Bible Strands
Ezekiel 1:9
and their wings were touching one another. They did not turn as they moved; each one went straight ahead.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Ezekiel records a vision of four living creatures moving in unison during his prophetic revelation to the exiles by the Kebar River. The narrative describes their coordinated motion as part of the divine chariot vision.
The words — חֹֽבְרֹת (chove.rot) translates as "touching," describing how the creatures' wings connect, while יִסַּ֣בּוּ (yi.sab.bu) means "they turned," negated to show they do not deviate. These terms anchor the physical description of the creatures' synchronized advance.
The thread — The motif of unswerving forward motion recurs in Ezekiel 10:22, which repeats the straight-ahead movement, and 2 Chronicles 3:11, which describes cherubim wings touching. Proverbs 4:25 later applies the forward gaze metaphorically to personal conduct.
Why it lands — The text states that the creatures moved without turning, each going straight ahead. This demands focused, unswerving obedience from the reader, rejecting deviation in favor of direct alignment with the divine command.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 10:22 Their faces looked like the faces I had seen by the River Kebar. Each creature went straight ahead.
- 2 Chronicles 3:11 The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long and touched the wall of the temple, and its other wing was five cubits long and touched the wing of the other cherub.
- Proverbs 4:25 Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead.
- Ezekiel 1:11 Such were their faces. Their wings were spread upward; each had two wings touching the wings of the creature on either side, and two wings covering its body.
- Ezekiel 10:11 When they moved, they would go in any of the four directions, without turning as they moved. For wherever the head faced, the cherubim would go in that direction, without turning as they moved.
- Luke 9:51 As the day of His ascension approached, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
- Luke 9:62 Then Jesus declared, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
- 1 Corinthians 1:10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree together, so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be united in mind and conviction.