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Cherub

A cherub (/ˈɛrəb/;[1] plural cherubim; Hebrew: כְּרוּב kərūḇ, pl. כְּרוּבִים kərūḇīm, likely borrowed from a derived form of Akkadian: 𒅗𒊏𒁍 karabu "to bless" such as 𒅗𒊑𒁍 karibu, "one who blesses",[2] a name for the lamassu) is one of the unearthly beings who directly attend to God, according to Abrahamic religions. The numerous depictions of cherubim assign to them many different roles, such as protecting the entrance of the Garden of Eden.[3]

Abrahamic religious traditions

In Jewish angelic hierarchy, cherubim have the ninth (second-lowest) rank in Maimonides' Mishneh Torah (12th century), and the third rank in Kabbalistic works such as Berit Menuchah (14th century). De Coelesti Hierarchia places them in the highest rank alongside Seraphim and Thrones.[4]

In the Book of Ezekiel and (at least some) Christian icons, the cherub is depicted as having two pairs of wings, and four faces: that of a lion (representative of all wild animals), an ox (domestic animals), a human (humanity), and an eagle (birds).[5](pp 2–4)[6] As described by Ezekiel, "Their legs were straight, the soles of their feet like the hooves of a bull, gleaming like polished brass."

Later tradition ascribes to them a variety of physical appearances.[5](pp 2–4) Some early midrashic literature conceives of them as non-corporeal. In Western Christian tradition, cherubim have become associated with the putto (derived from classical Cupid / Eros figure), resulting in depictions of cherubim as small, plump, winged boys.[5](p 1)

In Islam, al-Karubiyyin or al-muqarraboonn refers to the highest angels near to God,[7] in contrast to the messenger angels (rasul). They include the Bearers of the Throne, the angels arround the throne, and the archangels.[8] The angels of mercy subordinative to Michael are also identified as cherubim. In Ismailism, there are Seven Archangels referred to as cherubim.[9]

Cherubim are also mentioned in the Second Treatise of the Great Seth, a 3rd century Gnostic writing.[10]

Etymology

Delitzch's Assyrisches Handwörterbuch (1896) connected the name keruv with Assyrian kirubu (a name of the shedu or lamassu) and karabu ("great, mighty").

Karppe (1897) glossed Babylonian karâbu as "propitious" rather than "mighty".[3][11]

Dhorme (1926) connected the Hebrew name to Assyrian kāribu (diminutive kurību), a term used to refer to intercessory beings (and statues of such beings) that plead with the gods on behalf of humanity.[5](pp 3–4)

The folk etymology connecting cherub to a Hebrew word for "youthful" is due to Abbahu (3rd century).[5](p 1)

Functions

 
Depiction of the "cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy seat" (Χερουβὶμ δόξης κατασκιάζοντα τὸ ἱλαστήριον) of Hebrews 9:5 (Julius Bate, 1773)

The Israelite cherubim are described as fulfilling a variety of functions – most often, they are described as bolstering the throne of Yahweh. Ezekiel's vision of the cherubim also emulate this, as the conjoined wingspan of the four cherubim is described as forming the boundary of the divine chariot. Likewise, on the "mercy seat" of the Ark of the Covenant, two cherubim are described as bounding the ark and forming a space through which Yahweh would appear – however, aside from the instruction that they be beaten out of the sides of the ark, there are no details about these cherubim specified in the text. The status of the cherubim as constituting a sort-of vehicle for Yahweh is present in Ezekiel's visions, the Books of Samuel,[12] the parallel passages in the later Books of Chronicles,[13] and passages in the early[3] Psalms: for example, "and he rode upon a cherub and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind."[14][15]

The traditional Hebrew conception of cherubim as guardians of the Garden of Eden is backed by the Semitic belief of beings of superhuman power and devoid of human feelings, whose duty it was to represent the gods, and as guardians of their sanctuaries to repel intruders; these conceptions in turn are similar to an account found on Tablet 9 of the inscriptions found at Nimrud.[3]

Appearance

 
An ivory from Tel Megiddo showing a king sitting on a throne which is supplicated by a sphinx-esque winged hybrid.

Aside from Ezekiel's vision, no detailed attestations of cherubim survive, and Ezekiel's description of the tetramorph being may not be the same as the cherubim of the historic Israelites.[16] All that can be gleaned about the cherubim of the Israelites come from potential equivalences in the cultures which surrounded them.

The appearance of the cherubim continue to be a subject of debate. Mythological hybrids are common in the art of the Ancient Near East. One example is the Babylonian lamassu or shedu, a protective spirit with a sphinx-like form, possessing the wings of an eagle, the body of a lion or bull, and the head of a king. This was adopted largely in Phoenicia. The wings, because of their artistic beauty and symbolic use as a mark of creatures of the heavens, soon became the most prominent part, and animals of various kinds were adorned with wings; consequently, wings were bestowed also upon human forms,[3] thus leading to the stereotypical image of an angel.[17]

William F. Albright (1938) argued that "the winged lion with human head" found in Phoenicia and Canaan from the Late Bronze Age is "much more common than any other winged creature, so much so that its identification with the cherub is certain".[5](pp 2–4) A possibly related source is the human-bodied Hittite griffin, which, unlike other griffins, appear almost always not as a fierce bird of prey, but seated in calm dignity, like an irresistible guardian of holy things;[3][17] some have proposed that the word griffin (γρύψ) may be cognate with cherubim (kruv > grups).[18][19] While Ezekiel initially describes the tetramorph cherubim as having

"the face of a man ... the face of a lion ... the face of an ox ... and ... the face of an eagle"; in the tenth chapter this formula is repeated as "the face of the cherub ... the face of a man ... the face of a lion ... the face of an eagle";

which (given that "ox" has apparently been substituted with "the cherub") some have taken to imply that cherubim were envisioned to have the head of a bovine.

 
Throne of Astarte from the Temple of Eshmun, the legs formed by two winged hybrid creatures.

In particular resonance with the idea of cherubim embodying the throne of God, numerous pieces of art from Phoenicia, Ancient Egypt, and even Tel Megiddo in northern Israel depict kings or deities being carried on their thrones by hybrid winged creatures.[17]

If this animalistic form is how the ancient Israelites envisioned cherubim, it raises more questions than it answers. For one, it is difficult to visualize the cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant as quadrupedal creatures with backward-facing wings, as these cherubim were meant to face each other and have their wings meet, while still remaining on the edges of the cover from which they were beaten. At the same time, these creatures have little to no resemblance to the cherubim in Ezekiel's vision.

On the other hand, even if cherubim had a more humanoid form, this still would not entirely match Ezekiel's vision and likewise seemingly clashes with the apparently equivalent archetypes of the cultures surrounding the Israelites, which almost uniformly depicted beings which served analogous purposes to Israel's cherubim as largely animalistic in shape. All of this may indicate that the Israelite conception of the cherub's appearance may not have been wholly consistent.[16]

Hebrew Bible

The cherubim are the most frequently occurring heavenly creature in the Hebrew Bible, as the Hebrew word appears 91 times.[5](pp 2–4) The first occurrence is in the Book of Genesis 3:24. Despite these many references, the role of the cherubim is never explicitly elucidated.[5](p 1) While Hebrew tradition must have conceived of the cherubim as guardians of the Garden of Eden[3] (in which they guard the way to the Tree of life),[20] they are often depicted as performing other roles; for example in the Book of Ezekiel, they transport Yahweh's throne. The cherub who appears in the "Song of David", a poem which occurs twice in the Hebrew Bible, in 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18, participates in Yahweh's theophany and is imagined as a vehicle upon which the deity descends to earth from heaven in order to rescue the speaker (see 2 Samuel 22:11, Psalm 18:10).[5](pp 84–85)

 
"Cherub" on a Neo-Assyrian seal, c. 1000–612 BC

In Exodus 25:18–22, God tells Moses to make multiple images of cherubim at specific points around the Ark of the Covenant.[5](pp 2–4) Many appearances of the words cherub and cherubim in the Bible refer to the gold cherubim images on the mercy seat of the Ark, as well as images on the curtains of the Tabernacle and in Solomon's Temple, including two measuring ten cubits high.[21]

In Isaiah 37:16, Hezekiah prays, addressing God as "enthroned above the cherubim" (referring to the mercy seat). In regards to Solomon's Temple as described in 1 Kings, Eichler renders the phrase yoshev ha-keruvim as “who dwells among the cherubim”. This phrase is the same in 1 Kings and Isaiah. Eichler's interpretation in contrast to common translations for many years that rendered it as “who sits upon the cherubim”. This has implications for the understanding of whether the ark of the covenant in the Temple was literally YHWH's throne or simply an indicator of YHWH's immanence.[22]

Cherubim feature at some length in the Book of Ezekiel. While they first appear in chapter one, in which they are transporting the throne of God by the river Chebar, they are not called cherubim until chapter 10.[23] In Ezekiel 1:5–11 they are described as having the likeness of a man, and having four faces: that of a man, a lion (on the right side), and ox (on the left side), and an eagle. The four faces represent the four domains of God's rule: the man represents humanity; the lion, wild animals; the ox, domestic animals; and the eagle, birds.[24] These faces peer out from the center of an array of four wings; these wings are joined to each other, two of these are stretched upward, and the other two cover their bodies. Under their wings are human hands; their legs are described as straight, and their feet like those of a calf, shining like polished brass. Between the creatures glowing coals that moved between them could be seen, their fire "went up and down", and lightning burst forth from it. The cherubs also moved like flashes of lightning.

In Ezekiel chapter 10, another full description of the cherubim appears with slight differences in details. Three of the four faces are the same – man, lion and eagle – but where chapter one has the face of an ox, Ezekiel 10:14 says "face of a cherub". Ezekiel equates the cherubim of chapter ten with the living creatures of chapter one: "They were the same creatures (חיה) I had seen by the river Chebar" (Ezekiel 10:15) and "These were the living creatures I had seen under the God of Israel on the banks of the river Chebar" (Ezekiel 10:20). In Ezekiel 41:18–20, they are portrayed as having two faces, although this is probably because they are depicted in profile.[5](pp 2–4)

In Judaism

 
Ezekiel's "chariot vision" with the tetramorph (living creatures), engraving after an illustration by Matthäus Merian, Icones Biblicae (c. 1625–1630)

In rabbinic literature, the two cherubim are described as being human-like figures with wings, one a boy and the other a girl, placed on the opposite ends of the Mercy seat in the inner-sanctum of God's house.[25] Solomon's Temple was decorated with Cherubs according to 1 Kings 6, and Aḥa bar Ya’akov claimed this was true of the Second Temple as well.[26]

Many forms of Judaism include a belief in the existence of angels, including cherubim within the Jewish angelic hierarchy. The existence of angels is generally accepted within traditional rabbinic Judaism. There is, however, a wide range of beliefs within Judaism about what angels actually are and how literally one should interpret biblical passages associated with them.

In Kabbalah there has long been a strong belief in cherubim, the cherubim and other angels regarded as having mystical roles. The Zohar, a highly significant collection of books in Jewish mysticism, states that the cherubim were led by one of their number named Kerubiel.[3]

On the other end of the philosophical spectrum is Maimonides, who had a neo-Aristotelian interpretation of the Bible. Maimonides writes that to the wise man, one sees that what the Bible and Talmud refer to as "angels" are actually allusions to the various laws of nature; they are the principles by which the physical universe operates.

For all forces are angels! How blind, how perniciously blind are the naive?! If you told someone who purports to be a sage of Israel that the Deity sends an angel who enters a woman's womb and there forms an embryo, he would think this a miracle and accept it as a mark of the majesty and power of the Deity, despite the fact that he believes an angel to be a body of fire one third the size of the entire world. All this, he thinks, is possible for God.
But if you tell him that God placed in the sperm the power of forming and demarcating these organs, and that this is the angel, or that all forms are produced by the Active Intellect; that here is the angel, the "vice-regent of the world" constantly mentioned by the sages, then he will recoil. — The Guide for the Perplexed II:4
For he [the naive person] does not understand that the true majesty and power are in the bringing into being of forces which are active in a thing although they cannot be perceived by the senses ... Thus the Sages reveal to the aware that the imaginative faculty is also called an angel; and the mind is called a cherub. How beautiful this will appear to the sophisticated mind, and how disturbing to the primitive." — The Guide for the Perplexed II:6.

Maimonides says that the figures of the cherubim were placed in the sanctuary only to preserve among the people the belief in angels, there being two in order that the people might not be led to believe that they were the image of God.[27]

Cherubim are discussed within the midrash literature. The two cherubim placed by God at the entrance of paradise[28] were angels created on the third day, and therefore they had no definite shape; appearing either as men or women, or as spirits or angelic beings.[29] The cherubim were the first objects created in the universe.[30] The following sentence of the Midrash is characteristic:

"When a man sleeps, the body tells to the soul (neshamah) what it has done during the day; the soul then reports it to the spirit (nefesh), the spirit to the angel, the angel to the cherub, and the cherub to the seraph, who then brings it before God".[31][32]
 
Moses and Joshua bowing before the Ark by James Tissot (c. 1900)

In early Jewish tradition there existed the notion that cherubim had youthful, human features, due to the etymologization of the name by Abbahu (3rd century). Before this, some early midrashic literature conceived of the cherubim as non-corporeal. In the first century AD, Josephus claimed:

"No one can tell, or even conjecture, what was the shape of these cherubim."[33][5](p 1)

A midrash states that when Pharaoh pursued Israel at the Red Sea, God took a cherub from the wheels of His throne and flew to the spot, for God inspects the heavenly worlds while sitting on a cherub. The cherub, however, is "something not material", and is carried by God, not vice versa.[33][34][35]

In the passages of the Talmud that describe the heavens and their inhabitants, the seraphim, ofannim, and living creatures are mentioned, but not the cherubim;[36] and the ancient liturgy also mentions only these three classes.

In the Talmud, Jose the Galilean holds[37] that when the Birkat Hamazon (grace after meals) is recited by at least ten thousand seated at one meal, a special blessing,

"Blessed is Ha-Shem our God, the God of Israel, who dwells between the cherubim",

is added to the regular liturgy.

In Christianity

 
Cherubs around the Virgin and Child, detail by Giovanni Bellini

In Medieval theology, following the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius, the cherubim are the second highest rank in the angelic hierarchy, following the seraphim.[38]

Cherubim are regarded in traditional Christian angelology as angels of the second highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy.[39]De Coelesti Hierarchia (c. 5th century) lists them alongside Seraphim and Thrones.[4]

According to Thomas Aquinas, the cherubim are characterized by knowledge, in contrast to seraphim, who are characterized by their "burning love to God".[40]

In Western art, cherubim became associated with the putto and the Greco-Roman god Cupid/Eros, with depictions as small, plump, winged boys.[5](p 1)

Artistic representations of cherubim in Early Christian and Byzantine art sometimes diverged from scriptural descriptions. The earliest known depiction of the tetramorph cherubim is the 5th–6th century apse mosaic found in the Thessalonian Church of Hosios David. This mosaic is an amalgamation of Ezekiel's visions in Ezekiel 1:4–28, Ezekiel 10:12, Isaiah's seraphim in Isaiah 6:13 and the six-winged creatures of Revelation from Revelation 4:2–10.[41]

In Islam

 
The four supporters (angels) of the celestial throne in Islamic arts

Cherubim (al-Karubiyyin),[42] identified as a class of the Muqarraboon in the Quran, [43] are a class of angels near the presence of God. They are entrusted with praising God and interceding for humans.[44] They are usually identified either with a class of angels separate or include various angels absorbed in the presence of God: the canonical four Islamic archangels Jibra’il (Gabriel), Mika’il (Michael), Izra’il (Azrael) and Isra’fil (Raphael), the actual cherubim, and the Bearers of the Throne.[45]

Some scholars had a more precise approach: Ibn Kathir distinguishes between the angels of the throne and the cherubim.[44] In a 13th-14th Century work called "Book of the Wonders of Creation and the peculiarities of Existing Things" the cherubim belong to an order below the Bearers of the Throne, who in turn are identified with seraphim instead.[46] Abu Ishaq al-Tha'labi places the cherubim as the highest angels only next to the Bearers of the Throne.[44] Similarly, al-Razi distinguishes between the angels carrying the throne (seraphim) and the angels around the throne (cherubim).[47]

The Quran mentions the Muqarraboon in An-Nisa verse 172, angels who worship God and are not proud. Further, cherubim appear in Miraj literature[48] and Qisas Al-Anbiya.[49] The cherubim around the throne are continuously praising God with the tasbih: "Glory to Allah!"[50] They are described as bright as no one of the lower angels can envision them.[51] Cherubim as angels of mercy, created by the tears of Michael are not identified with the angels in God's presence, but of lower rank. They too, request God to pardon humans.[52]: 33–34  In contrast to the messenger angels, the cherubim (and seraphim) always remain in the presence of God.[44] If they stop praising God, they fall.

Shi'a scholar Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi narrates about a fallen cherub encountered by Muhammad in the form of a snake. The snake tells him that he did not perform dhikr (remembrance of God) for a moment, and so God was angry with him and cast him down to earth in the form of a snake. Then Muhammad went to Hasan and Husayn. Together they interceded (Tawassul) for the angel and God restored him to his angelic form.[53] A similar story appears in Tabari's Bishara. An angel called Futrus, described as an "angel-cherub" (malak al-karubiyyin), was sent by God, but since the angel failed to complete his task in time, God broke one of his wings. Muhammad interceded for the cherub, and God forgave the fallen angel, whereupon he became the guardian for Hussain's grave.[54]

See also

References

  1. ^ "cherub". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  2. ^ Black, Jeremy A.; George, A.R.; Postgate, J.N.; Breckwoldt, Tina (2000). A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 149. ISBN 978-3-447-04264-2.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "cherub". Jewish Encyclopedia. 2002–2011 [1906].
  4. ^ a b Kosior, Wojciech (2013). "The angel in the Hebrew Bible from the statistic and hermeneutic perspectives: Some remarks on the interpolation theory". The Polish Journal of Biblical Research. 12 (1-2 (23-24)): 55–70.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wood, Alice (2008). Of Wing and Wheels: A synthetic study of the Biblical cherubim. Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft. Vol. 385. ISBN 978-3-11-020528-2.
  6. ^ "What is a cherub? The cherubim in the Bible". Christianity.com. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  7. ^ Husain, O.; Gandhi, M. (2004). The Complete Book of Muslim and Parsi Names. India: Penguin Books. p. 222.
  8. ^ von Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph, Freiherr (5 March 2016) [1813]. Rosenöl. Erstes und zweytes Fläschchen: Sagen und Kunden des Morgenlandes aus arabischen, persischen, und türkischen Quellen gesammelt [Rose Oil. First and second bottle: Legends and customs of the Orient collected from Arabic, Persian, and Turkish sources]. Books on Demand. p. 12. ISBN 978-386199486-2.
  9. ^ Netton, Ian Richard (1994). Allah Transcendent: Studies in the structure and semiotics of Islamic philosophy, theology, and cosmology. Psychology Press. p. 205. ISBN 9780700702879.
  10. ^ Meyer, M.; Barnstone, W. (June 30, 2009). "The Second Treatise of the Great Seth". The Gnostic Bible. Shambhala. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  11. ^ De Vaux, Roland (tr. John McHugh), Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions (NY, McGraw-Hill, 1961)
  12. ^ 1 Samuel 4:4, 2 Samuel 6:2, 2 Samuel 22:11
  13. ^ 1 Chronicles 13:6
  14. ^ 2 Samuel 22:11
  15. ^ Psalms 18:10
  16. ^ a b Eichler, Raanan (2015). "Cherub: A History of Interpretation". Biblica. 96 (1): 26–38. JSTOR 43922717.
  17. ^ a b c Wright, G. Ernest (1957). Biblical Archaeology. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press.
  18. ^ Propp, William H. (2006). The Anchor Bible. Vol. 2A, Exodus 19–40. New York, NY: Doubleday. Exodus 15:18, p. 386, Notes. ISBN 0-385-24693-5. which references Wellhausen, Julius (1885). Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels [Prolegomena to the History of Israel] (in German). Edinburgh, Scotland: Black. p. 304.
  19. ^ Beekes, Robert S.P. (2010). "γρυπος". Etymological Dictionary of Greek. Vol. 1. Leiden, DE / Boston, MA: Brill. p. 289. ISBN 978-90-04-17420-7. From the archaeological perspective, origin in Asia Minor (and the Near East: Elam) is very probable.
  20. ^ Genesis 3:24 (King James Version) at Bible Gateway.com
  21. ^ "1 Kings 6:23–6:35 KJV – And within the oracle he made two". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2012-12-30.
  22. ^ Eichler, Raanan (1 January 2014). "The Meaning of יֹשֵׁב הַכְּרֻבִים". Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft. 126 (3): 358–371. doi:10.1515/zaw-2014-0022. S2CID 170794397.
  23. ^ Wood, Alice. Of Wings and Wheels: A Synthetic Study of the Biblical Cherubim. p. 94.
  24. ^ Wood, Alice. Of Wings and Wheels: A Synthetic Study of the Biblical Cherubim. p. 137.
  25. ^ Babylonian Talmud (Sukkah 5b)
  26. ^ "Yoma 54a:17". sefaria.org. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  27. ^ Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed III:45
  28. ^ Gen. iii. 24
  29. ^ Genesis Rabbah xxi., end
  30. ^ Tanna debe Eliyahu R., i. beginning
  31. ^ Leviticus Rabbah xxii
  32. ^ Eccl. Rabbah x. 20
  33. ^ a b Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews. 8:73.
  34. ^ Midr. Teh. xviii. 15
  35. ^ Canticles Rabbah i. 9
  36. ^ Ḥag. 12b
  37. ^ Berakhot 49b
  38. ^ "Dionysius the Areopagite's Celestial Hierarchy", Chapter VII
  39. ^ . Oxford University Press. 2013. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013.
  40. ^ Keck, D. (1998). Angels and Angelology in the Middle Ages. Ukraine: Oxford University Press. p. 25
  41. ^ Peers, Glenn (2001). Subtle bodies: representing angels in Byzantium. Berkeley: University of California press. ISBN 978-0-520-22405-6.
  42. ^ Moojan Momen Studies in Honor of the Late Hasan M. Balyuzi Kalimat Press 1988 ISBN 978-0-933-77072-0 page 83
  43. ^ Gallorini, Louise. THE SYMBOLIC FUNCTION OF ANGELS IN THE QURʾĀN AND SUFI LITERATURE. Diss. 2021. p. 125
  44. ^ a b c d Schöck, Cornelia (1996). "Die Träger des Gottesthrones in Koranauslegung und islamischer Überlieferung". Die Welt des Orients. 27: 104–132. JSTOR 25683589.
  45. ^ Wensinck, A. J. (2013). The Muslim Creed: Its Genesis and Historical Development. Vereinigtes Königreich: Taylor & Francis. p. 200
  46. ^ Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N. Y., Komaroff, L., Carboni, S. (2002). The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353. Vereinigtes Königreich: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  47. ^ Serdar, Murat. "Hıristiyanlık ve İslâm’da Meleklerin Varlık ve Kısımları." Bilimname 2009.2 (2009).
  48. ^ Colby, Frederick S (2008). Narrating Muhammad's Night Journey: Tracing the Development of the Ibn 'Abbas Ascension Discourse. State University of New York Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-7914-7518-8.
  49. ^ Heribert Busse. Islamische Erzählungen von Propheten und Gottesmännern: Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʼ oder ʻArāʼis al-maǧālis. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2006 ISBN 9783447052665 p. 34 (German)
  50. ^ "Cherub | Definition & Facts | Britannica". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  51. ^ Jane Dammen McAuliffe Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān Volume 1 Georgetown University, Washington DC p. 32
  52. ^ Qāḍī, ʻAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Aḥmad (1977). Islamic book of the dead : a collection of Hadiths on the Fire & the Garden. Norwich, Norfolk: Diwan Press. ISBN 0-9504446-2-6. OCLC 13426566.
  53. ^ https://www.ahlulbait.one/2020/07/07/die-cherubim-sind-anhaenger-der-reinen-leute-des-hauses/ (German)
  54. ^ Kohlberg, E. (2020). In Praise of the Few. Studies in Shiʿi Thought and History. Niederlande: Brill. p. 390
  • Yaniv, Bracha (1999). The Cherubim on Torah Ark valances. Assaph: Studies in Art History. Vol. 4. Bar-Ilan University, Jewish Art Department.
  • Gilboa, R. (1996). "Cherubim: An inquiry into an enigma". Biblische Notizen. 82: 59–75.
— The article looks at the yet unknown nature of the Temple's Cherubim, through linguistic investigation, fauna probabilities and artistic presentations in the ancient Biblical period.

External links

  • Jewish Encyclopedia: Cherub
  • Catholic Encyclopedia: Cherubim
  • The Cherubim - some pointers and problems by Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple
  • "Cherubim" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 86–87.
  • "What Kind of Creatures Are the Cherubim?" TheTorah (2016)

cherub, this, article, about, type, supernatural, being, bible, winged, infant, figure, putto, other, uses, disambiguation, cherub, plural, cherubim, hebrew, רו, kərūḇ, רו, ים, kərūḇīm, likely, borrowed, from, derived, form, akkadian, 𒅗𒊏𒁍, karabu, bless, such,. This article is about a type of supernatural being in the Bible For the winged infant figure in art see putto For other uses see Cherub disambiguation A cherub ˈ tʃ ɛr e b 1 plural cherubim Hebrew כ רו ב keruḇ pl כ רו ב ים keruḇim likely borrowed from a derived form of Akkadian 𒅗𒊏𒁍 karabu to bless such as 𒅗𒊑𒁍 karibu one who blesses 2 a name for the lamassu is one of the unearthly beings who directly attend to God according to Abrahamic religions The numerous depictions of cherubim assign to them many different roles such as protecting the entrance of the Garden of Eden 3 A tetramorph cherub in Eastern Orthodox iconography Contents 1 Abrahamic religious traditions 2 Etymology 3 Functions 4 Appearance 5 Hebrew Bible 6 In Judaism 7 In Christianity 8 In Islam 9 See also 10 References 11 External linksAbrahamic religious traditions EditIn Jewish angelic hierarchy cherubim have the ninth second lowest rank in Maimonides Mishneh Torah 12th century and the third rank in Kabbalistic works such as Berit Menuchah 14th century De Coelesti Hierarchia places them in the highest rank alongside Seraphim and Thrones 4 In the Book of Ezekiel and at least some Christian icons the cherub is depicted as having two pairs of wings and four faces that of a lion representative of all wild animals an ox domestic animals a human humanity and an eagle birds 5 pp 2 4 6 As described by Ezekiel Their legs were straight the soles of their feet like the hooves of a bull gleaming like polished brass Later tradition ascribes to them a variety of physical appearances 5 pp 2 4 Some early midrashic literature conceives of them as non corporeal In Western Christian tradition cherubim have become associated with the putto derived from classical Cupid Eros figure resulting in depictions of cherubim as small plump winged boys 5 p 1 In Islam al Karubiyyin or al muqarraboonn refers to the highest angels near to God 7 in contrast to the messenger angels rasul They include the Bearers of the Throne the angels arround the throne and the archangels 8 The angels of mercy subordinative to Michael are also identified as cherubim In Ismailism there are Seven Archangels referred to as cherubim 9 Cherubim are also mentioned in the Second Treatise of the Great Seth a 3rd century Gnostic writing 10 Etymology EditDelitzch s Assyrisches Handworterbuch 1896 connected the name keruv with Assyrian kirubu a name of the shedu or lamassu and karabu great mighty Karppe 1897 glossed Babylonian karabu as propitious rather than mighty 3 11 Dhorme 1926 connected the Hebrew name to Assyrian karibu diminutive kuribu a term used to refer to intercessory beings and statues of such beings that plead with the gods on behalf of humanity 5 pp 3 4 The folk etymology connecting cherub to a Hebrew word for youthful is due to Abbahu 3rd century 5 p 1 Functions Edit Depiction of the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy seat Xeroybὶm do3hs kataskiazonta tὸ ἱlasthrion of Hebrews 9 5 Julius Bate 1773 The Israelite cherubim are described as fulfilling a variety of functions most often they are described as bolstering the throne of Yahweh Ezekiel s vision of the cherubim also emulate this as the conjoined wingspan of the four cherubim is described as forming the boundary of the divine chariot Likewise on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant two cherubim are described as bounding the ark and forming a space through which Yahweh would appear however aside from the instruction that they be beaten out of the sides of the ark there are no details about these cherubim specified in the text The status of the cherubim as constituting a sort of vehicle for Yahweh is present in Ezekiel s visions the Books of Samuel 12 the parallel passages in the later Books of Chronicles 13 and passages in the early 3 Psalms for example and he rode upon a cherub and did fly and he was seen upon the wings of the wind 14 15 The traditional Hebrew conception of cherubim as guardians of the Garden of Eden is backed by the Semitic belief of beings of superhuman power and devoid of human feelings whose duty it was to represent the gods and as guardians of their sanctuaries to repel intruders these conceptions in turn are similar to an account found on Tablet 9 of the inscriptions found at Nimrud 3 Appearance Edit An ivory from Tel Megiddo showing a king sitting on a throne which is supplicated by a sphinx esque winged hybrid Aside from Ezekiel s vision no detailed attestations of cherubim survive and Ezekiel s description of the tetramorph being may not be the same as the cherubim of the historic Israelites 16 All that can be gleaned about the cherubim of the Israelites come from potential equivalences in the cultures which surrounded them The appearance of the cherubim continue to be a subject of debate Mythological hybrids are common in the art of the Ancient Near East One example is the Babylonian lamassu or shedu a protective spirit with a sphinx like form possessing the wings of an eagle the body of a lion or bull and the head of a king This was adopted largely in Phoenicia The wings because of their artistic beauty and symbolic use as a mark of creatures of the heavens soon became the most prominent part and animals of various kinds were adorned with wings consequently wings were bestowed also upon human forms 3 thus leading to the stereotypical image of an angel 17 William F Albright 1938 argued that the winged lion with human head found in Phoenicia and Canaan from the Late Bronze Age is much more common than any other winged creature so much so that its identification with the cherub is certain 5 pp 2 4 A possibly related source is the human bodied Hittite griffin which unlike other griffins appear almost always not as a fierce bird of prey but seated in calm dignity like an irresistible guardian of holy things 3 17 some have proposed that the word griffin gryps may be cognate with cherubim kruv gt grups 18 19 While Ezekiel initially describes the tetramorph cherubim as having the face of a man the face of a lion the face of an ox and the face of an eagle in the tenth chapter this formula is repeated as the face of the cherub the face of a man the face of a lion the face of an eagle which given that ox has apparently been substituted with the cherub some have taken to imply that cherubim were envisioned to have the head of a bovine Throne of Astarte from the Temple of Eshmun the legs formed by two winged hybrid creatures In particular resonance with the idea of cherubim embodying the throne of God numerous pieces of art from Phoenicia Ancient Egypt and even Tel Megiddo in northern Israel depict kings or deities being carried on their thrones by hybrid winged creatures 17 If this animalistic form is how the ancient Israelites envisioned cherubim it raises more questions than it answers For one it is difficult to visualize the cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant as quadrupedal creatures with backward facing wings as these cherubim were meant to face each other and have their wings meet while still remaining on the edges of the cover from which they were beaten At the same time these creatures have little to no resemblance to the cherubim in Ezekiel s vision On the other hand even if cherubim had a more humanoid form this still would not entirely match Ezekiel s vision and likewise seemingly clashes with the apparently equivalent archetypes of the cultures surrounding the Israelites which almost uniformly depicted beings which served analogous purposes to Israel s cherubim as largely animalistic in shape All of this may indicate that the Israelite conception of the cherub s appearance may not have been wholly consistent 16 Hebrew Bible EditFurther information Tetramorph Living creatures Bible Mercy seat Ezekiel s cherub in Eden and Uriel The cherubim are the most frequently occurring heavenly creature in the Hebrew Bible as the Hebrew word appears 91 times 5 pp 2 4 The first occurrence is in the Book of Genesis 3 24 Despite these many references the role of the cherubim is never explicitly elucidated 5 p 1 While Hebrew tradition must have conceived of the cherubim as guardians of the Garden of Eden 3 in which they guard the way to the Tree of life 20 they are often depicted as performing other roles for example in the Book of Ezekiel they transport Yahweh s throne The cherub who appears in the Song of David a poem which occurs twice in the Hebrew Bible in 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18 participates in Yahweh s theophany and is imagined as a vehicle upon which the deity descends to earth from heaven in order to rescue the speaker see 2 Samuel 22 11 Psalm 18 10 5 pp 84 85 Cherub on a Neo Assyrian seal c 1000 612 BC In Exodus 25 18 22 God tells Moses to make multiple images of cherubim at specific points around the Ark of the Covenant 5 pp 2 4 Many appearances of the words cherub and cherubim in the Bible refer to the gold cherubim images on the mercy seat of the Ark as well as images on the curtains of the Tabernacle and in Solomon s Temple including two measuring ten cubits high 21 In Isaiah 37 16 Hezekiah prays addressing God as enthroned above the cherubim referring to the mercy seat In regards to Solomon s Temple as described in 1 Kings Eichler renders the phrase yoshev ha keruvim as who dwells among the cherubim This phrase is the same in 1 Kings and Isaiah Eichler s interpretation in contrast to common translations for many years that rendered it as who sits upon the cherubim This has implications for the understanding of whether the ark of the covenant in the Temple was literally YHWH s throne or simply an indicator of YHWH s immanence 22 Cherubim feature at some length in the Book of Ezekiel While they first appear in chapter one in which they are transporting the throne of God by the river Chebar they are not called cherubim until chapter 10 23 In Ezekiel 1 5 11 they are described as having the likeness of a man and having four faces that of a man a lion on the right side and ox on the left side and an eagle The four faces represent the four domains of God s rule the man represents humanity the lion wild animals the ox domestic animals and the eagle birds 24 These faces peer out from the center of an array of four wings these wings are joined to each other two of these are stretched upward and the other two cover their bodies Under their wings are human hands their legs are described as straight and their feet like those of a calf shining like polished brass Between the creatures glowing coals that moved between them could be seen their fire went up and down and lightning burst forth from it The cherubs also moved like flashes of lightning In Ezekiel chapter 10 another full description of the cherubim appears with slight differences in details Three of the four faces are the same man lion and eagle but where chapter one has the face of an ox Ezekiel 10 14 says face of a cherub Ezekiel equates the cherubim of chapter ten with the living creatures of chapter one They were the same creatures חיה I had seen by the river Chebar Ezekiel 10 15 and These were the living creatures I had seen under the God of Israel on the banks of the river Chebar Ezekiel 10 20 In Ezekiel 41 18 20 they are portrayed as having two faces although this is probably because they are depicted in profile 5 pp 2 4 In Judaism Edit Ezekiel s chariot vision with the tetramorph living creatures engraving after an illustration by Matthaus Merian Icones Biblicae c 1625 1630 In rabbinic literature the two cherubim are described as being human like figures with wings one a boy and the other a girl placed on the opposite ends of the Mercy seat in the inner sanctum of God s house 25 Solomon s Temple was decorated with Cherubs according to 1 Kings 6 and Aḥa bar Ya akov claimed this was true of the Second Temple as well 26 Many forms of Judaism include a belief in the existence of angels including cherubim within the Jewish angelic hierarchy The existence of angels is generally accepted within traditional rabbinic Judaism There is however a wide range of beliefs within Judaism about what angels actually are and how literally one should interpret biblical passages associated with them In Kabbalah there has long been a strong belief in cherubim the cherubim and other angels regarded as having mystical roles The Zohar a highly significant collection of books in Jewish mysticism states that the cherubim were led by one of their number named Kerubiel 3 On the other end of the philosophical spectrum is Maimonides who had a neo Aristotelian interpretation of the Bible Maimonides writes that to the wise man one sees that what the Bible and Talmud refer to as angels are actually allusions to the various laws of nature they are the principles by which the physical universe operates For all forces are angels How blind how perniciously blind are the naive If you told someone who purports to be a sage of Israel that the Deity sends an angel who enters a woman s womb and there forms an embryo he would think this a miracle and accept it as a mark of the majesty and power of the Deity despite the fact that he believes an angel to be a body of fire one third the size of the entire world All this he thinks is possible for God But if you tell him that God placed in the sperm the power of forming and demarcating these organs and that this is the angel or that all forms are produced by the Active Intellect that here is the angel the vice regent of the world constantly mentioned by the sages then he will recoil The Guide for the Perplexed II 4For he the naive person does not understand that the true majesty and power are in the bringing into being of forces which are active in a thing although they cannot be perceived by the senses Thus the Sages reveal to the aware that the imaginative faculty is also called an angel and the mind is called a cherub How beautiful this will appear to the sophisticated mind and how disturbing to the primitive The Guide for the Perplexed II 6 Maimonides says that the figures of the cherubim were placed in the sanctuary only to preserve among the people the belief in angels there being two in order that the people might not be led to believe that they were the image of God 27 Cherubim are discussed within the midrash literature The two cherubim placed by God at the entrance of paradise 28 were angels created on the third day and therefore they had no definite shape appearing either as men or women or as spirits or angelic beings 29 The cherubim were the first objects created in the universe 30 The following sentence of the Midrash is characteristic When a man sleeps the body tells to the soul neshamah what it has done during the day the soul then reports it to the spirit nefesh the spirit to the angel the angel to the cherub and the cherub to the seraph who then brings it before God 31 32 Moses and Joshua bowing before the Ark by James Tissot c 1900 In early Jewish tradition there existed the notion that cherubim had youthful human features due to the etymologization of the name by Abbahu 3rd century Before this some early midrashic literature conceived of the cherubim as non corporeal In the first century AD Josephus claimed No one can tell or even conjecture what was the shape of these cherubim 33 5 p 1 A midrash states that when Pharaoh pursued Israel at the Red Sea God took a cherub from the wheels of His throne and flew to the spot for God inspects the heavenly worlds while sitting on a cherub The cherub however is something not material and is carried by God not vice versa 33 34 35 In the passages of the Talmud that describe the heavens and their inhabitants the seraphim ofannim and living creatures are mentioned but not the cherubim 36 and the ancient liturgy also mentions only these three classes In the Talmud Jose the Galilean holds 37 that when the Birkat Hamazon grace after meals is recited by at least ten thousand seated at one meal a special blessing Blessed is Ha Shem our God the God of Israel who dwells between the cherubim is added to the regular liturgy In Christianity Edit Cherubs around the Virgin and Child detail by Giovanni Bellini In Medieval theology following the writings of Pseudo Dionysius the cherubim are the second highest rank in the angelic hierarchy following the seraphim 38 Cherubim are regarded in traditional Christian angelology as angels of the second highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy 39 De Coelesti Hierarchia c 5th century lists them alongside Seraphim and Thrones 4 According to Thomas Aquinas the cherubim are characterized by knowledge in contrast to seraphim who are characterized by their burning love to God 40 In Western art cherubim became associated with the putto and the Greco Roman god Cupid Eros with depictions as small plump winged boys 5 p 1 Artistic representations of cherubim in Early Christian and Byzantine art sometimes diverged from scriptural descriptions The earliest known depiction of the tetramorph cherubim is the 5th 6th century apse mosaic found in the Thessalonian Church of Hosios David This mosaic is an amalgamation of Ezekiel s visions in Ezekiel 1 4 28 Ezekiel 10 12 Isaiah s seraphim in Isaiah 6 13 and the six winged creatures of Revelation from Revelation 4 2 10 41 In Islam Edit The four supporters angels of the celestial throne in Islamic arts Cherubim al Karubiyyin 42 identified as a class of the Muqarraboon in the Quran 43 are a class of angels near the presence of God They are entrusted with praising God and interceding for humans 44 They are usually identified either with a class of angels separate or include various angels absorbed in the presence of God the canonical four Islamic archangels Jibra il Gabriel Mika il Michael Izra il Azrael and Isra fil Raphael the actual cherubim and the Bearers of the Throne 45 Some scholars had a more precise approach Ibn Kathir distinguishes between the angels of the throne and the cherubim 44 In a 13th 14th Century work called Book of the Wonders of Creation and the peculiarities of Existing Things the cherubim belong to an order below the Bearers of the Throne who in turn are identified with seraphim instead 46 Abu Ishaq al Tha labi places the cherubim as the highest angels only next to the Bearers of the Throne 44 Similarly al Razi distinguishes between the angels carrying the throne seraphim and the angels around the throne cherubim 47 The Quran mentions the Muqarraboon in An Nisa verse 172 angels who worship God and are not proud Further cherubim appear in Miraj literature 48 and Qisas Al Anbiya 49 The cherubim around the throne are continuously praising God with the tasbih Glory to Allah 50 They are described as bright as no one of the lower angels can envision them 51 Cherubim as angels of mercy created by the tears of Michael are not identified with the angels in God s presence but of lower rank They too request God to pardon humans 52 33 34 In contrast to the messenger angels the cherubim and seraphim always remain in the presence of God 44 If they stop praising God they fall Shi a scholar Mohammad Baqer Majlesi narrates about a fallen cherub encountered by Muhammad in the form of a snake The snake tells him that he did not perform dhikr remembrance of God for a moment and so God was angry with him and cast him down to earth in the form of a snake Then Muhammad went to Hasan and Husayn Together they interceded Tawassul for the angel and God restored him to his angelic form 53 A similar story appears in Tabari s Bishara An angel called Futrus described as an angel cherub malak al karubiyyin was sent by God but since the angel failed to complete his task in time God broke one of his wings Muhammad interceded for the cherub and God forgave the fallen angel whereupon he became the guardian for Hussain s grave 54 See also EditBuraq Cherubism medical condition List of angels in theology Kamadeva Lamassu Merkabah mysticismReferences Edit cherub Random House Webster s Unabridged Dictionary Black Jeremy A George A R Postgate J N Breckwoldt Tina 2000 A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian Otto Harrassowitz Verlag p 149 ISBN 978 3 447 04264 2 a b c d e f g h cherub Jewish Encyclopedia 2002 2011 1906 a b Kosior Wojciech 2013 The angel in the Hebrew Bible from the statistic and hermeneutic perspectives Some remarks on the interpolation theory The Polish Journal of Biblical Research 12 1 2 23 24 55 70 a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wood Alice 2008 Of Wing and Wheels A synthetic study of the Biblical cherubim Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift fur die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Vol 385 ISBN 978 3 11 020528 2 What is a cherub The cherubim in the Bible Christianity com Retrieved 2021 03 04 Husain O Gandhi M 2004 The Complete Book of Muslim and Parsi Names India Penguin Books p 222 von Hammer Purgstall Joseph Freiherr 5 March 2016 1813 Rosenol Erstes und zweytes Flaschchen Sagen und Kunden des Morgenlandes aus arabischen persischen und turkischen Quellen gesammelt Rose Oil First and second bottle Legends and customs of the Orient collected from Arabic Persian and Turkish sources Books on Demand p 12 ISBN 978 386199486 2 Netton Ian Richard 1994 Allah Transcendent Studies in the structure and semiotics of Islamic philosophy theology and cosmology Psychology Press p 205 ISBN 9780700702879 Meyer M Barnstone W June 30 2009 The Second Treatise of the Great Seth The Gnostic Bible Shambhala Retrieved 2022 02 02 De Vaux Roland tr John McHugh Ancient Israel Its Life and Institutions NY McGraw Hill 1961 1 Samuel 4 4 2 Samuel 6 2 2 Samuel 22 11 1 Chronicles 13 6 2 Samuel 22 11 Psalms 18 10 a b Eichler Raanan 2015 Cherub A History of Interpretation Biblica 96 1 26 38 JSTOR 43922717 a b c Wright G Ernest 1957 Biblical Archaeology Philadelphia PA Westminster Press Propp William H 2006 The Anchor Bible Vol 2A Exodus 19 40 New York NY Doubleday Exodus 15 18 p 386 Notes ISBN 0 385 24693 5 which references Wellhausen Julius 1885 Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels Prolegomena to the History of Israel in German Edinburgh Scotland Black p 304 Beekes Robert S P 2010 grypos Etymological Dictionary of Greek Vol 1 Leiden DE Boston MA Brill p 289 ISBN 978 90 04 17420 7 From the archaeological perspective origin in Asia Minor and the Near East Elam is very probable Genesis 3 24 King James Version at Bible Gateway com 1 Kings 6 23 6 35 KJV And within the oracle he made two Bible Gateway Retrieved 2012 12 30 Eichler Raanan 1 January 2014 The Meaning of י ש ב ה כ ר ב ים Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 126 3 358 371 doi 10 1515 zaw 2014 0022 S2CID 170794397 Wood Alice Of Wings and Wheels A Synthetic Study of the Biblical Cherubim p 94 Wood Alice Of Wings and Wheels A Synthetic Study of the Biblical Cherubim p 137 Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 5b Yoma 54a 17 sefaria org Retrieved 2021 02 19 Maimonides The Guide for the Perplexed III 45 Gen iii 24 Genesis Rabbah xxi end Tanna debe Eliyahu R i beginning Leviticus Rabbah xxii Eccl Rabbah x 20 a b Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 8 73 Midr Teh xviii 15 Canticles Rabbah i 9 Ḥag 12b Berakhot 49b Dionysius the Areopagite s Celestial Hierarchy Chapter VII Oxford Dictionaries cherub Oxford University Press 2013 Archived from the original on December 13 2013 Keck D 1998 Angels and Angelology in the Middle Ages Ukraine Oxford University Press p 25 Peers Glenn 2001 Subtle bodies representing angels in Byzantium Berkeley University of California press ISBN 978 0 520 22405 6 Moojan Momen Studies in Honor of the Late Hasan M Balyuzi Kalimat Press 1988 ISBN 978 0 933 77072 0 page 83 Gallorini Louise THE SYMBOLIC FUNCTION OF ANGELS IN THE QURʾAN AND SUFI LITERATURE Diss 2021 p 125 a b c d Schock Cornelia 1996 Die Trager des Gottesthrones in Koranauslegung und islamischer Uberlieferung Die Welt des Orients 27 104 132 JSTOR 25683589 Wensinck A J 2013 The Muslim Creed Its Genesis and Historical Development Vereinigtes Konigreich Taylor amp Francis p 200 Metropolitan Museum of Art New York N Y Komaroff L Carboni S 2002 The Legacy of Genghis Khan Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia 1256 1353 Vereinigtes Konigreich Metropolitan Museum of Art Serdar Murat Hiristiyanlik ve Islam da Meleklerin Varlik ve Kisimlari Bilimname 2009 2 2009 Colby Frederick S 2008 Narrating Muhammad s Night Journey Tracing the Development of the Ibn Abbas Ascension Discourse State University of New York Press p 33 ISBN 978 0 7914 7518 8 Heribert Busse Islamische Erzahlungen von Propheten und Gottesmannern Qiṣaṣ al anbiyaʼ oder ʻAraʼis al maǧalis Otto Harrassowitz Verlag 2006 ISBN 9783447052665 p 34 German Cherub Definition amp Facts Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica Jane Dammen McAuliffe Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾan Volume 1 Georgetown University Washington DC p 32 Qaḍi ʻAbd al Raḥim ibn Aḥmad 1977 Islamic book of the dead a collection of Hadiths on the Fire amp the Garden Norwich Norfolk Diwan Press ISBN 0 9504446 2 6 OCLC 13426566 https www ahlulbait one 2020 07 07 die cherubim sind anhaenger der reinen leute des hauses German Kohlberg E 2020 In Praise of the Few Studies in Shiʿi Thought and History Niederlande Brill p 390 Yaniv Bracha 1999 The Cherubim on Torah Ark valances Assaph Studies in Art History Vol 4 Bar Ilan University Jewish Art Department Gilboa R 1996 Cherubim An inquiry into an enigma Biblische Notizen 82 59 75 The article looks at the yet unknown nature of the Temple s Cherubim through linguistic investigation fauna probabilities and artistic presentations in the ancient Biblical period dd External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cherubs Jewish Encyclopedia Cherub Catholic Encyclopedia Cherubim The Cherubim some pointers and problems by Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple Cherubim Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 6 11th ed 1911 pp 86 87 What Kind of Creatures Are the Cherubim TheTorah 2016 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cherub amp oldid 1152164618, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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