Ezekiel Chapter 1 verse 10 Holy Bible
As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man; and they four had the face of a lion on the right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four had also the face of an eagle.
read chapter 1 in ASV
As for the form of their faces, they had the face of a man, and the four of them had the face of a lion on the right side, and the four of them had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four of them had the face of an eagle.
read chapter 1 in BBE
And the likeness of their faces was the face of a man; and they four had the face of a lion on the right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four had also the face of an eagle.
read chapter 1 in DARBY
As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.
read chapter 1 in KJV
read chapter 1 in WBT
As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man; and they four had the face of a lion on the right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four had also the face of an eagle.
read chapter 1 in WEB
As to the likeness of their faces, the face of a man, and the face of a lion, toward the right `are' to them four, and the face of an ox on the left `are' to them four, and the face of an eagle `are' to them four.
read chapter 1 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 10. - As for the likeness, etc. The Revised Version rightly strikes out the comma after "lion." The human face meets the prophet's gaze. On the right he sees the lion, on the left the ox, while the face of the eagle is behind. What did the symbols mean? (1) The human face represents the thought that man, as made "after the image of God" (Genesis 1:27), is the highest symbol of the Eternal. So long as we remember that it is but a symbol, anthropomorphism is legitimate in thought, and appropriate in visions; though, like theriomorphism, it becomes perilous, and is therefore forbidden (Exodus 20:4; Deuteronomy 4:17) when it takes concrete form in metal or in stone. So Daniel (Daniel 7:9, 13) sees the "Ancient of Days" and "one like unto a son of man;" and St. John's vision (Revelation 1:13) represents the same symbolism. (2) The lion had been the familiar emblem of sovereignty, both in the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 7:29) and in his palace (1 Kings 10:20; 2 Chronicles 9:18, 19). So, in Genesis 49:9, it is the symbol of the kingly power of Judah, and appears with a yet higher application in Revelation 5:5; while, on the other hand, it represents one of the great monarchies of the world in Daniel 7:4. Its modern heraldic use in the arms of England and elsewhere presents yet another analogue. (3) The ox had appeared, as here, so also in 1 Kings 7:25, 44, in company with the lion, notably in the twelve oxen that supported the "sea" or "laver" in the temple. Here also we have a kind of sovereignty - the natural symbol of a strength made subservient to human uses. Both the lion and the ox, as we have seen, may have become familiar to Ezekiel as a priest ministering in the temple or as an exile. . . .
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(10) On the right side . . . on the left side.--The apparent obscurity of this description is due only to the punctuation in the English Bible. "They four had the face of a man" (viz., in front, as Ezekiel viewed them), "and the face of a lion on the right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle" (viz., on the back, or side opposite to Ezekiel). These faces are the same as those given to the living creatures in Revelation 4:7, except that there each creature had but one of them.
