There is no doubt that Revised Standard Version‘s “above it” means Above the Box. Winged creatures (Good News Bible third edition “glorious creatures”) are the “cherubs” or “cherubim” who were signs of God’s glory or presence. Revised Standard Version‘s “cherubim of glory” is the literal translation of a Hebrew idiom. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch keeps the word “cherubs,” with a glossary note explaining that the “cherubim” are “winged creatures in the shape of animals and men, who were represented as watchers over the Ark of the Covenant.”
Winged creatures: there are particularly difficult problems involved in rendering in English the term “cherubim” (Good News Translation winged creatures), which is a Greek borrowing from Hebrew. For most English-speaking people the term “cherubim” is completely meaningless, and in order to indicate clearly that it is plural, one is compelled to use the expression “cherubims.” However, this is not a recognized form. The proper plural form, “cherubs,” usually refers to beautiful and innocent people, especially children. “Winged animals” does not do justice to the composite nature of these ancient symbols. Their one distinguishing characteristic was the fact of having wings. But to refer to the objects themselves, it seems necessary to use some such expression as “creatures” or perhaps “beings.” Yet these objects were actually representations made of hammered gold, It may be appropriate to speak of “winged images” or “winged figures.”
The phrase representing God’s presence may be even more difficult to translate than the phrase the winged creatures. In some languages, representing God’s presence may be rendered as “standing for God’s presence,” “pointing to God’s presence,” “showing that God was present,” or “symbolizing God’s being there.”
These objects are described in Exodus 25.17-22, together with the place where sins were forgiven (Revised Standard Version “mercy seat”). The “mercy seat” or “cover” (Revised Standard Version note on Exo 25.17) was a covering for the ark or Covenant Box. This “cover” was splashed with blood once a year on the Day of Atonement, as a sign that Israel’s sins were forgiven. The same word is used with an extended meaning in Romans 3.25 to describe Jesus as “the means by which men’s sins are forgiven.”
With their wings spread over the place where sins were forgiven may have to be rendered as a separate sentence; for example, “Their wings were spread over the place where sins were forgiven” or “Their wings cast a shadow over the place where sins were forgiven.”
The passive expression where sins were forgiven may need to be made active in translation, for example, “where God forgave sins.”
Everything, literally “of which” (plural), refers back to verses 1-5a as a whole, or perhaps to the rules for worship mentioned in verse 1, but certainly not to the cherubim alone.
Now is not the time to explain everything in detail seems to be a reference to time, but in reality it is a reference to the location in this letter, though it can be interpreted as “the period of time in which the author was writing this letter.” It may be better to translate the last sentence of verse 5 as “but this is not the place to explain everything with many words,” in which the phrase “with many words” may be the equivalent of in detail.
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .