When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went: See the comments on 1.17. New International Version provides a helpful model here, saying “As they [the wheels] moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced; the wheels did not turn about as the cherubim went.”

But in whatever direction the front wheel faced the others followed without turning as they went: This sentence is not in chapter 1. It adds a detail that is ambiguous and not very clear. For Revised Standard Version the pronoun they refers to the wheels, but many other translations think it refers to the cherubim, that is, the living creatures (so Good News Translation, New International Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). According to Revised Standard Version, all the wheels went in whatever direction the front wheel faced. Good News Translation omits the reference to the front wheel, saying “They [the creatures] all moved together in the direction they wanted to go, without having to turn around.” The Hebrew says literally “Indeed [or, For] they went after the direction that the head faced; they did not turn when they went.” What does “the head” refer to? The Hebrew word for “head” can sometimes mean “first” or “foremost” (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Consequently Revised Standard Version‘s rendering (the front wheel) is possible, but with the four wheels each facing a different direction, which one is the front one? Most translations take “the head” to refer to the leading living creature (so New International Version, King James Version / New King James Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Bible en français courant). But the same question remains—with the four creatures each facing a different direction, which one is the leader? We do not know the answer to these questions, but fortunately the general meaning of the sentence is clear enough. As in 1.9, 12 and 17, the emphasis is on the fact that the whole group moved together as one. In whichever direction they moved, the wheels and the creatures that were facing to the sides or toward the back did not turn around to face the front. They just stayed in the same positions as they were.

Whether translators make the living creatures or the wheels the subject of this verse, a possible model is:

• When they moved, they could move in any direction. Those at the sides and the back did not turn to face the direction they were moving.

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 .