Greek word · G5502

χερουβίμ

cheroubim

Cherub

A Hebrew loanword (kerub, plural kerubim) kept untranslated in Greek.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

Χερουβείν (Rec. -βίμ), τά (Heb. כְּרוּב),

Cherubim: Hebrews 9:6 (cf. Exodus 25:17 (18), al.; see DB, i, 377 ff.).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Hebrews 9:5

Range of meaning

A Hebrew loanword (kerub, plural kerubim) kept untranslated in Greek. In the Hebrew Bible the cherubim are composite winged beings that (a) guard holy space (Gen 3:24, at Eden's gate), (b) carry or support God's throne and chariot (Ps 18:10; Ezek 1 and 10, where they have four faces), and (c) appear as sacred images in the sanctuary: on the ark's lid, woven into the curtains, and as Solomon's two huge olivewood figures (1 Kgs 6:23–28).

Against the English

English keeps the loanword, which is fine. The KJV's 'cherubims' adds an English -s to a word that is already plural. The real gap is in the picture modern readers bring to the word (see drift).

How it drifted

From the Renaissance on, Western art blended the cherub with the chubby winged infants (putti, Cupid-like figures) of Greco-Roman decoration. In English 'cherub' came to mean a sweet-faced child. The biblical figures are awe-inspiring guardians, not babies.

Used elsewhere in the period

Across the ancient Near East, kings' and gods' thrones were flanked by winged composite creatures. The best-known example is the throne of King Ahiram on his sarcophagus from Byblos, carved with winged sphinxes. Assyrian palace gates had winged bull-men (lamassu) as guardians. Israel called its God 'the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim' (1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; Ps 80:1; 99:1). Josephus says the ark's cherubim were 'winged creatures, in form unlike anything people have seen' (Antiquities 3.137) and that no one could say what Solomon's looked like (Ant. 8.73). Philo read the two cherubim as symbols of God's two chief powers, the creative and the kingly (Moses 2.97–99; On the Cherubim 27–28).

Where it appears

Hebrews · 1

  1. Hebrews 9:5 Χερουβὶν [were the] cherubim

    Above the ark were the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.

    Here: The Hebrew plural kerubim spelled out in Greek letters, not translated. These are the two hammered-gold winged figures at either end of the ark's lid, the figures over which Israel pictured God enthroned. The Greek treats the word as neuter, like 'living creatures', so the participle that follows is neuter too.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.