Ezekiel 1:8

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
They had human hands under their wings on their four sides. All four of them had faces and wings.

Hebrew Names Version
They had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings [thus]:

King James Version
And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.

English Standard Version
Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus:

New American Standard Bible
Under their wings on their four sides were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,

New Century Version
The living creatures had human hands under their wings on their four sides. All four of them had faces and wings,

Amplified Bible
Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,

World English Bible
They had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings [thus]:

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the handes of a man came out from vnder their wings in the foure parts of them, & they foure had their faces, and their wings.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Under their wings on their four sides were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,

Legacy Standard Bible
And under their wings on their four sides were hands of a man. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,

Berean Standard Bible
Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings,

Contemporary English Version
Under each of their wings, these creatures had a human hand.

Complete Jewish Bible
Beneath their wings they had human hands on their four sides. The four of them had faces and wings as follows:

Darby Translation
And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings:

Easy-to-Read Version
Under their wings were human arms. There were four living beings. Each living being had four faces and four wings.

George Lamsa Translation
And they had human hands under their wings on their four sides; and their faces and their wings were on their four sides.

Good News Translation
In addition to their four faces and four wings, they each had four human hands, one under each wing.

Lexham English Bible
And under their wings were human hands on their four sides. And their faces and their wings for the four of them were as follows:

Literal Translation
And the hands of a man extended from under their wings on their four sides. And their faces and their wings were to the four of them,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Vnder their wynges vpon all the foure corners, they had mens hondes. Their faces and their wynges were towarde the foure corners:

American Standard Version
And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings thus:

Bible in Basic English
And they had the hands of a man under their wings; the four of them had faces on their four sides.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and as for the faces and wings of them four,

King James Version (1611)
And they had the handes of a man vnder their wings on their foure sides, and they foure had their faces and their wings.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
From vnder their wynges vpon all the foure corners they had mens handes: and they foure had their faces and their wynges.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the hand of a man was under their wings on their four sides.

English Revised Version
And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides: and they four had their faces and their wings thus;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the hondis of a man weren vndur the wyngis of tho, in foure partis. And tho hadden faces and wyngis bi foure partis;

Update Bible Version
And they had the hands of man under their wings on their four sides; and the four of them had their faces and their wings [thus]:

Webster's Bible Translation
And [they had] the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.

New English Translation
They had human hands under their wings on their four sides. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,

New King James Version
The hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings.

New Living Translation
Under each of their four wings I could see human hands. So each of the four beings had four faces and four wings.

New Life Bible
Under their wings on their four sides were hands like a man's. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,

New Revised Standard
Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus:

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and the hands of a man! were under their wings, on their four sides, - and their faces and their wings belonged to the four of them:

Douay-Rheims Bible
And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides: and they had faces, and wings on the four sides,

Revised Standard Version
Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus:

Young's Literal Translation
and hands of man under their wings -- on their four sides, and their faces and their wings -- [are] to them four;

Contextual Overview

⁴I looked: I saw an immense dust storm come from the north, an immense cloud with lightning flashing from it, a huge ball of fire glowing like bronze. Within the fire were what looked like four creatures vibrant with life. Each had the form of a human being, but each also had four faces and four wings. Their legs were as sturdy and straight as columns, but their feet were hoofed like those of a calf and sparkled from the fire like burnished bronze. On all four sides under their wings they had human hands. All four had both faces and wings, with the wings touching one another. They turned neither one way nor the other; they went straight forward. ¹⁰Their faces looked like this: In front a human face, on the right side the face of a lion, on the left the face of an ox, and in back the face of an eagle. So much for the faces. The wings were spread out with the tips of one pair touching the creature on either side; the other pair of wings covered its body. Each creature went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit went, they went. They didn't turn as they went. ¹³The four creatures looked like a blazing fire, or like fiery torches. Tongues of fire shot back and forth between the creatures, and out of the fire, bolts of lightning. The creatures flashed back and forth like strikes of lightning.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ezekiel 8:3, Ezekiel 10:2, Ezekiel 10:7, Ezekiel 10:8, Ezekiel 10:18, Ezekiel 10:21, Isaiah 6:6

Reciprocal: Ezekiel 1:6 - every one had four wings Revelation 4:7 - a flying

Cross-References

Genesis 1:31
God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning— Day Six.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And [they had] the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides,.... "Hands of a man" denote action, according to knowledge; ministers of the Gospel are men of practice and business, as well as have the theory and knowledge of things; and they act like men in a rational way, according to the will of God revealed in the word: and these being "on their four sides", show that they have much work to do all around, on every side; in ministering the word, administering ordinances; visiting their people; giving counsel, caution, comfort, exhortation, instruction, c. and that they have many hands to do, it with, much grace and strength from above and they have need of all the hands they have; and what they have they constantly employ, and are steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Briareus, a man of business, is represented by the poets as having a hundred hands. These being "under their wings", show that, besides their public ministrations, they do much work secretly and privately, in their closet and studies, where no eye sees them but the eye of God, as well as in private houses, by their visits and conversation; and is also expressive of their modesty and humility, not doing what they do to be seen of men, nor boasting of their works; but ascribing all to the grace of God, and strength of Christ, by which they perform them, and which give them success The Jews, in the Talmud m, interpret this of the hand of God himself which is stretched out under the wings of the living creatures, to receive penitent persons; because it is written ידו, "his hand", but read ידי, "hands". And they four had their faces and their wings; that is, on their four sides; a face and a wing before, and a face and a wing behind, and a face and a wing on each side; and under each wing a man's hand and arm. The Targum of the whole is,

"and hands, as the hands of a man, were made for them under their wings on their four sides; to take in them coals of fire from between the cherubim under the firmament, which was over their seats, to, put them into the hands of the seraphim, to scatter upon the place of the ungodly, to destroy the wicked that transgress his word; and their faces and their wings were equal to them four;''

see Ezekiel 10:2.

m Bab. Pesachim, fol. 119. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Or, “They had the hands of a man under their wings on all four sides, just as they had wings and faces on all four sides.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezekiel 1:8. They had the hands of a man under their wings — I doubt much whether the arms be not here represented as all covered with feathers, so that they had the appearance of wings, only the hand was bare; and I rather think that this is the meaning of their having "the hands of a man under their wings."