Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 25:18
And thou shalt make two cherubims [of] gold, [of] beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
18. of beaten work ] like the lampstand ( v. 31), and the two silver trumpets (Num 10:2). RVm. is not probable. LXX. here (in Nu. ), Vulg. ductilis, perductilis, i.e. drawn or beaten out.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
18 20. The cherubim. The cherubim were composite emblematic figures, always implying the nearness of the deity, and appearing distinctively in the OT. (1) as bearers of the deity, (2) as guardians of a sacred spot. Thus (1) in Psa 18:10 Jehovah rides on a cherub in the thunderstorm; in Psa 80:1 and elsewhere, He is described, with allusion to the cherubim in the Temple, as ‘sitting upon’ them; and in the vision of Ezekiel (Exo 1:5 ff., cf. Exo 10:1 ff.) four cherubim bear the ‘firmament,’ which supports Jehovah’s throne: in Eze 1:6-10 it is said that each had four faces (of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle), fourth wings, the hands of a man, and the feet of calves. Figures of cherubim were also carved as ornaments upon the walls and doors of the Temple ( 1Ki 6:29 ; 1Ki 6:32; 1Ki 6:35), and on the bases of the ten lavers (1Ki 7:29): in Exo 26:31 they are to be worked into the veil in front of the Most holy place, and in Eze 41:18-20; Eze 41:25 cherubim with two faces, one that of a man, the other that of a lion, are to be carved on the walls and doors of the restored Temple. (2) As guardians of a sacred spot, cherubim appear in Gen 3:24, and in the remarkable picture of the glory of the king of Tyre in Eze 28:13-17 [read, after LXX., in v. 14 ‘With the cherub I set thee, thou wast in the holy mountain of God,’ and v. 16 end ‘and the cherubis destroyed thee from the midst,’ &c.; see Davidson’s notes in the Camb. Bible ]. In origin, the cherub doubtless a mythological conception; Psa 18:10 would suggest that it arose in a personification of the thunder-cloud, within which the Hebrews believed Jehovah to be borne along (see on Exo 9:23 a). Composite figures of different kinds were, however, common in the art of many of Israel’s neighbours, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Hittites, Babylonians, and Assyrians, from one or other of whom they also found their way into early Greek art 1 [201] ; and it is highly probable that elements from some of these quarters were also combined in the Hebrew idea of a cherub 2 [202] . See further Cherub in DB., EB.,; and DB. v. 644.
[201] Comp. the illustrations of winged human figures, including one with an eagle’s head, in Ball’s Light from the East, pp. 28 33; and the gold-guarding (eagle-headed lions), told of by the Greeks (Aesch. P. V. 803 f.; Hdt. iii. 116, iv. 13, 27), derived, as Furtwngler thinks, from Hittite art; also the winged animals on the bronze stands from Larnaka, figured in Burney’s Notes on the Heb. text of Kings, opp. to p. 91. The etymology of cherub is not known; nor has the word been found hitherto [1910] in any Bab. or Ass. inscription (see KAT. 3 p. 632, n. 5).
[202] See Furtwngler’s very full art. Gryps in Roscher’s Mythologisches Lexicon.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 18. Thou shalt make two cherubims] What these were we cannot distinctly say. It is generally supposed that a cherub was a creature with four heads and one body: and the animals, of which these emblematical forms consisted, were the noblest of their kinds; the lion among the wild beasts, the bull among the tame ones, the eagle among the birds, and man at the head of all; so that they might be, says Dr. Priestley, the representatives of all nature. Concerning their forms and design there is much difference of opinion among divines. It is probable that the term often means a figure of any kind, such as was ordinarily sculptured on stone, engraved on metal, carved on wood, or embroidered on cloth. See on Ex 37:8. It may be only necessary to add, that cherub is the singular number; cherubim, not cherubims, the plural. See what has been said on this subject in the note on Ge 3:24. See Clarke on Ge 3:24.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Figures of human shape, in which alone the angels used to appear; but they had wings, to signify their expedition in Gods work and messages. And between these angels God is said to sit and dwell. So this place was a representation of heaven, where God sitteth and dwelleth among the cherubims and other glorious angels.
Of beaten work; not made of several parcels joined together, as images commonly are, nor yet melted and cast in a frame or mould, but beaten by the hammer out of one continued piece of gold, possibly to note the exact unity or indivisibility and the simplicity of the evangelical nature.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. two cherubimThe realmeaning of these figures, as well as the shape or form of them, isnot known with certaintyprobably similar to what was afterwardsintroduced into the temple, and described in Eze10:8-22. They stretched out their wings, and their faces wereturned towards the mercy seat [Ex25:20], probably in a bowing attitude. The prevailing opinion nowis, that those splendid figures were symbolical not of angelic but ofearthly and human beingsthe members of the Church of Godinterested in the dispensation of grace, the redeemed in everyageand that these hieroglyphic forms symbolized the qualities ofthe true people of Godcourage, patience, intelligence, andactivity.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And thou shalt make two cherubim of gold,…. Which some take to be in the form of birds, and others of winged animals, such as the like were never seen, so Josephus; the Jews commonly suppose they were in the form of young men, which they observe the word signifies in the Chaldee language; others, that they were in the form of an ox, the face of an ox and a cherub being the same, Eze 1:10 and indeed their form is best discerned from account of them in Ezekiel, and in the Revelation, and from the latter we best learn what they were; they were hieroglyphics or emblems, not of the two Testaments, as many of the ancients, nor of the angels, since they are distinguished from them, much less of the trinity of persons in the Godhead; but either of the saints and true believers in Christ in common, of both dispensations, legal and evangelical, and so signified by the number “two”; and being made of gold may denote their excellency, worth, and value in the esteem of Christ; for the precious sons of Sion are comparable to fine gold for their preciousness, solidity, and duration, as well as for their sincerity and simplicity; or rather of the ministers of the word in particular; and these may be signified by two, and at the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New; and the ministers of the word in all ages, and particularly during the reign of antichrist, are called the two witnesses that prophesy in sackcloth; and being said to be of gold, may respect the grace of God bestowed on “them”, comparable to gold, the gifts of the Spirit of God they are furnished with, as well as the precious truths of the Gospel committed to their trust:
of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat; not of gold melted and poured into a mould, and so received the form of the cherubim; nor were they first made by themselves, and then placed at the two ends of the mercy seat, and soldered to it; but they were made of the same mass of gold with the mercy seat, and beaten out of it with an hammer, and planished and smoothed, and so wrought up into this form, as appears by the following verse; and may denote the union of believers to Christ, who are one body and one spirit with him; and the union of the Old and New Testament churches in him, and who are but one church, one body, of which he is the head; and as he is the foundation of the apostles or prophets, on whom they are laid, he is the cornerstone in which they are united; and so it may likewise signify the nearness of the ministers of the word to Christ, their dependence on him, and their partaking of the same gifts and graces of his Spirit, only in measure, being made by him able ministers of the Gospel.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
18 And thou shalt make two cherubims. I have stated in my commentary on Genesis and elsewhere, (130) that there are various opinions respecting the word cherub; but that those approach most nearly to the truth who make the כ, caph, not a servile, but a radical letter, and take it generally for any image; for those who suppose the כ to be a note of similitude, render it “like a boy;” which in itself is forced, and besides it is refuted by the words of Ezekiel, (Eze 1:10, and Eze 10:1,) who calls the forms of a calf, a lion, and an eagle by this name, as well as the human form. It is enough for me that the images were winged, which represented angels. Therefore, when Moses speaks of the angels, who were placed as guards to keep man away from approaching paradise, he calls them cherubim; not so much in reference to that time, as to keep the people in the doctrine of the Law (131) But God appointed angels, by whom He exercises His dominion, and who are the ministers of His blessings, to be a symbol of His presence; for as often as He manifested Himself to believers by angels, He in a manner extended His hand to them. On this ground, David, and other Prophets, in order to encourage themselves to confidence in prayer, often speak of God as “dwelling between the cherubims, ” (Psa 80:1; Isa 37:16😉 as much as to say, that He conversed familiarly with His people, since His virtue exercises itself by His angels. That they covered the lid of the ark with their extended wings, I do not imagine to have been done to hide it, but to mark the readiness of their obedience, for the extension of their wings is equivalent to their being prepared for the performance of whatever God might command. Thus they are said to turn their faces towards the mercy-seat, because they are attentive to the will of God. Moreover, because the fullness of the Godhead resides in Christ, He justly declares that, in His descent upon earth, the heavens were opened that the angels might ascend and descend. Their looking towards each other indicates that harmony in which the angels are united for performing the commands of God. It is indeed a plausible conceit, (132) that the two cherubim were the Old and New Testaments, which look from one to the other, and surround the mercy-seat, inasmuch as Christ is their common object; but this notion vanishes before the contradiction of many passages of Scripture.
(130) See Commentary on Gen 3:23. Calvin Society Translation, vol. 1, p. 186. The fanciful derivation to which C. objects, he had found in S. M., who states it as popular with the Rabbis, But as untenable. — W.
(131) “ Que pour donner goust au peuple de la doctrine de la Loy, et l’accoustumer aux ceremonies;” as to give the people a taste for the doctrine of the Law, and to accustom them to its ceremonies — Fr.
(132) Gregorius in Gloss. Ord. “ The two cherubim are the two Testaments. One of them stands on one end of the mercy-seat, and the other on the other; because what the Old Testament begins to promise in prophecy respecting the Incarnation of Christ, the New relates to be perfectly fulfilled. They are made of very pure gold, because both Testaments are written with pure and simple truth.They stretch out their wings and cover the oracles; because we (who are God’s oracles) are protected from imminent errors by the study of sacred Scripture; and whilst we earnestly look at it, we are covered by its wings from the mistakes of ignorance. They look towards one another with their faces turned to the mercy-seat, because the Testaments differ in nothing, and look mutually to each other; for what the one promises the other exhibits. And they see the mercy-seat, i.e., the Mediator between God and men, placed between them; for they would turn away their faces from each other, if the one promised what the other denied.” — See also Bede in Gloss. Ord., and Augustin Qoest. in Ex. 105.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(18) Two cherubims.Cherubims, or rather cherubim, had been known previously in one connection onlythey had been the guardians of Eden when Adam and Eve were driven forth from it (Gen. 3:24). It is generally allowed that in that passage, as in most others where the word occurs, living beings, angels of God, are intended. But not all angels are cherubim. The cherubim constitute a select class, very near to God, very powerful, very resolute, highly fitted to act as guards. It is probably with this special reference that the cherubic figures were selected to be placed upon the mercy seatthey guarded the precious deposit of the two tables, towards which they looked (Exo. 25:20). The question as to the exact form of the figures is not very important; but it is one which has been discussed with great ingenuity and at great length. Some hold that the proper figure of a cherub is that of a bull or ox, and think that the cherubim of the tabernacle were winged bulls, not unlike the Assyrian. Others regard them as figures still more composite, like the Egyptian sphinxes or the chimr of the Greeks. But the predominant opinion seems to be that they were simply human figures with the addition of a pair of wings. (So Kaiisch, Keil, Bishop Harold Browne, Canon Cook, and others.) In this case they would bear a considerable resemblance to the figures of Ma, or Truth, so often seen inside Egyptian arks, sheltering with their wings the searabus or some other emblem of deity.
Of beaten worki.e., not cast, but brought into shape by the hammer. In the Egyptian language karabu was to hammer, whence, according to some, the word cherub.
In the. two ends.Literally, from the two endsrising, that is, from either end of the mercy seat.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18-20. Two cherubim The exact form of these is nowhere described, but their position in the two ends of the cover of the ark, and the stretching forth and covering the mercy seat with their wings, may be seen best illustrated in the cuts . It is not necessary to suppose that the cherubim described in Eze 1:5-14, conformed in all details with those of the tabernacle. The probable form of the cherubic type as there given is seen in connexion with our note on 1Ki 6:23, and also in McClintock & Strong’s Cyclopaedia, article Cherubim, from which the adjoining cut is taken .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 25:18. Thou shalt make two cherubims of gold These cherubims were to be made of gold, of the matter of the mercy-seat, Exo 25:19. (margin of our Bibles) which seems to specify only that they were to be made of gold, i.e. the matter of the mercy-seat; and not, as some have supposed, of the same piece gold with the mercy-seat. With respect to these cherubical figures, thus much is certain, that they were two, that they were winged, that they had faces; that these faces, opposite to each other, looked upon the mercy-seat, and that, between their wings, Jehovah used to appear; whence the expression of his sitting up, or dwelling between the cherubim. 1Sa 4:4. Psa 80:1; Psa 99:1. See also Num 7:89. And, from no particular description being given of them by God to direct Moses in the forming of them, either here or ch. Exo 26:1 it seems to follow, that their form was well known to him; as indeed it could not be otherwise, if what is advanced in the preceding note be true respecting their antiquity. But for the rest, many and various are the opinions of commentators. Some hints we gave of this in the note on Gen 3:24 nor can we hesitate to believe, that the cherubims there mentioned were of the same import with these placed on the mercy-seat. It is also most probable, from Eze 1:10, &c. and Exo 10:14, &c. that the faces of the cherubims were of four sorts; an opinion which Rev 4:7 seems to confirm. Though both from Ezekiel, Revelation, and the present passage, where cherub in the singular is used, one would be led to believe, that each cherub had only one face, of whatever sort it might be; for cherubims, in the plural, plainly signify the two figures on the mercy-seat, and not a compound figure with four faces. Whether these faces were emblematical of the Divine Persons in the Godhead, as Mr. Hutchinson and his followers strongly assert, or whether they were representative of those Divine messengers and ministers, the angels of God, who are spoken of, not only as stooping down through an ardent desire to look into the mysteries of redemption, 1Pe 1:12 but as ministering for them who shall be heirs of salvation, Heb 1:14 we confess ourselves unable to determine. Great objections appear on the side of each opinion, which properly to discuss would fill a volume. That there is great merit and ingenuity in Mr. Hutchinson’s interpretation, must be allowed; had it been proposed with more candour and diffidence, it would certainly have obtained more praise: but Dr. Sharpe, in his Discourse on Cherubim, appears to have raised such objections as none of the followers of Mr. Hutchinson have yet been able to invalidate. To his work, therefore, we refer in vindication of our own sentiments; and there the reader will find, that cherubim have been generally understood by the Christian church to denote angels. We shall speak farther on this subject when we come to the prophet Ezekiel. It may be necessary just to remark, that, as it seems not probable that these figures were designed to represent the Deity, since he promised to be present himself between them, and consequently there could be no need of such a representation; so neither, if they were designed to represent angels, was there any contradiction to the second commandment herein: for there it is ordered, thou shalt not make unto thee; thou shalt not frame unto thyself, or from thine own imagination, any likeness, &c. to bow down to, or serve it: where the forming of idols, from their own fancies, for the purpose of worship, is evidently prohibited; which could have no respect to these figures of the cherubim, which were formed by God’s own order, and never were, or were intended to be, worshipped. The Seraphim described by Isa 6:2-3 are manifestly angels, and are decyphered in a manner very similar to the cherubim: and since so many texts of Scripture speak of the legal dispensation as given by the ministration of angels, a typical representation of them might be well expected according to the genius of the Mosaic ritual; especially as they ministered also so much to the great Redeemer, the true Propitiator, when he came into the world.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Perhaps these Cherubims were designed to represent Angels, as prying into the precious mysteries of redemption 1Pe 1:12 ; Heb 1:14 . Some have thought that the Cherubims mean to represent ministers of the gospel adoring the Lord, and attending on his service.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 25:18 And thou shalt make two cherubims [of] gold, [of] beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
Ver. 18. And thou shalt make two cherubims. ] Golden winged images, made by God’s special appointment, and set out of sight. Hence then is no warrant for the use of images in churches. These here were to represent the holy angels attendant upon God, looking intently into the mystery of Christ, as the cherubims did into the propitiatory, 1Pe 1:12 and joined to the society of saints.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
cherubims. Plural of Hebrew cherub. Figure of speech Metonymy here put for representation of the celestial beings, of which we know nothing. They are a reality, there, and representative of creation, symbolical of blessing for all creation. These (in Exo 25:18) were not the cherubims themselves, but representations of them. See Gen 3:24, but no “sword”, because of the blood of propitiation. Occurs seven times in verses: Exo 25:17-22.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
two cherubims of gold: Exo 37:7-9, Gen 3:24, 1Sa 4:4, 1Ki 6:23-28, 1Ki 8:6, 1Ki 8:7, 1Ch 28:18, Eze 10:2, Eze 10:20, Eze 41:18, Eze 41:19, Heb 9:5
Reciprocal: Exo 25:20 – cherubims shall Exo 25:36 – beaten Exo 26:1 – cherubims Exo 26:31 – cherubims shall it be made Exo 36:8 – cherubims Num 7:89 – two cherubims Num 8:4 – beaten work Num 10:2 – of a whole piece 2Sa 6:2 – dwelleth 1Ki 7:29 – cherubims
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 25:18-22. The cherubim (cherubim is the plural of cherub, not cherubims) were fixed to the mercy-seat, and of a piece with it, and spread their wings over it. It is supposed these were designed to represent the holy angels, (who always attend the Shechinah, or divine majesty,) not by any effigies of an angel, but some emblem of the angelical nature, probably one or more of those four faces spoken of Eze 1:10. Whatever the faces were, they looked one toward another, and both downward toward the ark, while their wings were stretched out so as to touch one another. This denotes their attendance upon the Redeemer, their readiness to do his will, their presence in the assemblies of saints, (Psa 68:17; Psalms 1
Corinthians Exo 11:10,) and their desire to look into the mysteries of the gospel, which they diligently contemplate, 1Pe 1:12. God is said to dwell or sit between the cherubim, on the mercy-seat, Psa 80:2; and from thence he here promiseth for the future to meet with Moses, and to commune with him. Thus he manifests himself willing to keep up communion with us, by the mediation of Christ.