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 Ezekiel 10:2

And he said to the man clothed in linen: The Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And marks a continuation in the narrative. New Living Translation uses the connector “Then.” After the interruption of verse 1, Ezekiel returns to the conversation between God and the man clothed in linen (see 9.2). Here God gives him instructions on what he should do next. For clarity translators may need to render the pronoun he as “God” (Good News Translation) or “the LORD” (New Living Translation).

Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim: God tells the man to go into the space among the four wheels under the living creatures, so that he would be surrounded on all four sides by the wheels. The Hebrew word for whirling wheels (that is, spinning wheels) differs from the word for “wheels” in chapter 1 (see the comments on 1.15). It is good to keep the distinction, but a number of modern translations find it more natural to say simply “wheels” here (so Good News Translation, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Parole de Vie). Doing this is acceptable. Ezekiel described these wheels in 1.15-21. There he noted that there was a wheel “beside” each living creature, but this verse makes it clear that the wheels were also underneath the creatures. Presumably this means that the wheels were touching the ground and the living creatures were suspended in the air above and beside the wheels. For cherubim see Ezek 8.5. The Hebrew nouns rendered whirling wheels and cherubim are singular, but very few translations reflect this (for example, Luther 1984 has “wheelwork” and “cherub”). These nouns have a collective sense here, each referring to a set or group of things, so they may be translated “set of wheels” and “group of living creatures.” For those languages where it is difficult to refer to wheels and creatures in this way, the plural may be used.

Fill your hands with burning coals from between the cherubim: God commands the man to cup his hands and fill them with burning coals, that is, red-hot coals. The text says these coals were between the cherubim. This phrase probably prompted Revised Standard Version to render the first part of 1.13 wrongly as “In the midst of the living creatures” (see the comments there), because here the text refers to burning coals inside the circle of the living creatures. However, it is not specific about where the coals were. They may have been scattered on the ground or in a pile, but it is more likely that they were in a brazier, that is, a fire container of some sort. Translators should follow the text by saying the coals were “among the cherubim” (New International Version).

And scatter them over the city: After the man picked up the coals, he had to throw them over the city of Jerusalem. This action symbolized the rain of fire from heaven, like that which fell on Sodom and Gomorrah, and showed that God was about to punish the people of Jerusalem.

And he went in before my eyes: Ezekiel watched as the man obeyed what God commanded. Some languages have to specify what the man entered. If so, this sentence may be rendered “I saw the man go among the wheels” or “As I watched, the man went 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 .