Bentuk (wujud) tuhan menurut beybel

Ketika Nabi Yehezkiel melihat Tuhan yang disertai oleh malaikat disampingNya, dia menggambarkan mereka terlihat seperti yang tertulis di bawah ini (Yehezkiel 1:4-21)
“Lalu aku melihat, sunggu, angin badai bertiup dari utara, dan membawa segumpal awan yang besar dengan api yang berkilat-kilat dan awan itu dikelilingi oleh sinar; di dalam, ditengah-tengah api itu kelihatan seperti suasa mengkilat. Dan di tengah-tengah itu juga ada yang menyerupai empat makhluk hidup dan beginilah kelihatannya mereka: mereka menyerupai manusia, tetapi masing-masing mempunyai empat muka dan pada masing-masing ada pula empat sayap. Kaki mereka adalah lurus dan telapak kaki mereka seperti kuku anak lembu; kaki-kaki ini mengkilap seperti tembaga yang baru. Pada keempat sisi mereka di bawah sayap-sayapnya tampak tangan manusia. Mengenai muka dan sayap mereka berempat adalah begini: mereka saling menyentuh dengan sayapnya; mereka tidak berbalik kalau berjalan, masing-masing berjalan lurus ke depan. Muka mereka kelihatan begini: Keempatnya mempunyai muka manusia di depan, muka singa di sebelah kanan, muka lembu di sebelah kiri, dan muka rajawali di belakang. Sayap-sayap mereka dikembangkan ke atas; mereka saling menyentuh dengan sepasang sayapnya dan sepasang sayap yang lain menutupi badan mereka. Masing-masing berjalan lurus ke depan; ke arah mana roh itu hendak pergi, ke sanalah mereka pergi, mereka tidak berbalik kalau berjalan. Ditengah makhluk-makhluk hidup itu kelihatan seperti bara api yang menyala, seperti suluh, yang bergerak kian kemari di antara makhluk-makhluk hidup itu, dan api itu bersinar sedang dari api itu kilat sabung-menyabung. Makhluk-makhluk hidup itu terbang ke sana ke mari seperti kilat. Aku melihat, sungguh, di atas tanah di samping masing-masing dari keempat makhluk-makhluk hidup itu ada sebuah roda. Rupa roda-roda itu seperti kilauan permata pirus dan keempatnya adalah serupa; buatannya seolah-olah roda yang satu di tengah-tengah yang lain. Kalau mereka berjalan mereka dapat menuju keempat jurusan; mereka tidak berbalik kalau berjalan. Mereka mempunyai lingkar dan aku melihat, bahwa sekeliling lingkar yang empat itu penuh dengan mata. Kalau makhluk-makhluk hidup itu berjalan kalau makhluk-makhluk hidup itu terangkat dari atas tanah, roda-roda itu turut terangkat. Ke arah mana roh itu hendak pergi, ke sanalah mereka pergi, dan roda-rodanya sama-sama terangkat dengan mereka, sebab roh makhluk-makhluk hidup itu berada di dalam roda-rodanya. Kalau makhluk-makhluk hidup itu berjalan, roda-roda itu berjalan; kalau mereka berhenti, roda-roda itu berhenti; dan kalau mereka terangkat dari tanah, roda-roda itu sama-sama terangkat dengan mereka; sebab roh-roh makhluk-makhluk hidup itu berada di dalam roda-rodanya.”
Umat Kristen seringkali melihat rupa dewa-dewa yang berwajah dan bertangan banyak di kelenteng Taois dan pura Hindu, dan mencibir bahwa dewa-dewa itu lebih menyerupai iblis dan setan daripada menyerupai dewa. Tapi ternyata apa yang tertulis di Alkitab tentang rupa Tuhan ternyata mirip dengan rupa dewa-dewa Hindu dan Taois. Lebih lanjut, dewa-dewa atau tuhan-tuhan ajaran Hindu dan Taois membawa senjata, demikian juga halnya Tuhan orang Kristen juga menghunus senjata.
“Pada waktu itu TUHAN akan melaksanakan hukuman dengan pedang-Nya yang keras, besar dan kuat”(Yesaya 27:1)
“Matahari, bulan berhenti di tempat kediamannya, karena cahaya anak-anak panah-Mu yang melayang laju, karena kilauan tombak-Mu yang berkilat. Dalam kegeraman Engkau melangkah melintasi bumi, dalam murka Engkau menggasak bangsa-bangsa” (Habakuk 3:11-12)
“Karena sinar di hadapan-Nya hilanglah awan-awan-Nya bersama hujan es dan bara api. Maka TUHAN mengguntur di langit, Yang Mahatinggi memperdengarkan suara-Nya. Dilepaskan-Nya panah-panah-Nya, sehingga diserakkan-Nya mereka, kilat bertubi-tubi, sehingga dikacaukan-Nya mereka.” (Mazmur 18:13-15)
“Tetapi Allah menembak mereka dengan panah; sekonyong-konyong mereka terluka.” (Mazmur 64:
“TUHAN akan menampakkan diri kepada mereka, dan anak panah-Nya akan melayang keluar seperti kilat. Dan TUHAN Allah akan meniup sangkakala dan akan berjalan maju dalam angin badai dari selatan.” (Zakaria 9:14)
Satu cara yang menarik untuk menyimak rupa Tuhan orang Kristen adalah dengan melihat adanya kemiripan cara Tuhan orang Kristen bergerak dengan cara dewa-dewa non-Kristen berpindah tempat. Alkitab menyatakan bahwa Tuhan berpindah dari satu tempat ke tempat lain dengan cara duduk di atas awan (Yesaya 19:1) atau membonceng di punggung malaikat (Mazmur 18:10). Sangatlah jelas sekali bahwa dari kutipan-kutipan Alkitab bahwa Tuhan mempunyai penampilan yang mengerikan dan ganas.
“Beribadahlah kepada TUHAN dengan takut dan ciumlah kaki-Nya dengan gemetar” (Mazmur 2:11) “Itulah sebabnya hatiku gemetar menghadapi Dia, kalau semuanya itu kubayangkan, maka aku ketakutan terhadap Dia.” (Ayub 23:15)
Yesus seringkali berkata bahwa kita harus takut akan Tuhan (misalnya yang tercantum di Lk 12:4-5). Alkitab juga telah dengan sangat akurat menunjukkan bahwa dimana ada ketakutan, di situ tidak akan ada cinta dan kasih sayang (1 Yohanes 4:18) dan jadi jika Tuhan menciptakan ketakutan dalam diri semua orang, bagaimana mungkin orang-orang yang ditakuti itu bisa mencintai Tuhan?

sorry kalo udah ada yang post kek gini

Sebenarnya itu bukan Tuhan, tapi semacam Dewa dalam agama Paganism .....

Gravelord wrote:Ketika Nabi Yehezkiel melihat Tuhan yang disertai oleh malaikat disampingNya, dia menggambarkan mereka terlihat seperti yang tertulis di bawah ini (Yehezkiel 1:4-21)
“Lalu aku melihat, sunggu, angin badai bertiup dari utara, dan membawa segumpal awan yang besar dengan api yang berkilat-kilat dan awan itu dikelilingi oleh sinar; di dalam, ditengah-tengah api itu kelihatan seperti suasa mengkilat. Dan di tengah-tengah itu juga ada yang menyerupai empat makhluk hidup dan beginilah kelihatannya mereka: mereka menyerupai manusia, tetapi masing-masing mempunyai empat muka dan pada masing-masing ada pula empat sayap. Kaki mereka adalah lurus dan telapak kaki mereka seperti kuku anak lembu; kaki-kaki ini mengkilap seperti tembaga yang baru. Pada keempat sisi mereka di bawah sayap-sayapnya tampak tangan manusia. Mengenai muka dan sayap mereka berempat adalah begini: mereka saling menyentuh dengan sayapnya; mereka tidak berbalik kalau berjalan, masing-masing berjalan lurus ke depan. Muka mereka kelihatan begini: Keempatnya mempunyai muka manusia di depan, muka singa di sebelah kanan, muka lembu di sebelah kiri, dan muka rajawali di belakang. Sayap-sayap mereka dikembangkan ke atas; mereka saling menyentuh dengan sepasang sayapnya dan sepasang sayap yang lain menutupi badan mereka. Masing-masing berjalan lurus ke depan; ke arah mana roh itu hendak pergi, ke sanalah mereka pergi, mereka tidak berbalik kalau berjalan. Ditengah makhluk-makhluk hidup itu kelihatan seperti bara api yang menyala, seperti suluh, yang bergerak kian kemari di antara makhluk-makhluk hidup itu, dan api itu bersinar sedang dari api itu kilat sabung-menyabung. Makhluk-makhluk hidup itu terbang ke sana ke mari seperti kilat. Aku melihat, sungguh, di atas tanah di samping masing-masing dari keempat makhluk-makhluk hidup itu ada sebuah roda. Rupa roda-roda itu seperti kilauan permata pirus dan keempatnya adalah serupa; buatannya seolah-olah roda yang satu di tengah-tengah yang lain. Kalau mereka berjalan mereka dapat menuju keempat jurusan; mereka tidak berbalik kalau berjalan. Mereka mempunyai lingkar dan aku melihat, bahwa sekeliling lingkar yang empat itu penuh dengan mata. Kalau makhluk-makhluk hidup itu berjalan kalau makhluk-makhluk hidup itu terangkat dari atas tanah, roda-roda itu turut terangkat. Ke arah mana roh itu hendak pergi, ke sanalah mereka pergi, dan roda-rodanya sama-sama terangkat dengan mereka, sebab roh makhluk-makhluk hidup itu berada di dalam roda-rodanya. Kalau makhluk-makhluk hidup itu berjalan, roda-roda itu berjalan; kalau mereka berhenti, roda-roda itu berhenti; dan kalau mereka terangkat dari tanah, roda-roda itu sama-sama terangkat dengan mereka; sebab roh-roh makhluk-makhluk hidup itu berada di dalam roda-rodanya.”
Umat Kristen seringkali melihat rupa dewa-dewa yang berwajah dan bertangan banyak di kelenteng Taois dan pura Hindu, dan mencibir bahwa dewa-dewa itu lebih menyerupai iblis dan setan daripada menyerupai dewa. Tapi ternyata apa yang tertulis di Alkitab tentang rupa Tuhan ternyata mirip dengan rupa dewa-dewa Hindu dan Taois. Lebih lanjut, dewa-dewa atau tuhan-tuhan ajaran Hindu dan Taois membawa senjata, demikian juga halnya Tuhan orang Kristen juga menghunus senjata.
“Pada waktu itu TUHAN akan melaksanakan hukuman dengan pedang-Nya yang keras, besar dan kuat”(Yesaya 27:1)
“Matahari, bulan berhenti di tempat kediamannya, karena cahaya anak-anak panah-Mu yang melayang laju, karena kilauan tombak-Mu yang berkilat. Dalam kegeraman Engkau melangkah melintasi bumi, dalam murka Engkau menggasak bangsa-bangsa” (Habakuk 3:11-12)
“Karena sinar di hadapan-Nya hilanglah awan-awan-Nya bersama hujan es dan bara api. Maka TUHAN mengguntur di langit, Yang Mahatinggi memperdengarkan suara-Nya. Dilepaskan-Nya panah-panah-Nya, sehingga diserakkan-Nya mereka, kilat bertubi-tubi, sehingga dikacaukan-Nya mereka.” (Mazmur 18:13-15)
“Tetapi Allah menembak mereka dengan panah; sekonyong-konyong mereka terluka.” (Mazmur 64:
“TUHAN akan menampakkan diri kepada mereka, dan anak panah-Nya akan melayang keluar seperti kilat. Dan TUHAN Allah akan meniup sangkakala dan akan berjalan maju dalam angin badai dari selatan.” (Zakaria 9:14)
Satu cara yang menarik untuk menyimak rupa Tuhan orang Kristen adalah dengan melihat adanya kemiripan cara Tuhan orang Kristen bergerak dengan cara dewa-dewa non-Kristen berpindah tempat. Alkitab menyatakan bahwa Tuhan berpindah dari satu tempat ke tempat lain dengan cara duduk di atas awan (Yesaya 19:1) atau membonceng di punggung malaikat (Mazmur 18:10). Sangatlah jelas sekali bahwa dari kutipan-kutipan Alkitab bahwa Tuhan mempunyai penampilan yang mengerikan dan ganas.
“Beribadahlah kepada TUHAN dengan takut dan ciumlah kaki-Nya dengan gemetar” (Mazmur 2:11) “Itulah sebabnya hatiku gemetar menghadapi Dia, kalau semuanya itu kubayangkan, maka aku ketakutan terhadap Dia.” (Ayub 23:15)
Yesus seringkali berkata bahwa kita harus takut akan Tuhan (misalnya yang tercantum di Lk 12:4-5).
Alkitab juga telah dengan sangat akurat menunjukkan bahwa dimana ada ketakutan, di situ tidak akan ada cinta dan kasih sayang (1 Yohanes 4:18) dan jadi jika Tuhan menciptakan ketakutan dalam diri semua orang, bagaimana mungkin orang-orang yang ditakuti itu bisa mencintai Tuhan?

sorry kalo udah ada yang post kek gini

TAKUT AKAN TUHAN MEMILIKI PENGERTIAN SEGAN, HORMAT DAN MENYADARI DIRI SENDIRI SEBAGAI CIPTAAN DAN TUHAN SEBAGAI PENCIPTA SEHINGGA KITA MENGHADAP HADIRAT TUHAN DENGAN MERENDAHKAN DIRI

DI BAWAH INI SAYA KUTIPKAN TAFSIRAN DARI FIRMAN TUHAN YANG ANDA POSTING
DARBY
Eze 1:1-28
In chapter 1 we find a date which refers to the year of Josiah's passover, but with what intent I do not know. It has been thought that the thirty years relate to the jubilee. On this point I cannot speak with confidence. But other circumstances are very important. [Ed. note: W. Kelly has a helpful comment here: "The thirtieth year" (Eze_1:1) has greatly perplexed the learned. But it seems plain that the starting-point is the era of Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar, who became king of Babylon, B.C. 625, about the date when Hilkiah found the book of the law in the temple so pregnant with blessing to Josiah and the righteous in Judah. This last is referred to in the Chaldee paraphrase of Jonathan ben Uzziel. ("Ezekiel", in loco)]
The throne of God is not seen in Jerusalem, but unconnected with this city, and outside. It is the universal sovereign throne of God. God judges the city itself from this throne. The prophecy commences with the description of the throne. We have the attributes of God as the supporters of His throne, under the likeness of the four categories of created beings on earth, the four being united in one, at least the four heads of these categories. These symbols are nearly the same as those used by the pagan inventors of idolatry to represent their gods. Formal idolatry began with a figurative personification of the attributes of God. These attributes became their gods, men being impelled to worship them by demons who governed them by this means, so that it was these demons whom men worshipped-a worship that soon degenerated so far that they set up gods wherever there was anything to desire or to fear, or that answered to the lusts which inspired these desires or these fears (sentiments which the demon cultivated also, in order to appropriate to himself the worship due to God alone). Now these attributes belonged to the only God, the Creator, and the head of all creation; but, whatever their power and glory might be in action, they were but the supporters of the throne on which the God of truth is seated [1]. Whatever instruments He may employ, it is the mighty energy of God that manifests itself. Intelligence, strength, stability, and swiftness in judgment, and, withal, the movement of the whole course of earthly events, depended on the throne. This living energy animated the whole. The cherubic supporters of the throne, full of eyes themselves, moved by it; the wheels of God's government moved by the same spirit, and went straight forward. All was subservient to the will and purpose of Him who sat on the throne judging right. Majesty, government, and providence, united to form the throne of His glory. But all the instruments of His glory were below the firmament; He whom they glorified was above. It is He whom the heathen knew not.
This throne of the supreme and sovereign Lord God is seen in Chaldea [2] -in the place where the prophet then was-among the Gentiles. It is no longer seen at Jerusalem in connection with the land; nor have we any law embodied, so to speak, in the throne, according to which an immediate government was exercised. Consequently the voice of God speaks to Ezekiel as to a "son of man"-a title that suited the testimony of a God who spoke outside of His people, as being no longer in their midst, but on the contrary was judging them from the throne of His sovereignty. It is Christ's own title, looked at as rejected and outside of Israel, although He never ceases to think of the blessing of the people in grace. This puts the prophet in connection with the position of Christ Himself. He would not, thus rejected, allow His disciples to announce Him as the Christ (Luke 9), for the Son of man was to suffer

KEITH & DELITZSCH COMMENTARY of the OLD TESTAMENT
Eze 1:4-28
Description of the theophany seen by the spirit of the prophet. - Eze_1:4. And I saw, and, lo, a tempestuous wind came from the north, a great cloud, and a fire rolled together like a ball, and the brightness of light round about it, and out of its midst, as the appearance of glowing metal from the midst of the fire. - The description begins with a general outline of the phenomenon, as the same presented itself to the spiritual eye of the prophet on its approach from the north. A tempestuous wind brings hither from the north a great cloud, the centre of which appears as a lump of fire, which throws around the cloud the brightness of light, and presents in its midst the appearance of glowing metal. The coming of the phenomenon from the north is, as a matter of course, not connected with the Babylonian representation of the mountain of the gods situated in the extreme north, Isa_14:13. According to the invariable usage of speech followed by the prophets, especially by Jeremiah (cf. e.g., Eze_1:14; Eze_4:6; Eze_6:1, etc.), the north is the quarter from which the enemies who were to execute judgment upon Jerusalem and Judah break in. According to this usage, the coming of this divine appearance from the north signifies that it is from the north that God will bring to pass the judgment upon Judah. אשׁ מתלקּחת, “fire rolled together like a ball,” is an expression borrowed from Exo_9:10. לו refers to ענן, and מתּוכהּ to אשׁ, as we see from the words in apposition, מתּוך האשׁ. The fire, which formed the centre of the cloud, had the appearance of השׁמל. The meaning of this word, which occurs again in Eze_1:27 and Eze_8:2, is disputed. The Septuagint and Vulgate translate it by ἤλεκτρον, electrum, i.e., a metal having a bright lustre, and consisting of a mixture of gold and silver. Cf. Strabo, III. 146; Plin. Hist. Nat. xxxiii. 4. To the explanation of Bochart, that it is a compound of נחשׁת, “brass,” and the Talmudic word מלל or מללא, “aurum rude,” and signifies “rough gold ore,” is opposed the fact that the reading מללא in the Talmud is not certain, but purports to be ממלא (cf. Gesen. Thesaur. p. 535, and Buxtorf, Lexic. Talmud, p. 1214), as well as the circumstance that raw gold ore has not a lustre which could shine forth out of the fire. Still less probability has the supposition that it is a compound of l#$x, in Syriac “conflavit, fabricavit,” and חשׁם, “fricuit,” on which Hävernick and Maurer base the meaning of “a piece of metal wrought in the fire.” The word appears simply to be formed from חשׁם , probably “to glow,” with ל appended, as כּרמל from כרם morf , and to denote “glowing ore.” This meaning is appropriate both in v. 27, where עין השׁמל is explained by מראה־אשׁ, as well as in Eze_8:2, where זהר, “brilliancy,” stands as parallel to it. השׁמל, however, is different from נחשׁת קלל in Eze_1:7 and in Dan_10:6, for חשׁמל refers in all the three places to the person of Him who is enthroned above the cherubim; while נחשׁת קלל in Eze_1:7 is spoken of the feet of the cherubim, and in Dan_10:6 of the arms and feet of the personage who there manifests Himself. In verse fifth the appearance is described more minutely. There first present themselves to the eye of the seer four beings, whom he describes according to their figure and style.
Eze_1:5-14
The four cherubim. - Eze_1:5. And out of its midst there prominently appeared a figure, consisting of four creatures, and this was their appearance: they had the figure of a man. Eze_1:6. And each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Eze_1:7. And their feet were upright-standing feet; and the soles of their feet like the soles of a calf, and sparkling like the appearance of shining brass. Eze_1:8. And the hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and all four had faces and wings. Eze_1:9. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not as they went; they went each one in the direction of his face. Eze_1:10. And the form of their faces was that of a man; and on the right all four had a lion's face; and on the left all four had the face of an ox; and all four had an eagle's face. Eze_1:11. And their faces and their wings were divided above, two of each uniting with one another, and two covering their bodies. Eze_1:12. And they went each in the direction of his face; whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went; they turned not as they went. Eze_1:13. And the likeness of the creatures resembled burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches: it (the fire) went hither and thither amongst the beings; and the fire was brilliant, and from the fire came forth lightning. Eze_1:14. And the beings ran hither and thither in a zig-zag manner.
From out of the fiery centre of the cloud there shows itself the form (tw%md@;, properly “resemblance,” “picture”) of four חיּות, animantia, “living creatures;” ζῶα, Rev_4:6; not θηρία, “wild beasts,” as Luther has incorrectly rendered it, after the animalia of the Vulgate. These four creatures had דּמוּת אדם, “the figure of a man.” Agreeably to this notice, placed at the head of the description, these creatures are to be conceived as presenting the appearance of a human body in all points not otherwise specified in the following narrative. Each of them had four faces and four wings (אחת without the article stands as a distributive, and כּנפים are “pinions,” as in Isa_6:2, not “pairs of wings”). Their feet were רגל ישׁרה, “a straight foot;” the singular stands generically, stating only the nature of the feet, without reference to their number. We have accordingly to assume in each of the four creatures two legs, as in a man. ישׁר .nam a , “straight,” i.e., standing upright, not bent, as when sitting or kneeling. רגל is the whole leg, including the knee and thigh, and כּף רגל, “sole of the foot,” or the under part of the leg, with which we tread on the ground. This part, not the whole leg, resembled the calf's foot, which is firmly planted on the ground. The legs sparkled like the appearance of נחשׁה קלל. The subject of נצצים is not “the כּרוּבים, which are understood to be intended under the חיּות in verse fifth” (Hitzig), for this subject is too far distant, but רגליהם, which is here construed as masculine, as in Jer_13:16. In this sense are these words apprehended in Rev_1:15, and נחשׁת there translated by χαλκολίβανος. On this word see Hengstenberg and Düsterdieck on Rev_1:15. נח' קלל probably signifies “light,” i.e., “bright, shining brass,” as the old translators have rendered it. The Septuagint has ἐξαστράπτων; the Vulgate, aes candens; and the Chaldee paraphrase, aes flammans. The signification “smoothed, polished brass” (Bochart), rests upon uncertain combinations; cf. Gesen. Thes. p. 1217, and is appropriate neither here nor in Dan_10:6, where these words precede, “His face had the appearance of lightning, and his eyes were as a flame of fire.” Under the four wings were four hands on the four sides of each cherub, formed like the hands of a man. The wings accordingly rested upon the shoulders, from which the hands came forth. The Chetib וידו may certainly be defended if with Kimchi and others we punctuate וידו, and take the suffix distributively and אדם elliptically, “his (i.e., each of the four creatures) hands were (the hands of) a man;” cf. for such an ellipsis as this, passages like that in Psa_18:34, רגלי כּאיּלות, “my feet as the (feet) of hinds;” Job_35:2, מאל, “before the righteousness of God.” It is extremely probable, however, that ו is only the error of an old copyist for י, and that the Keri וידי is the correct reading, as the taking of אדם elliptically is not in keeping with the broad style of Ezekiel, which in its verbosity verges on tautology. The second half of Eze_1:8 is neither, with Hävernick, to be referred to the following ninth verse, where the faces are no more spoken of, nor, with Hitzig, to be arbitrarily mutilated; but is to be taken as it stands, comprising all that has hitherto been said regarding the faces and wings, in order to append thereto in Eze_1:9. the description of the use and nature of these members. The definite statement, that “the wings were joined one to another,” is in Eze_1:11 limited to the two upper wings, according to which we have so to conceive the matter, that the top or the upper right wing of each cherub came in contact with the top of the left wing of the neighbouring cherub. This junction presented to the eye of the seer the unity and coherence of all the four creatures as a complete whole - a חיּה, and implied, as a consequence, the harmonious action in common of the four creatures. They did not turn as they went along, but proceeded each in the direction of his face. אל, “over against his face.” The meaning is thus rightly given by Kliefoth: “As they had four faces, they needed not to turn as they went, but went on as (i.e., in the direction in which) they were going, always after the face.”
In the closer description of the faces in Eze_1:10, the face of the man is first mentioned as that which was turned towards the seer, that of the lion to the right side, the ox to the left, and that of the eagle (behind). In naming these three, it is remarked that all the four creatures had these faces: in naming the man's face, this remark is omitted, because the word פּניהם (referring to all the four) immediately precedes. In Eze_1:11, it is next remarked of the faces and wings, that they were divided above (מלמעלה, “from above,” “upward”); then the direction of the wings is more precisely stated. The word וּפניהם is neither to be referred to the preceding, “and it was their faces,” nor, with Hitzig, to be expunged as a gloss; but is quite in order as a statement that not only the wings but also the faces were divided above, consequently were not like Janus' faces upon one head, but the four faces were planted upon four heads and necks. In the description that follows, חוברות אישׁ is not quite distinct, and #$y)i is manifestly to be taken as an abbreviation of אשּׁה אל־אחותהּ in Eze_1:9 : on each were two wings joining one another, i.e., touching with their tops the tips of the wings of the cherub beside them, in accordance with which we have to conceive the wings as expanded. Two were covering their bodies, i.e., each cherub covered his body with the pair of wings that folded downwards; not, as Kliefoth supposes, that the lower wings of the one cherub covered the body of the other cherub beside him, which also is not the meaning in Eze_1:23; see note on that verse. In Eze_1:12, what is to be said about their movements is brought to a conclusion, while both statements are repeated in Eze_1:9, and completed by the addition of the principium movens. In whatever direction the רוּח “was to go, in that direction they went;” i.e., not according to the action of their own will, but wherever the רוּח impelled them. רוּח, however, signifies not “impulse,” nor, in this place, even “the wind,” as the vehicle of the power of the spiritual life palpable to the senses, which produced and guided their movements, (Kliefoth), but spirit. For, according to Eze_1:20, the movement of the wheels, which was in harmony with the movements of the cherubim, was not caused by the wind, but proceeded from the רוּח החיּה, i.e., from the spirit dwelling in the creature. On the contrary, there is not in the whole description, with the exception of the general statement that a tempestuous wind drove from the north the great cloud in which the theophany was enwrapped, any allusion to a means of motion palpable to the senses. In the 13th and 14th verses is described the entire impression produced by the movement of the whole appearance. וּדמוּת החיּות precedes, and is taken absolutely “as regards the form of the creatures,” and corresponds to the דּמוּת ארבּע חיּות in Eze_1:5, with which the description of the individual figures which appeared in the brightness of the fire was introduced. Their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches. היא refers to אשׁ as the principal conception. Fire, like the fire of burning coals and torches, went, moved hither and thither amongst the four creatures. This fire presented a bright appearance, and out of it came forth lightnings. The creatures, moreover, were in constant motion. רצוא, from רצא, an Aramaising form for the Hebrew רוּץ, to run. The infin. absol. stands instead of the finite verb. The conjecture of יצוא, after Gen_8:7 (Hitzig), is inappropriate, because here we have not to think of “coming out,” and no reason exists for the striking out of the words, as Hitzig proposes. The continued motion of the creatures is not in contradiction with their perpetually moving on straight before them. “They went hither and thither, and yet always in the direction of their countenances; because they had a countenance looking in the direction of every side” (Kliefoth). בּזק signifies not “lightning” (=בּרק), but comes from בּזק; in Syriac, “to be split,” and denotes “the splitting,” i.e., the zigzag course of the lightning (Kliefoth).
Eze_1:15-21
The four wheels beside the cherubim. - Eze_1:15. And I saw the creatures, and, lo, there was a wheel upon the earth beside the creatures, towards their four fronts. Eze_1:16. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like the appearance of the chrysolite; and all four had one kind of figure: and their appearance and their work was as if one wheel were within the other. Eze_1:17. Towards their four sides they went when they moved: they turned not as they went. Eze_1:18. And their felloes, they were high and terrible; and their felloes were full of eyes round about in all the four. Eze_1:19. And when the creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them; and when the creatures raised themselves up from the earth, the wheels also raised themselves. Eze_1:20. Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went in the direction in which the spirit was to go; and the wheels raised themselves beside them: for the spirit of the creatures was in the wheels. Eze_1:21. When the former moved, the latter moved also; when the former stood, the latter stood; and when the former raised themselves from the ground, the wheels raised themselves beside them: for the spirit of the creatures was in the wheels. - The words, “and I saw the creatures,” prepare the way for the transition to the new object which presented itself in these creatures to the eye of the seer. By the side of these creatures upon the ground he sees a wheel, and that at the four fronts, or front faces of the creatures. The singular suffix in לארבּעת פּניו can neither be referred, with Rosenmüller, to the chariot, which is not mentioned at all, nor, with Hitzig, to the preposition אצל, nor, with Hävernick, Maurer, and Kliefoth, to אופן, and so be understood as if every wheel looked towards four sides, because a second wheel was inserted in it at right angles. This meaning is not to be found in the words. The suffix refers ad sensum to חיּות (Ewald), or, to express it more correctly, to the figure of the cherubim with its four faces turned to the front, conceived as a unity - as one creature (החיּה, Eze_1:22). Accordingly, we have so to represent the matter, that by the side of the four cherubim, namely, beside his front face, a wheel was to be seen upon the earth. Ezekiel then saw four wheels, one on each front of a cherub, and therefore immediately speaks in Eze_1:16 of wheels (in the plural). In this verse מראה is adspectus, and מעשׂה “work;” i.e., both statements employing the term “construction,” although in the first hemistich only the appearance, in the second only the construction, of the wheels is described. תּרשׁישׁ is a chrysolite of the ancients, the topaz of the moderns, - a stone having the lustre of gold. The construction of the wheels was as if one wheel were within a wheel, i.e., as if in the wheel a second were inserted at right angles, so that without being turned it could go towards all the four sides. גּבּיהן, in Eze_1:18, stands absolutely. “As regards their felloes,” they possessed height and terribleness-the latter because they were full of eyes all round. Hitzig arbitrarily understands גּבהּ of the upper sides; and יראה, after the Arabic, of the under side, or that which lies towards the back. The movement of the wheels completely followed the movement of the creatures (Eze_1:19-21), because the spirit of the creature was in the wheels. החיּה, in Eze_1:20 and Eze_1:21, is not the “principle of life” (Hävernick), but the cherubic creatures conceived as a unity, as in Eze_1:22, where the meaning is undoubted. The sense is: the wheels were, in their motion and rest, completely bound by the movements and rest of the creatures, because the spirit which ruled in them was also in the wheels, and regulated their going, standing, and rising upwards. By the רוּח the wheels are bound in one with the cherub-figures, but not by means of a chariot, to or upon which the cherubim were attached.