cherub

Some key biblical terms that were directly transliterated from the Hebrew have ended up with unforeseen meanings in the lexicons of various recipient languages.

Take, for example, the English word “cherub,” from Hebrew “kĕrȗb.” Whereas the original Hebrew term meant something like “angelic being that is represented as part human, part animal” (…), the English word now means something like “a person, especially a child, with an innocent or chubby face.” Semantic shift has been conditioned in English by the Renaissance artistic tradition that portrayed cherubim in the guise of cute little Greek cupids. This development was of course impossible to foresee at the time when the first English translations borrowed this Hebrew word into the English Bible tradition, following the pattern of borrowing set by the Greek and Latin translations of the Old Testament.

In Russian, the semantic shift of this transliteration was somewhat different: the -îm ending of “kĕrūbîm,” originally signifying plurality in Hebrew, has been reanalyzed as merely the final part of the lexical item, so that the term херувим (kheruvim) in Russian is a singular count noun, not a plural one. (A similar degrammaticalization is seen in English writers who render the Hebrew plural kĕrūbîm as “cherubims.”) Apparently, this degrammaticalization of the Hebrew ending is what led the Russian Synodal translator of Genesis 3:24 to mistakenly render the Hebrew as saying that the Lord God placed a kheruvim (accusative masculine singular in Russian) to the east of the garden of Eden, instead of indicating a plural number of such beings. (Source: Vitaly Voinov in The Bible Translator 2012, p. 17ff.)

In Ngäbere the Hebrew that is translated in English as “cherub” is translated as “heavenly guard” (source: J. Loewen 1980, p. 107), in Nyamwezi as v’amalaika v’akelubi or “Cherubim-Angel” to add clarity, in Vidunda as “winged creature” (source for this and before: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext), and in Bura-Pabir as “good spirit with wings” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).

In Northern Pashto it is either translated as “heavenly creature” (Afghan Pashto Bible, publ. 2023) or “winged creature” (Holy Bible in Pakistani [Yousafzai] Pashto, publ. 2020) (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).

In French Sign Language it is translated with a sign that combines “angel” and “spinning sword” (referring to Genesis 3:24):


“Cherub” in French Sign Language (source: La Bible en langue des signes française )

See also seraph and ark of the covenant.

Translation commentary on 1 Kings 7:29

On the panels … were lions, oxen, and cherubim: On the outer, visible sides of the panels were drawings or engravings of lions, oxen, and cherubim. For cherubim see the comments on 1 Kgs 6.23.

Upon the frames, both above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths of beveled work: The narrow sides of the frames that held the panels had figures in the shape of wreaths or spirals on them. The Hebrew noun rendered wreaths refers to a circling pattern.

The Hebrew noun translated beveled often refers to the slope of a mountain or hill. Here it is a technical term whose exact meaning is not certain. It is usually considered to mean that the wreaths were in some sense sloping, that is, they were beveled, cut “in relief” (Good News Translation), or “projecting.”

Some interpreters, however, regard the Hebrew word to be a participle from a root meaning “to hammer out.” This verb is used of hammering out gold leaf in 1 Kgs 6.32, where Revised Standard Version translates it “spread.” Following this interpretation, Gray translates wreaths of beveled work as “plated work” and De Vries says “wreaths in hammered work.” Anchor Bible similarly says “spirals of hammered work,” while Revised English Bible has “fillets of hammered work of spiral design.”

Either interpretation is possible. Translators may wish to add a footnote, stating that the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain. Because the sense is not clear, New Jerusalem Bible leaves the end of this verse untranslated as follows: “under the lions and oxen there were scrolls in the style of….”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .