Bible Strands
Ezekiel 10:22
Their faces looked like the faces I had seen by the River Kebar. Each creature went straight ahead.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Ezekiel addresses exiled Israelites while recounting his vision of the divine throne-chariot near the Kebar River. The prophet describes the cherubim's posture and movement immediately after detailing their four faces and wings.
The words — The Hebrew דְּמוּת (də-mûṯ) means "likeness" or "form," and פְּנֵיהֶם (pə-nê-hem) translates to "their faces." Ezekiel explicitly states that the cherubim's features matched the identical faces he previously witnessed by the Kebar River.
The thread — The face description echoes Ezekiel 1:10, while the unswerving forward motion parallels Ezekiel 10:11 and Ezekiel 1:12. The text records that each creature moved straight ahead without turning, directly mirroring the spirit's direction.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that the vision's components operate in strict continuity with the prophet's earlier observation. It requires the reader to track the cherubim's obedience to the divine spirit rather than imposing independent agency upon them.
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
And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves: they went every one straight forward.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 1:10 The form of their faces was that of a man, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and also the face of an eagle.
- 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.
- Ezekiel 1:12 Each creature went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they moved.
- Hosea 14:9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.