Jerusalem Report logo small (credit: JPOST STAFF)
Jerusalem Report logo small (credit: JPOST STAFF)
Western art and literature are fascinated by the Biblical cherubim that adorn the Ark of the Covenant. In popular culture, cherubim have round childlike faces, sweet dispositions and beaming smiles. No wonder when doting adults see a baby they tend to say, “What a little cherub!” It’s such a pity that the innocent, angelic child sometimes grows up to be a cruel, callous adult. Fortunately, some adults are known all their lives as nice people, angels and not ogres.

Cherubim appear in many biblical passages. The texts do not explicitly define them. Biblical culture might have known them well enough to not need a definition. Did they have bird or animal features? Did they have human characteristics? Were they a form of griffin? (is cherubim connected with the word griffin?) Were they linked to the winged creatures known in the surrounding cultures? Were they real or just imaginary? What we find in the Bible is not so much what they are but what they do.

What were the cherubim?

Outside the sanctuary they are guards or sentinels. Early in Genesis they keep watch with flaming swords at the entrance to the Garden of Eden. They are God’s agents. In some texts they are more or less the mainstay of God’s throne. They serve God in two ways, by protecting Him and helping Him to protect His world.
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