The mention of the living creature’s hand in the previous verse prompts another digression here, longer than the previous one. In verses 8-17 Ezekiel once again describes the appearance of the living creatures that carried the divine throne and the wheels alongside them. These verses are very similar to the passage in 1.8-21, but many of the details have been omitted. Readers should refer to the discussion there for most of the details in the following verses.

The cherubim appeared to have the form of a human hand under their wings: In 1.8 Ezekiel said the living creatures “had human hands.” Here it seems he is not quite so sure by saying they appeared to have the form of a human hand. This is another example of Ezekiel’s reluctance to be too specific about the details of the divine vision. As in 1.8, it is not clear how many hands each creature had. A model for this verse is:

• It seemed that the living creatures had what looked like human hands under their wings.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .