Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Again the Prophet describes the chariot of the Cherubim of God which he saw in the temple, which he had seen and described in chapter 1. In addition, in verse 6, God commands the man clothed in linen to take coals from the midst of His chariot and scatter them over Jerusalem, so that by this sign He might portend the burning of the city by the Chaldeans.
Vulgate Text: Ezekiel 10:1-22
1. And I saw, and behold, in the firmament that was over the heads of the cherubim, there appeared over them something like a sapphire stone, in the likeness of the appearance of a throne. 2. And He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said: Go in among the wheels that are beneath the cherubim, and fill your hand with burning coals from between the cherubim, and pour them out over the city. And he went in before my eyes. 3. Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the house when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court. 4. And the glory of the Lord was lifted up from above the cherub to the threshold of the house: and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord. 5. And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty speaking. 6. And when He had commanded the man clothed in linen, saying: Take fire from the midst of the wheels that are between the cherubim — he went in and stood beside a wheel. 7. And a cherub stretched out his hand from among the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim: and he took some and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out. 8. And there appeared in the cherubim the likeness of a man's hand under their wings. 9. And I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim: one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like the vision of a chrysolite stone. 10. And as for their appearance, the four had one likeness: as if a wheel were within a wheel. 11. When they went, they went in four directions: they did not turn as they went, but to whatever place the first one headed, the others followed, and they did not turn around. 12. And their whole body, and their necks, and their hands, and their wings, and the circles, were full of eyes round about the four wheels. 13. And these wheels He called whirling wheels in my hearing. 14. And each one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third was the face of a lion, and the fourth was the face of an eagle. 15. And the cherubim were lifted up: this is the living creature that I had seen by the river Chobar. 16. And when the cherubim went, the wheels also went beside them: and when the cherubim lifted their wings to rise from the earth, the wheels did not remain behind, but were also beside them. 17. When they stood still, the wheels stood still; and when they were lifted up, the wheels were lifted up with them; for the spirit of life was in them. 18. And the glory of the Lord went forth from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. 19. And the cherubim lifting their wings were raised up from the earth before me; and as they went out, the wheels also followed: and it stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. 20. This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chobar, and I understood that they were cherubim. 21. Each one—
—had four faces each, and four wings each, and the likeness of a man's hand under their wings. 22. And the likeness of their faces — they were the same faces that I had seen by the river Chobar, and their gaze, and the impulse of each one to go straight ahead.
Verse 1: Like the Appearance of the Likeness of a Throne
1. LIKE THE APPEARANCE OF THE LIKENESS OF A THRONE — supply: and God in human form was sitting on the throne, as he said in chapter 1, verse 26. So Polychronius, and this is clear from verse 2.
Verse 2: And He Said
2. AND HE SAID — namely, the one sitting on the throne. Some think that Ezekiel here, and in chapters 8 and 9, only saw splendor on the throne, but that in chapter 1 he saw a man sitting on the throne. But that he also saw a man here is clear, because he saw in chapter 8, verse 2, just as in chapter 1, verse 27, the loins of the one sitting, which are certainly those of a man. And what would be the point of a throne? Surely not for a splendor to sit on it, but for a man. I explained the rest in chapter 1.
GO INTO THE MIDST OF THE WHEELS. — Note: In this chariot of God, it seems that according to custom there was the Ark of the Covenant; but before the Ark, between the two wheels, there was a brazier signifying the altar of incense, and consequently this brazier was between the two Cherubim, because each wheel had its own Cherub, as I said in chapter 1. God therefore commands here that fire be taken from His chariot, with which the city is to be burned, to signify that the burning of the city would come about not by chance, not by human counsel, but by God's providence and decree.
POUR OUT OVER THE CITY. — The Septuagint renders: scatter, disseminate, so that after the slaughter of the citizens, of which the previous chapter speaks, the entire city may be burned. For immediately, as Polychronius says: "In every direction, as chance directed, he scatters the fire, encompassing all at once in calamity." Alcazar, on Apocalypse 8:4, note 6, holds the contrary view (and St. Jerome hints at this here, though he himself later persists in the earlier exposition of burning), namely that after the punishment was completed and all the unmarked were slain, fire was sent not to burn but to purge and sanctify Jerusalem, just as Isaiah in chapter 6 was purged and sanctified by a burning coal; that therefore this is the fire of charity and zeal, which Christ came to cast upon the earth and wished to be kindled. Again, that this fire of coals from the altar is a symbol of religion, which after the unmarked were slain and after the return from Babylon to Jerusalem flourished again, under the leadership and priesthood of Ezra; who therefore seems to be this man clothed in linen, pouring these coals upon Jerusalem. For the repentance and religion of that city was the chief fruit that God reaped from its punishment. But from the following chapters, as well as the preceding ones, it is clear that all these things pertain to the destruction and burning of Jerusalem. The former exposition, therefore, is the more true.
AND HE WENT IN — namely that man clothed in linen, to receive fire from the brazier: the same one, namely the Angel, who had marked and delivered the pious in the previous chapter, verse 4; here he is commanded to punish the impious by burning their impious city. For it is the office of angels to carry out God's commands, both in punishing the wicked and in rewarding the good; nor is the piety and sanctity of the angels defiled by this. Hence this Angel, just as before, is clothed in linen and clean garments, because, as St. Bernard says on Psalm 90, sermon 8: "He will not stain his hands in the blood of sinners, but will wash them: so that where the one appears more bloodied, the other appears more clean." And St. Gregory, XVIII Moralia 13: "In the blood of dying sinners, the just wash their hands: because when their punishment is observed, the life of the one observing is cleansed." For men learn to avoid sins which they see so grievously punished by God and the angels.
Hence, allegorically, this Angel signifies Christ, who here marks His own with the thau; but on the day of judgment, He will send upon the reprobate the fire of hell. There is therefore here an elegant symbol of the twofold coming of Christ, if one were to depict Him holding the thau, or the cross, in one hand, and fire in the other: for the symbol of the first coming is the cross, and of the second, fire.
Verse 3: On the Right Side
3. ON THE RIGHT SIDE. — Because the right place befits God and the angels, says St. Jerome, and the left befits demons: and because on the right side of the temple was the lampstand with seven lamps lit, which signify truth and true faith, and the religion of God that would migrate from the Jews to all nations and illuminate all.
THE HOUSE — namely of God, that is, the temple. By "house" therefore here, and in what follows, understand the temple.
A CLOUD. — You may ask, why did God frequently appear in a cloud? I answer, because the cloud is the greatest instrument of divine providence, governance, and punishment, as well as of reward. For first, from the clouds God sends forth dew, rain, snow, hail, stones, thunder, and lightning. In the clouds also appears the most beautiful rainbow. Clouds therefore sometimes bring terror, sometimes joy.
Second, with clouds God covers the heavens and conceals the sun, and moderates its heat; with the same He dissolves and mitigates the rigor of winter and ice. Again, He irrigates and makes fruitful the earth and all its plants, and nourishes and feeds the whole world.
Third, God has given the clouds marvelous speed, so that they fly instantly from one region to another.
Fourth, God raises the clouds from the lowest earth and lifts them to the highest reaches of the air, where no human force can reach to impede them.
Fifth, God drives the clouds to all regions of the world: now to the East, now to the West, now to the South, now to the North; and He makes them sometimes rain-bearing and fruitful, sometimes dry and barren. Rightly therefore Moses said, Deuteronomy 33:26: "His magnificence drives through the clouds." Hence also clouds in Scripture are said to be the royal chariot, as it were, of God. Psalm 104:3: "You make the clouds Your chariot, You who walk upon the wings of the winds."
Wherefore, in the Synagogue and the Church: first, in a pillar of cloud God went before the camps of the Hebrews, and led them safely into Canaan.
Second, when He gave the law on Sinai, He wrapped the entire summit of the mountain in a cloud, Exodus 19:16.
Third, on the day that the tabernacle of Moses was completed, as well as the temple of Solomon on the day of its dedication, He filled it with a cloud.
Fourth, in a cloud God fought for His people against Pharaoh, interposing Himself through the cloud between the Hebrews and the Egyptians, Exodus 14:20.
Fifth, in a cloud God showed His presence to the Hebrews, and in it He spoke with Moses, so that from it the people would recognize and revere Moses as a heavenly lawgiver, Deuteronomy 4:11.
Sixth, in the transfiguration of Christ: "A bright cloud overshadowed them," says Matthew, chapter 17, verse 5.
Finally, when Christ ascended into heaven: "A cloud received Him out of their sight," Acts 1:9; and when He comes for judgment: "He will come in the clouds of heaven," Matthew 24:30.
Here note: By means of a cloud God is accustomed to display His presence, and at the same time to conceal and cover Himself with it, to indicate that His providence is both most present and most hidden. Thus Maternus Firmicus to Mavortius Lollianus: "The nature of divinity, he says, willed from the beginning to be concealed and hidden under many coverings, lest it be easily accessible to all, and lest the origin of its majesty be disclosed to everyone when laid open." The proper signification of clouds, therefore, is the display of divinity and providence as if through a veil. Hence Christ was covered with a cloud in the transfiguration and the ascension, and will be covered in the judgment; to signify that He is the supreme Lord, ruler, and judge of the world, which He will reveal and show to the whole world on the day of judgment. Hence the day of clouds is called the day of vengeance, such as this one of Ezekiel was, and such as the day of judgment will be, as is clear from Joel 2:2. See what was said in chapter 1, verse 4.
Allegorically, the cloud is a symbol of the humanity of Christ: for this conceals and veils His divinity. The cloud therefore signifies Christ's supernatural, mysterious, and divine providence, by which He rules the Church and shines before it as a pillar of cloud and fire, simultaneously illuminating and protecting it, and leading it by straight paths to heaven. So St. Jerome, Cyril, Hesychius, Augustine, Gregory, Rupert, whom Alcazar cites and follows, Apocalypse chapter 1, verse 7, note 7.
Symbolically, the clouds are the angels. For these are the instruments and executors of divine providence. So St. Dionysius, chapter 15 of the Celestial Hierarchy.
Tropologically, the clouds are the Apostles and the preachers of the Gospel, on account of nine analogies.
The first is: just as clouds, lifted up from the earth and sea into the heights, are driven by the winds, so also the Apostles are raised from the soil of earthly humility and from the sea of this age by the grace of God, and are driven and impelled by the Spirit of God. So St. Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory.
The second: just as the pillar of cloud and fire gave light before the Hebrews and led them into Canaan, so preachers give light to the world in the darkness of this age and lead men to heaven.
The third: these clouds send forth upon the people the dew and rain of heavenly doctrine, by which they enrich and make them fruitful. So St. Dionysius, chapter 15 of the Celestial Hierarchy.
The fourth: the glory of these clouds is the heavenly rainbow, that is, the Passion of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2:2.
The fifth: these clouds are the glorious chariot of God, which carries and bears the name of Christ to every nation.
The sixth: the voice of these clouds is thunder, that is, the efficacy of Evangelical preaching, by which they strike the wicked and dazzle them with the brightness of heavenly light as if with lightning; so that they penetrate and breathe upon the inmost recesses of the mind and heart.
The seventh: because the mysteries of the Gospel — namely, of the Incarnation, the Trinity, the redemption of mankind, the Eucharist, etc. — they open up in such a way that nevertheless at the same time they cover them as if with a cloud, and show them to be impenetrable to human reason; so that all may acknowledge that saying of Solomon to be true: "The Lord said that He would dwell in a cloud;" and that of Psalm 17:12: "He made darkness His hiding place."
The eighth: clouds receive in themselves the brightness of the sun, and from above they are greatly illuminated, but they refract it and transmit it to us tempered and accommodated to our sight; so also do the Apostles, the doctors, and the angels, says St. Dionysius, chapter 15 of the Celestial Hierarchy.
Finally, surrounded by the retinue of these clouds, Christ will come to the last judgment "among His holy thousands," Deuteronomy 33:2. So Alcazar at the place cited a little before.
The ninth: in the transfiguration of Christ, "a bright cloud overshadowed them," namely the Apostles, the three companions of Christ, Matthew 17:5. For the bright cloud signifies God's familiarity and favor toward Christians, and hence the prosperity and happiness of Christians; but the dark and gloomy cloud signifies God's terrors and threats toward the Jews, and hence their plagues and adversities. Hence
Third, God appeared in smoke, as when He gave the law on Sinai, the whole mountain seemed to burn and smoke, Exodus 19:18. This smoke was threatening with fire, and at the same time with the blinding of the Jews, if, as they did, they violated the law of God: for which reason the city and the temple were burned, first by the Chaldeans, then later by the Romans and Titus, and reduced to smoke and ashes. Therefore some are wrong, such as Forerius on Isaiah 4:5, who confuse smoke with cloud and think the smoke was the same as the cloud. Moreover, that the smoke was a symbol of the blinding of the Jews, and especially of the priests, St. Jerome, Cyril, and the Greeks teach on that passage of Isaiah 6:4: "And the house was filled with smoke." For shortly after, in verse 10, there follows: "Blind the heart of this people."
Verse 5: The Voice of Almighty God
5. THE VOICE OF ALMIGHTY GOD — that is, as Symmachus and Theodotion render it, like the thunder of God. This sound of wings signifies the migration of God and the angels from the temple. Hence under Titus, Josephus says, a voice was heard from the temple: "Let us depart from here." For "almighty" in Hebrew is שדי saddai, which signifies God both as beneficent and powerful, and as a devastator (as He was here), as I said on Genesis 17:1.
Verse 4: And the Glory of the Lord Was Lifted Up
4. AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD WAS LIFTED UP. — That is, the glorious throne of God, which was above the Cherubim, was transported by them as they flew from the right corner of the vestibule of the sanctuary, where He had pronounced the sentence of slaughter and burning upon the city, to the eastern threshold of the house, that is, of the inner court of the priests, which was thereby filled with the cloud; while the outer court was filled with the splendor of the glory of the Lord, which flowed from the splendid and glorious cloud.
Note: "The glory of the Lord," that is, God in His glory, is designated in three ways in the Scriptures and compared to three things. First, it is called light, as in 1 Timothy 6:16: "He dwells in unapproachable light, which no man can see." And Psalm 104:2: "Clothed with light as with a garment." For God in Himself, and by His own nature, is uncreated and immeasurable light and splendor.
Second, it is called darkness, cloud, mist, and shadows. Some think that the very inaccessible light of God, the very radiance of divinity, is called darkness and cloud because mortal eyes are blinded by this excessive light, and that no cloud or darkness appeared to Moses and the Hebrews other than an immense light that struck and dazzled the eyes of the beholders. So our Prado judges here. Cajetan favors this, who interprets that passage in Acts 1:9 — "A cloud received Him from their eyes" — as referring to the excessive light that emanated from the glorified body of Christ. Hence some also say that that streak resembling a cloud drawn out at length, which makes the Milky Way in the sky, is nothing other than the brightness of many stars gathered there.
But the contrary is far more true, namely that it was a cloud and darkness properly so called, in which God displayed Himself to Moses and the Hebrews. For although He Himself is in His very being entirely light, nevertheless because the eyes of men cannot bear or grasp this light, He covers and clothes it with a cloud (hence Psalm 97:2 and elsewhere it is said: "Clouds and darkness are round about Him"); yet in such a way that some rays of His light spread through the cloud and shine through, because through these God shows something of His splendor; but something — and far more — He veils and hides with the cloud. Moreover, in the old law He generally showed Himself to the Jews through a darker cloud: because that law, as well as the knowledge of God, was dark for the Jews; and because that law was shadowy, compelling the uncultured Jews to observe the divine law through terror. But in the new law He shows Himself through a brighter cloud: for the knowledge of God is now clearer than before; and the law of Christ is a law of love, not of fear. Hence
what was said in chapter 1, verse 16. Hence Alcazar rightly explains in his Apocalypse, page 362, thus: One wheel was inserted into another at right angles, in the manner of a colure. Therefore in each individual wheel there were four junctions, or semicircles, in each of which there was one appearance, that is, four faces of the animals. Therefore the faces of the first junction, or the first semicircle of all the wheels, were all bovine; the second were human, the third leonine, the fourth aquiline. Prado holds otherwise: for he maintains that these were chariot wheels, not colures; hence each had a double face, not a quadruple one, as ordinary carriages have.
Verse 11: In Four Directions
11. IN FOUR DIRECTIONS — that is, sides or corners of the chariot, so that now they moved to the right, now to the left, now backward, now forward, as I said in chapter 1, verse 17. Prado explains otherwise: In four parts, he says, that is, at the corners of the chariot, the wheels revolved, that is, all the wheels and the entire chariot revolved and proceeded wherever the Cherubim went. But this is frigid. For who does not know that when a chariot is moved, all the wheels, parts, and corners of the chariot move?
THEY DID NOT TURN — elsewhere, but the rest uniformly and constantly followed the motion of the first wheel.
Verse 12: The Body
12. THE BODY — in Hebrew, flesh, that is, the body, as if to say: The whole body of the wheels, that is, the wheels themselves in their entirety.
NECKS — in Hebrew, backs, that is, the hubs of the wheels.
AND HANDS — that is, the spokes, by which the rims were joined to the hub.
AND WINGS (that is, the circles, or the wooden fellies, which are to a wheel what feathers are to a bird); AND CIRCLES — that is, the iron tires, by which the wooden ones are strengthened. For he attributes to the wheels the shape of a bird, to indicate their immense speed. All these were full of eyes, that is, of engraved stars, because they represented the heaven shining with stars. Hence also in chapter 1, verse 18, eyes are attributed not to the Cherubim but to the wheels. So St. Jerome, Vatablus, Maldonatus, and others.
Second, Theodoret and Lyranus take all these things as referring to the Cherubim themselves, and probably rightly. These, therefore, were full of eyes. They signify the prelates and doctors of the Church, who will shine like stars for all eternity. Likewise, the four-horse chariot of wheels full of little eyes signifies the most watchful providence of God; and mystically, the just, who shine like the splendor of the firmament.
Third, others, favored by Maldonatus, attribute to the wheels the body and the circles; but to the Cherubim the necks, hands, and wings, so that here he expresses what he kept silent about in chapter 1, namely that all these were full of eyes. This opinion seems very probable and fitting. First, because necks, hands, and wings properly belong to the Cherubim, not to the wheels; and the Prophet speaks of the Cherubim and the wheels in a mixed and blended fashion, because they were as it were one thing, just as a charioteer and chariot are as it were one thing in driving: for the wheels followed the Cherubim in every direction as their leaders, as if they had been attached to them.
Second, because the Cherubim of St. John, Apocalypse 4:8, were full of eyes; and they are the same as those of Ezekiel.
Third, because it was as fitting, or more fitting, for the Cherubim, as leaders, to be covered with eyes on every side, than for the wheels: for these eyes signify that the angels, and especially the Cherubim, are most perceptive, most wise, and most provident. Andrew of Caesarea rightly says on Apocalypse 4: "By the multitude of eyes is signified the marvelous power by which the heavenly and blessed spirits excel, for absorbing the rays of divinity."
Fourth, because the Hebrew literally has: And all their flesh, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes round about — belonging to those four wheels of theirs, namely of the Cherubim, as Vatablus, the Septuagint, and others translate. These words clearly signify that both the Cherubim and the wheels were full of eyes; for flesh, that is, body, back, hands, and wings properly belong to the Cherubim; these things apply to the wheels only metaphorically, according to the first sense given: because the spirit of life was in the wheels, and consequently the wheels seemed to have flesh, that is, a body and members, which were as it were animated by this spirit. Both are therefore true, and Scripture here signifies both — one of the Cherubim properly, the other of the wheels metaphorically. And for this reason our Translator renders 'wheels' as 'circles': because the Hebrew אופנים ophannim properly signifies wheels, and consequently circles (which are the outermost parts of wheels, or the rims); again, instead of 'their' he translates 'of them,' because wheels were being discussed; and because the Hebrew ophannim, that is, wheels, is masculine, just as Cherubim is: therefore 'of them' can refer both to ophannim, that is, wheels, and to Cherubim: for he dealt with both in the preceding verses, first with the Cherubim, then with the ophannim, that is, the wheels; and therefore he asserts here of both that they were full of eyes. So when our Translator renders: "The whole body of them, and the necks, and the hands, and the wings, and the circles were full of eyes," he seems to refer the first and last — that is, the body and the circles — to the wheels, but the three middle terms — namely, necks, hands, and wings — to the Cherubim. For the pronoun 'of them,' when he says 'the body of them,' denotes wheels, not Cherubim, as is clear; although from the Hebrew, as I said, the body also, or as it is in Hebrew, the flesh, properly refers to the Cherubim, and metaphorically to the wheels, as do the necks, hands, and wings. But the circles pertain only to the wheels, because the Hebrew ophannim signifies only wheels or circles of wheels.
Symbolically: "The wheels," says St. Jerome, "have necks, hands, and wings, so that we may understand the activities of things in each, not images of limbs." These therefore signify the services owed to God by the wheels and by insensible creatures. For the neck serves the yoke, the hands serve labor, the wings serve flight — which are the most proper instruments for perfect obedience. Hence the wheels, which he first called אופנים ophannim, he here calls גלגל galgal, that is, whirling or rolling. Here, therefore, is given the pattern of perfect obedience, which thus
St. Bernard thus depicts in his treatise On Precept and Dispensation: "The true obedient one does not delay a command, but immediately prepares his ears for hearing, his tongue for speaking, his feet for the journey, and gathers himself wholly within, in order to carry out the command of the one who gives it."
Verse 13: And These Wheels He Called Whirling
13. AND THESE WHEELS HE CALLED WHIRLING. — God, the charioteer, or one of the Cherubim, cried out: O galgal! that is, O wheels! namely, roll, or do this or that. For He omits the form of the command given. So Vatablus. Second, and more simply, as if to say: These wheels, which in Hebrew are properly called אופנים ophannim, God, on account of their speed, called גלגל galgal, that is, whirling or rolling. Hence the Septuagint retain the Hebrew word and translate: God called them Gelgel. So St. Jerome, the Chaldean, and others.
Furthermore, the word "whirling" signifies that the wheels were immense, for the chariot was immense, inasmuch as it was God's. For large wheels are more easily rolled than small ones.
Note: The wheels in Hebrew are called ophannim, which the Hebrews maintain is the name of certain angels, just as Seraphim and Cherubim: hence they are full of eyes, and the spirit of life was in them. They were therefore intellectual substances close to God, like the Cherubim. They are not, however, Thrones (because these are the throne of God: the ophannim, on the other hand, carry the throne of God), but Principalities, says Prado. But this is symbolic, not literal. For literally ophannim signifies wheels; and that real and proper wheels are meant here is clear both from the fact that they were the wheels of God's chariot, and from the fact that they are called whirling.
Hence in Rome they use enormous wheels on small carts: for they find that horses labor less in pulling them, and that through them far greater loads and weights can be drawn than with small wheels. These were invented by that great architect of the Basilica of St. Peter's (which is truly the wonder of the world), Michael, who was thereby surnamed Bonarota. And the reason for this is clear. For larger wheels are more suited and adapted for rotation, and therefore more capable of receiving the force and impulse of the pulling agent, than are smaller ones. For they have more and larger rims on their periphery, which, by the impulse impressed on them by the pulling force, all at once powerfully impel and rotate the axle; and therefore they turn and roll it more easily than do smaller ones. So I saw at Cologne on the Rhine enormous wheels, in which a single man walking and turning them by his steps, through ropes wound around with the wheel, raised and drew out great wine carts from ships. The same principle applies to a lever, which if long lifts a greater weight than if short. Again, if two carry a weight on a lever, the one to whom the weight is nearer feels the load more, because he supports it with a shorter part of the lever, etc. Alexander Piccolomini beautifully demonstrates these things visibly in his Mechanical Questions.
Verse 14: Each One Had Four Faces
14. EACH ONE HAD FOUR FACES — namely, each animal, that is, each Cherub. So the Septuagint. From the Hebrew you could also translate: Each one, namely each wheel, had four faces. For the discourse was about the wheels; and that the wheels, equally as the Cherubim, had four faces I said in verse 10. And this is the reason why the first face is called Cherub, that is, ox. For this is the first on the wheels, as I shall now explain.
THE FIRST FACE WAS THE FACE OF A CHERUB — that is, of an ox, as the Arabic of Antioch translates. So also St. Jerome, Vatablus, Maldonatus, Prado, and others. Note that Cherub by metathesis is the same as rocheb, that is, riding, or driving a chariot. The four angels, therefore, are called Cherubim because they drove and went before God's chariot. Here, however, the face, that is, the form of a Cherub, is appropriated to the form of an ox, because it is properly the function of oxen to drive a chariot. The Cherubim, therefore, were of human form; but they had a fourfold face: namely of an ox, which here is called Cherub, of a man, of a lion, and of an eagle. The human was primary with respect to personhood; but the bovine was primary with respect to the chariot; for it is the function of oxen, not of men, to pull a chariot. He explained the primary person in chapter 1. Here therefore he explains the primary appearance of the Cherubic chariot, and therefore calls it Cherub, because he saw it here in motion and being driven, which in chapter 1 he had seen at rest and standing still: for in the motion and pulling of a chariot, the ox takes the lead. For he gives the reason why he called the wheels whirling, namely because they were driven by a Cherub having the appearance of an ox.
Others explain it differently: "Instead of the face of a calf, the face of a Cherub is placed," says Antonius Fernandius in On the Visions of the Old Testament, vision 16, section 2, "because the Cherub at the Ark was in the appearance, not of a calf, but of an elegant boy;
so that it may be signified through the face of a calf, that is, through the labors of the angels which they expend around us in order to convert us to repentance, that we are converted by the intervention of repentance into certain Cherubim: because by coming to our senses we are led to true wisdom, by which we become more cautious in the future." He thinks, therefore, that the Cherub here changed its calf-like face, which it had in chapter 1, into the human face of a boy; and thus Rabbi David and Pagninus in their Lexicon interpret Cherub as "boy," because it was in the appearance and face of a boy. But against this stands what follows: "And the second face was the face of a man." Therefore the first was not of a man, but of an ox. For the faces here were the same, as were the same Cherubim and the same chariot, as in chapter 1. Therefore Emmanuel Sa less probably judges the opposite, that the Cherubim changed their primary human face, which they had in chapter 1, into a bovine face here. For the second face is said here to have been of a man, not the first. Finally, that these were the same Cherubim here, and the same faces as in chapter 1, is clear from verse 20: "It is, he says, the living creature that I saw, etc. And I understood that they were Cherubim. Each had four faces, etc. The very faces which I had seen by the river Chobar."
Allegorically, the first face and dignity of Christ is that He was, like an ox, a victim immolated for mankind, and through this He became a Cherub, that is, He received a glorious name as well as a body, so as to be the Redeemer of the world.
St. Thomas Aquinas, when he was ridiculed by his fellow students on account of his modesty and constant silence, and was called a dumb ox, was defended by his teacher Albert the Great, who said: "This dumb ox will soon utter a voice that the whole world will hear." And so it happened, when this ox, by laboring, teaching, and writing, was transformed into a glorious Cherub and received the name of the Angelic Doctor. Follow him, O Christian, O Religious, O teacher, O preacher! And you will become an angel, indeed a Cherub and Seraph. Labor, therefore, makes oxen into angels and Cherubim. Hence:
Tropologically, the ox is a symbol of labor. Hence Ovid depicts the sheep and the ox's symbol thus, in Metamorphoses V:
What have the oxen deserved, an animal without guile or deceit, Innocent, simple, born to endure labors?
Hence the Egyptians, as Pierius testifies in his Hieroglyphics, when they wished to depict labor, painted the head of an ox; and the Romans used to crown it with garlands, clusters, and wreaths (such a crown or band encircled the massive work of Hadrian here in Rome, which is now called the Castle of St. Angelo, fragments of which are still visible), to signify the fruits and glories flowing from labor; namely, that labors make Cherubim, that is, the noblest and most glorious angels. This is accomplished above all by the labors of Apostolic men, who drive the chariot of the Gospel and the Church of Christ throughout the whole world. Thus Claudian in the Nuptials of Honorius:
Hercules, he says, is celebrated for his hard labors: He tamed the proud Centaurs; He took the spoil from the fierce lion; He dragged Cerberus with a triple chain; The last labor, on his bowed neck, raised heaven, And again heaven was the prize he earned for his last labor. Go now, brave ones, where the lofty path Of the great example leads.
Sallust in the Jugurthine War says: "I have often heard from holy men that cleanliness is fitting for women, labor for men; and that for good men, there ought to be more glory than riches."
Alexander the Great, seeing that his men after so many battles had become more slack and were indulging in luxury, modestly rebuked them, saying: "Nothing is more servile than luxury; nothing more kingly than to labor." So Plutarch in his Life of Alexander.
Arrian, book 3 of his History: "I set no end to labors for a noble man, he says, other than the labors themselves, which lead to glory and honor."
Democritus said that all labors are more pleasant than idleness, when men obtain those things for the sake of which they labor, or know they will obtain them. So Stobaeus, sermon 29.
The same, when asked how the industrious differ from the idle, replied: As the pious from the impious — by good hope, of course. For those who exercise their body with labors hope for rich rewards of labor; but the idle always look upon their present poverty. So Maximus, sermon 32.
Diogenes, according to Laertius, book 6, when someone advised him, now an old man, to rest from his labors, said: "What? If I were running in a race, should I slacken my pace now that I am near the finish line, or rather intensify it?"
Ptolemy, at the beginning of his Almagest, says: "The closer you approach the end, the more you should work with increasing effort."
The Emperor Severus, according to Spartianus, ordered this watchword to be given to the tribune: "Let us labor." And Pertinax: "Let us serve as soldiers."
Alphonsus, king of Aragon, to a certain old man who excused his drunkenness on the grounds that wine was the milk of old men, replied: "But the food of kings is honor, which the gods sell to men not in idleness or luxury, but in worthy labors." So Panoraimitanus in his Deeds.
Florus had written these verses against the Emperor Hadrian:
I don't want to be Caesar, To walk among the Britons, To endure Scythian frosts.
To which Caesar replied:
I don't want to be Florus, To walk among the taverns, To lurk among the cook-shops, To endure round goblets.
So Suetonius.
Philo says admirably in his book On the Sacrifices of Abel: "Just as all life with its activities depends on food, so whatever is good in things depends on labor. For as food relates to life, so labor relates to honor."
Thus Vespasian, Masinissa king of the Numidians, Charlemagne, and the Emperor Maximilian I, by constant labors, both preserved their health and expanded their empire.
Laertius writes that the philosopher Cleanthes was called a second Hercules, because he was most patient of all labors, to such a degree that at night he would draw water from a well to procure his livelihood, whence he was also called phreantles (the well-drawer).
The Brahman philosophers would drive boys out of doors without breakfast if they had done nothing useful for their parents or for their own necessary affairs.
The Parthians, according to Dionysius in his book On the Layout of the World, took care that no one, when day dawned, should provide food for his children until, having undertaken a running and javelin-throwing contest, they had become drenched with sweat spread all around them in their fatigue. Some Indian princes still observe the same practice today, and for that reason they remain vigorous into extreme old age, as I have learned from the letters of our Fathers who live in the Indies.
It is told of a peasant on his deathbed, who called his sons and said: "By living frugally, I have stored away all I could in my life, and you will be able to find it all in our vineyard." After the father died, his sons, thinking he had hidden a treasure in the vineyard, dug up the entire soil of the vineyard with hoes, and indeed found no treasure; yet the soil, tilled by the digging, caused the vines to bear most abundant fruit.
These are the sayings of the pagans. What shall Christians say here, what shall they do? For them, in exchange for a modest labor, eternal rest and blessedness is promised; for them the Apostolic trumpet continually sounds: "The momentary and light burden of our tribulation works an eternal weight of glory in us." They who behold the continuous labors and fatigues of their Leader, Christ the Lord, undertaken out of love for them, and hear Him crying out: "I am poor and in labors from my youth" — repay labor with labor, love with love. They who daily read, hear, and celebrate the harsh exercises of the Anchorites, the journeys and perils of the Apostles, the contests of Virgins, the vigils of Bishops, the combats of Martyrs; who behold the Lawrences, Stephens, Vincents, Hilarions, Anthonys, Agneses, Cecilias; who behold the Peters, Pauls, Thomases, Andrews struggling, leaping, conquering, and triumphing in this arena; who contemplate God the Master of the Games, watching those who labor bravely in this brief stadium, and preparing and displaying for them immense prizes. What cannot the love of God conquer, what cannot the love of Christ? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or famine, etc.? Who would not hunger for labors? Who would not thirst for the cross out of love for Christ, who knows who and how great God is, to whom we owe our life and all that is ours; who knows how great is Christ's love for us, which drove and impelled Him to take on our flesh, the cross, and a most atrocious death?
St. Jerome says admirably, to Eustochium, On the Preservation of Virginity: "This, he says, is the only worthy recompense, when blood is repaid with blood (sweat with sweat, labor with labor); and we who are redeemed by the blood of Christ willingly die for the Redeemer. Which of the saints was crowned without a contest?" And: "Let us love Christ and always seek His embrace, and everything difficult will seem easy, we will think everything long is short; and wounded by His dart, at every moment we will say: Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged!"
And St. Bernard to Clerics, chapter 30: "The sufferings and labors of this present time, he says, are not worthy to be compared to the past guilt that is forgiven; nor to the present grace of consolation that is bestowed; nor to the future glory that is promised." The same author elsewhere gives both a spur and a sweetener for labor: "Where there is love, he says, there is no labor but only savor." He who feels the labor, therefore, fails in love. So that you may not feel the labor, love. For to one who loves nothing is difficult, but he runs, flies, overcomes all hardships.
AND IN THE THIRD — not the third animal, but the third aspect, as if to say: The third face was that of a lion.
AND IN THE FOURTH — that is, the fourth was that of an eagle. For each living creature, in its appearance on four sides, had these four faces.
Verse 15: The Cherubim Were Lifted Up
15. THE CHERUBIM WERE LIFTED UP — on their wings, as if flying aloft.
THIS IS THE LIVING CREATURE. — It is an enallage of the singular number for the plural, as if to say: These are the four living creatures which I had seen by the river Chobar, chapter 1, verse 13.
Verse 16: And When the Cherubim Went the Wheels Also Went Alongside
16. AND WHEN THE CHERUBIM WENT, THE WHEELS ALSO WENT ALONGSIDE. — This signifies, first, that neither in kingdoms nor in the Church, which is the chariot of God, do any movements, tumults, changes, or alterations take place without the providence of God and the angels. So the Scholiast. "Nothing," says St. Augustine, book 3 of the Trinity, chapter 4, "happens visibly and sensibly that is not either commanded or permitted from the interior, invisible, and intelligible court of the Supreme Emperor, according to the ineffable justice of rewards and punishments, graces and retributions, in this most vast and immense commonwealth of the entire creation."
Second, it signifies that if the Cherubim, that is, the Prelates, lead the chariot by their example, that is, the faithful, the faithful will soon follow them: because the spirit of life, which stirs the Cherubim above the earth to fly, excites the wheels to follow most swiftly on earth; but in such a way that they barely touch the ground at a point. And even if the Cherubim were raised entirely on high, the wheels were raised equally with them, following them, as the text continues. This is what St. Peter prescribes to them in his first epistle, chapter 5, verse 2: "Feed the flock of God which is among you, etc. Not lording it over the clergy, but being examples to the flock from the heart."
AND THE IMPULSE. — In Hebrew it is אותם otam; the Septuagint render it ipsamet, for they translate: And the very same animals walked according to their face. Others cited by Vatablus translate it as their essence; St. Jerome, their sign. For אות ot in Hebrew means sign, as if to say: Their impulse, namely that of the Cherubim, was a sign that they were carried forward in the direction they faced, and proceeded; but did not go backward. This, so often repeated, allegorically signifies the constant decree of God the Charioteer to abandon the Synagogue and gradually migrate to the Church of the Gentiles.
Tropologically, it signifies that the life of the Saints is to advance, not to go back. For what else is it but the journey of travelers? of sailors? of pilgrims? of runners in a stadium? — as the Apostle says, 1 Corinthians 9:24; Hebrews 12:13; Philippians 3:12. In this our Leader Christ the Lord goes before us, who, as the Psalmist says in Psalm 19:6: "He rejoiced as a giant to run his course;" whose name, accordingly, is: "Make haste to take the spoils, hasten to plunder," Isaiah 8:3. So Prado. Hence also St. Jerome: "The gaze and desire of the Cherubim, he says, is to forget the things that are behind and to stretch forward to the things that are ahead." Finally, Christ says in Matthew 11:12: "The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent seize it." Without continuous force, therefore, you will not ascend to heaven; heaven admits only the arduous, the laborious, indeed the violent; for it is the house of the strong, the house of the industrious. Labor, therefore, is the Cherub who carried Elijah there in a fiery chariot, and will likewise carry us.
Wherefore Abbot Athanasius, according to Sophronius in the Spiritual Meadow, chapter 130, hearing choruses praising God and wishing to enter among them, heard from a Cherub — from an angel, I say: "No negligent person enters here; depart, fight, despise the vanities of the world."
Verse 18: The Glory of the Lord Went Forth from the Threshold of the Temple
18. THE GLORY OF THE LORD WENT FORTH FROM THE THRESHOLD OF THE TEMPLE — that is, from the threshold of the gate of the inner court of the priests.
AND IT STOOD. — It is a Hebraism, meaning: standing upon the Cherubim. For it never withdrew from them and from its throne. God therefore abandoned the temple and the Jews in the time of Ezekiel temporarily; and completely and permanently in the time of Christ, because the true religion and faith of God migrated to the Gentiles.
LIFTING UP. — Cherubim is masculine; but the Septuagint and the Greeks make it neuter. St. Jerome follows them, translating elevantia, as does St. Paul in Hebrews 9:5; for the living creatures are understood. For he says of them: "It is the living creature."
IT STOOD AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE GATE. — "Of the gate," namely of the court of the people.
AND THE GLORY OF GOD (that is, the glorious throne of God) WAS OVER THEM. — Behold how reluctantly God abandons His house! How many stops He makes!
Verse 20: This is the Living Creature That I Saw Under the God of Israel
20. THIS IS THE LIVING CREATURE THAT I SAW UNDER THE GOD OF ISRAEL — namely, under the electrum-like image that represented God and sat on the throne that was above the firmament and hung over the heads of the Cherubim, chapter 1, verse 26.
THAT THEY WERE CHERUBIM — that is, because they resembled the Cherubim of our temple, which all the Hebrews, especially the priests, such as I Ezekiel am, knew.
Verse 21: And the Likeness of a Man's Hand Under Their Wings
21. AND THE LIKENESS OF A MAN'S HAND UNDER THEIR WINGS. — The hands signify execution, the wings speed. The hand here, therefore, not yet extended but still hidden as it were under the wings, is like a sword in its sheath; so that the threat is indeed silent, but one that has wings for the swift and certain execution of vengeance, destruction, and burning of Jerusalem.
Verse 22: Their Gaze
22. THEIR GAZE. — As if to say: By their very gaze and eyes, each one showed that they were hastening forward.