And a cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it, and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen: Up to this point we may have expected that the man clothed in linen would reach into the brazier and take out a handful of coals. Instead a cherub, that is, “One of the creatures” (Good News Translation; see Ezek 10.1), reached into the fire, took out some coals and gave them to the man. The Hebrew says “the cherub,” which probably refers to the living creature that the man was standing close to. But the text says that the hand came out from between the cherubim, which seems to indicate that Ezekiel was not absolutely sure which creature’s hand it was. Although this verse does not mention burning coals, as in verse 2, it is reasonable to assume the fire refers to them. Translators may render the first part of this verse as “Then one of the living creatures reached out its hand from the middle of the group to the fire among them, and it took some of the burning coals, and it placed them in the cupped hands of the man in linen.”

Who took it and went out renders two independent clauses in Hebrew, which are literally “and he took [it] and he went out.” As soon as the man received the coals, he left the space under God’s throne. An independent sentence may be used here by saying “The man took the coals [or, fire] and went out from among the wheels.”

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .