The position occupied by these singular images at each extremity of the mercy-scat—while the Shechinah, or sacred flame that symbolized the Divine presence and the awful name of Jehovah in written characters were in the intervening space —gave rise to the well-known phraseology of the sacred writers, which represents the Deity dwell ing between or inhabiting the cherubim, and. in fact, so intimately associated were they with the manifestation of the Divine glory that whether the Lord is described as at rest or in motion, as seated on a throne, or riding in a triumphal chariot, these symbolic figures were essential ele ments in the description (Num. vii :Bo: Ps. xviii: to: lxxx:, xcix:t-to: Is. vi:2: xxxvii:16).
(5) Uniform in Figure. Rejecting the opinion of those who maintain that the cherubim were of various shapes, we assume it to be, if not absolutely certain, at least highly probable, that in all. the passages of Scripture where they are spoken of their figures were uniform.
(6) First Mention. The first occasion on which they are mentioned is on the expulsion of our first parents from Eden, when the Lord placed cherubim on the east of the garden (Gcn. iii:24)• The word, translated 'on the east,' may signify as well 'before or on the edge of ;' and the his torian does not say that the Lord placed there cherubim, but the cherubim. Besides, yashob rendered by our translators 'placed,' signifies properly 'to place in a tabernacle,' an expression which, viewed in connection with some incidents in the after history of the primeval family (Gen. iv :t4-t6), seems a conclusive establishment of the opinion that this was a local tabernacle, in which the symbols of the Divine presence were mani fested, suitably to the altered circumstances in which man after the Fall came before God. and to the acceptable mode of worship he was taught to observe. That consecrated place, with its striking symbols, called 'the presence of the Lord,' there is reason to believe, continued till the time of the deluge, otherwise there would have been nothing to guard the way to the tree of life; and thus the knowledge of their form, from the longevity of the antediluvians, could have been easily transmitted to the time of Abraham (Faber, Mora Mosazca, b. ii. chap. 6). Moreover, it is an approved opinion that, when those emblems were removed at the close of the patriarchal dis pensation from the place of public worship, the ancestors of that patriarch formed sRall models of them for domestic use, under the name of Seraphim, or Teraphim, according to the Chaldee dialect.
(7) Furniture of the Tabernacle. The next occasion in the course of the sacred history on which the cherubim are noticed is when Moses was commanded to provide the furniture of the tabernacle (Exod. xxv :18-2o; xxxvii:7-9); and, although he received instructions to make all things according to the pattern shown him in the Mount, and although it is natural to suppose that he saw a figure of the cherubim. yet we find no minute and special description of them, as is given of everything else, for the direction of the artificers (Exod. xxvi:31). The simple mention which the sacred historian makes, in both these passages, of the cherubim, conveys the impres sion that the symbolic figures which had been introduced into the Levitical tabernacle were sub stantially the same with those established in the primeval place of worship on the outskirts of Eden, and that by traditional information, or some other means, their form was so well known, both to Bezaleel and the whole congregation of Israel, as to render superfluous all further de scription of them. On no other ground can we
account for the total silence as to their configura tion, unless we embrace the groundless and un worthy opinion of those who impute to the author of the Pentateuch a studied concealment of some parts of his ritual, after the manner of the (8) Vision of Ezekiel. But there was no mystery as to those remarkable figures, for Eze kiel knew at once (x :2o) the living creatures which appeared in his vision supporting the throne of God, and bearing it in majesty from place to place. to be cherubim, from ha% ing frequently seen them, in common with all other worshipers, in the carved work of the outer sanctuary. More over, as is the opinion of many eminent divines the visionary scene, with which this ptopliet was favored, exhibited a transcript cl the Temple, which was shown in pattern to David, and alter wards erected by his son and successor; and, as the chief design of that later vision was to in spire the Hebrew exiles in Babylon with the hope of seeing, on their return to Jud:ea. another tem pie, more glorious than the one then in ruins, it is reasonable to believe that, as the whole style and apparatus of this mystic temple bore an exact resemblance (1 Kings vi :zo) to that of Solomon's magnificent edifice, so the cherubs also that ap peared to his fancy portrayed on the walls would be facsimiles of those that belonged to its ancient prototype. Taking, then, his description of them to be the proper appearance that belonged in com mon to all his cherubic creatures (chaps. i, x, xli), we are led to conclude that they were compound figures, unlike any living animals or real object in nature; but rather a combination, in one nonde script artificial image, of the distinguishing fea tures and properties of several. The ox, as chief among the tame and useful animals, the lion among the wild ones, the eagle among the feathery tribes, and man, as head over all—were the ani mals which, or rather parts of which, composed the symbolical figures. Each cherub had four distinct faces on one neck—that of a man in front, that of a lion on the right side, and of an ox on the left ; while behind was the face of an eagle. Each had four wings, the two under ones covering the lower extremities (Heb. the feet), in token of decency and humility, while the upper ones, spread out on a level with the head and shoulders, were so joined together, to the edge of his neighbors' as to form a canopy; and in this manner they soared rather than flew, without any vibratory motion with their wings, through the air. Each had straight feet. The Hebrew version renders it 'a straight foot ;' and the probability is that the legs were destitute of any flexible joint at the knee, and so joined together that its loco motions must have been performed in some other way than by the ordinary process of walking, or lifting one foot after another.