{"id":73484,"date":"2020-04-19T23:50:56","date_gmt":"2020-04-19T20:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=73484"},"modified":"2020-04-19T23:50:56","modified_gmt":"2020-04-19T20:50:56","slug":"the-mysterious-tetramorph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-mysterious-tetramorph\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mysterious Tetramorph"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our Chapter deals extensively with the biblical Cherubim (<\/span>keruvim<\/span><\/em>). Here it becomes clear that the \u201cliving creatures\u201d of Ezekiel\u2019s opening vision (1:5 and following) are \u201cCherubim\u201d, first encountered guarding the Tree of Life and the way back into the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24). Cherubim are described as covering the Ark with their extended wings (Exodus 25:18-20, 37:7-9). God is described as \u201c\u201cHe who sits enthroned upon the Cherubim\u201d (see I Samuel 4:4) and is said to speak from between the two Cherubim that are on the Ark (Exodus 25:22).<\/span><\/p>\n

While Ezekiel generally speaks of \u201cCherubim\u201d in the plural, they are sometimes referred to as a single Cherub (Ezekiel 10:3-4). This discrepancy may be resolved by Ezekiel initially having referred to the four \u201cliving creatures\u201d as each having four faces of man, lion, ox and eagle (1:5). Such a being is referred to as a \u201ctetramorph\u201d, four forms in one.<\/span><\/p>\n

Josephus (Antiquities VIII 3.3) says that no one can even imagine what the Cherubim actually looked like.<\/span><\/p>\n

Talmud Bavil Sukkah 5b preserves an influential etymology of the Hebrew word for \u201cCherub\u201d (later depicted as a winged baby or cupid). Rabbi Abbahu said, Keruv is read \u201c<\/span>ke-ruv<\/span><\/i>— Like a child\u201d, for in Babylonian Aramaic a child is called <\/span>rabia<\/span><\/em>. Hagigah 13b notes that in Ezekiel 1:5,10 one of the four faces of the \u201cliving creatures\u201d was a human face and another was \u201cthe face of an ox\u201d. While in Ezekiel 10:14 the human face (Ezekiel 1) is changed to the \u201cface of a Cherub\u201d \u2013 and the face of the ox is missing. Resh Lakish explains that Ezekiel changed the ox into a Cherub by asking God, can the accuser [i.e. the Golden Calf] become an advocate?! It is then stated that the human face and \u201cthe face of the Cherub\u201d are basically the same, but the human face is larger, while the \u201cface of the Cherub\u201d is smaller, i.e. the face of a child. According to later Jewish authorities, the two Cherubim mentioned in 2 Chronicles 3:10 were male and female (see Rashi and Malbim, there).<\/span><\/p>\n

In the 19<\/span>th<\/span> century, it was suggested that the Hebrew <\/span>keruv<\/em> <\/span>is related to the Assyrian <\/span>kirub<\/span><\/em> depicted as a winged bull with a human face. These beings sometimes serve as guardians to sacred spaces, as do the Cherubim who guard the way back into the Garden of Eden. The Biblical Cherub has also been identified with the Hittite Griffin, a legendary beast with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle.<\/span><\/p>\n

The history of the Cherubim extends not only back into ancient Near Eastern mythology, but also into the Messianic future. According to Midrash Tanhuma Buber (Beha\u2019alotekha 11), the Cherubim have been \u201cstored away\u201d to be restored when God rebuilds His Temple.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Tetramorph – human headed, winged bull – an Assyrian lamassu dated 721 BC \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":73485,"id":73485,"title":"ez10-lamassu","filename":"ez10-lamassu.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez10-lamassu.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-mysterious-tetramorph\/ez10-lamassu\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ez10-lamassu","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":73484,"date":"2020-04-19 20:50:43","modified":"2020-04-19 20:50:53","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":800,"height":797,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez10-lamassu-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez10-lamassu-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez10-lamassu-768x765.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":765,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez10-lamassu.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":797,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez10-lamassu.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":797,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez10-lamassu.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":797,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez10-lamassu.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":797,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez10-lamassu-422x420.jpg","home_baner-width":422,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Cherubim - 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