Heinrich Meyer Commentary - Revelation 4:7 - 4:7

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Heinrich Meyer Commentary - Revelation 4:7 - 4:7


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Rev_4:7. While, in Ezekiel,[1783] the forms of the four cherubim[1784] bear in wonderful combination the fourfold faces of the lion, the ox, the man, and the eagle, John with more distinct clearness has so seen the four beings that in each of them only a part of that fourfold form is expressed. In this, also, he is distinguished from Ezekiel, that he represents his “four beings,” not each with four but with six wings, as the seraphim in Isaiah 6.; yet, on the other hand, John agrees with Ezekiel, that in him the wings, as well as the whole body, appear full of eyes (Rev_4:8).

The second being is like a μόσχος , i.e., not a “calf” in distinction from a grown ox, but, as is already required in an aesthetic respect, the ox. The LXX. have μόσχος , Eze_1:10, for ùÑåø ;[1785] also Ezek. 21:37;[1786] Lev_22:23. But they render thus also the words ôÈø ,[1787] òÅâÆì [1788] and áÈ÷Èø [1789] By μόσχος , therefore, only some animal of that class is designated; the more precise determination is given by the context.

The third ζῶον has τὸ πρόσωπον [1790] ἈΝΘΡΏΠΟΥ . In Ezekiel the chief form of the cherubim is human; this has been adopted also by Vitr. and Hengstenb. for the Apoc.[1791] On the contrary, Beng. infers from the words ἜΧ . Τ . ΠΡΌΣΩΠΟΝ , Κ . Τ . Λ .: “So it did not have in other respects the form of a man.” Ebrard is right in being contented with not knowing more than is said in the text. In the third being, however, the human face is characteristic; just as in the eagle, to which the fourth being is like, not so much the form in itself, as the flying, is significant, and therefore marked.

[1783] Ch. Rev_1:10.

[1784] Cf. E. Riehm, De Natura et Notione Symbolica Cheruborum, Bas. et Ludov., 1864, p. 23. Cf. also Stud. u. Krit., 1871, p. 399 sq.; Lämmert, D. Cherubim der H. Schrift., Jahrb. f. Deutsche Theologie, Gotha, 1867, p. 587 sq., 609 sq.; L. Seeburg, Die Sage von den Greifen bei den Alten; James 1 : Ueber d. Ursprung der Sage und ihre Verbreitung im Oriente, Göttinger Inaugural-Dissertat. (1867), pp. 7, 32 sq.

[1785] Eze_1:7, as it refers to the feet of the cherubim, does not belong here.

[1786] LXX., Rev_22:1.

[1787] Exo_29:10.

[1788] Exo_32:4.

[1789] Gen_12:16.

[1790] ὡς . See Critical Remarks.

[1791] Cf. Rev_5:8, Rev_19:4, where the beasts fall down, “which cannot be thought of if two of them were four-footed.”

NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR

XLIV. Rev_4:6-8. τέσσερα ζῷα

Cf. Cremer (Lexicon): “Properly, a living creature, which also occurs elsewhere also in profane Greek, where ζῶον , a post-Homeric word, generally signifies living creature, and only in special instances a beast; θηρίον = animal, as embracing all living beings, must be retained in the Revelation, where four ζῶα are represented as being between God’s throne and those of the elders which surround it, the description given of which (Rev_4:6-8) resembles that of the äÇéåÉú in Eze_1:5 sqq.; the cherubim in Ezekiel 10 (cf. Psa_18:1; Psa_99:1; Psa_80:2; 1Sa_4:4; 2Sa_6:2; 2Ki_19:15). They are named living creatures here and in Ezekiel 1, on account of the life which is their main feature. They are usually the signs and tokens of majesty, of the sublime majesty of God, both in his covenant relation, and in his relation to the world (for the latter, see Psa_99:1); and therefore it is that they are assigned so prominent a place, though no active part in the final scenes of sacred history (Rev_6:1-7). The appearance of four represents the concentration of all created life in this world, the original abode of which, Paradise, when life had fallen to sin and death, was given over to the cherubim. They do not, like the angels, fulfil the purposes of God in relation to men; they are distinct from the angels (Rev_5:11). We are thus led to conclude that they materially represent the ideal pattern of the true relation of creation to its God.” Oehler (O. T. Theology, p. 260): “It is the cherubim, as Schultz well expresses it, ‘which at one and the same time proclaim and veil his presence.’ The lion and the bull are, as is well known, symbols of power and strength; man and the eagle are symbols of wisdom and omniscience; the latter attribute is expressed also in the later form of the symbol by the multitude of eyes. The continual mobility of the ζῶα (Rev_4:8) signifies the never-resting quickness of the Divine operations; this is probably symbolized also by the wheels in Ezekiel 1. The number four is the signature of all-sidedness (towards the four quarters of heaven). Thus Jehovah is acknowledged as the God who rules the world on all sides in power, wisdom, and omniscience. Instead of natural powers working unconsciously, is placed the all-embracing, conscious activity of the living God.”