80'] : Qui sedes super cherubim. Cherubim scdes est gloria' Dei, et interpretatur Plenitudoscientiie. Ibi sedet Deus in plenitudine scieiitia;. Licet intelligamus cherubim sublimes esse cu'lorum potestates atque virtutes ; taiiien si vis, eris cherubim. Si eiiim Cherubim sedes est Dei, audi quid dicat Scriptura : Aninia justi sedes est sapientiie. Didymus Alexandrin., Expos, in Ps 79 [Eng. 80]: KaO^Mfos bi iirl tCid x'^w/Si/i 6 Kipibt iirriv, us (v rifi ^fevtTjX wapiararaL. 'E^^^frat Si Toty if roU fwo(? c^'trty^ rtTfuxbci, TauTTjS t^j Tpoinj-yopias ovrA ttjs irpoaouarit ai>rois trotplai. nXijOot ydp yfuifffon ip/njvfV€TaL tA Xtpoi'^ip-. These patristic explanations seem to go back to Philo's statement that the Greek meaning of ' cherubim ' was ' much knowledge,' 4 iraTp'^j. fiir yXurrrj) irpoffayopderai x^poi'/^'M, us Sf if " ICXXtjit i ttiroifv, frlyivuxTit Kal ^Trurnj/ii) roXXi) ( I'it. Mus. lib iii. § 8; Mangey, ii. 150). 380 CHESALON CHIEF LiTE&ATUKR. — The subject iB extensively discussed in the standard works on the Theology of the OT, by Oehler, Smend, Bcbultz, Dilhiiann ; and on the Archsology, by Nowacl£ and Benziager. See also Che>'ne's Excursus ' in voL iL of lus Itaiah^ and bia Notes on the word in Com. on Psalms. H. E. Rylk.