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Ezek.10:1. And I saw, and behold, on the top of the firmament, above the head of the Cherubim, like a sapphire stone; the likeness of a throne on them. From this point on, the Prophet clearly calls those animals that he saw Cherubim. And this name, as I said, means: full of knowledge. Ezek.10:2. And he said to the man clothed with utensils: Go down among the wheels, even under the Cherubim, It should be noted that God did not command any of the six men to approach the Cherubim, but only “clothed with utensils,” of course because they were not worthy to approach the divine powers, that is, the Cherubim. and fill your handfuls with coals of fire from the midst of the Cherubim, and scatter them over the city. What the Prophet contemplated was filled with horror. Embers of fire are scattering, meaning punitive forces are bypassing the city. Ezek.10:4. And the glory of the Lord arose from the Cherubim to cover the house. Since God commanded to take the coals and scatter them throughout the city, then, apparently, he moves away, leaving room for the one who received the command to do this. For, without a doubt, he would have been afraid to approach the glory of God carried by the Cherubim. From the movement of the cherubic wings a very great noise occurred, so that it seemed to be thunder, or the voice of God. For the words: “like the voice of God,” Symmachus and Theodotion translated: “thunder of an all-satisfied God,” that is, this noise could be likened to the voice of an all-satisfied and omnipotent God or thunder produced by God’s power. Ezek.10:6–7. And below, and near the wheels. The Cherubim stretched out their hand from the midst of the Cherubim into the midst of the existing fire in the midst of the Cherubim, and took and gave in the hand clothed with holy utensils, and took and went out. And from this we can learn the difference between the invisible ranks. These six were not commanded to approach the Cherubim, and this one, although he approaches, does not dare to touch the fact that among the Cherubim, the Cherubim themselves give him coals. Ezek.10:8. And I saw Cherubim, and behold, the likeness of human hands under their wings. And hands have the meaning of effectiveness. Then the Prophet again speaks in detail about the wheels and, repeating what we said before, adds that he saw the appearance of the color changed. For there, according to the translation of Symmachus, he said that he saw, as it were, the appearance of a jakinthos, and here, according to the translation of the seventy, “like the gaze of an anphrax” (Ezek. 10:9). Therefore, from this we can know that the Prophet saw not the most invisible natures, but certain similarities and images of them. Therefore, he sees them changed. He saw the same change in the Cherubim. For there he said that the first face was likened to a man, the second to a lion, the third to a calf, and the fourth to an eagle, and here he says that he saw this order transformed, and the Cherubim, whose face was like a calf’s, as the first, and whose “face as a man” was the second, and whose “lion’s” was the third, and whose “eagle’s” was the fourth (Ezek. 10:14). Therefore, this is not the nature of the invisible forces, but the Lord, in accordance with the need, arranges such visions. And I think that since the Prophet saw this vision in the church, he saw the face of a calf before others, because it was accepted as a type of the priesthood. The Prophet lets you know that: Ezek.10:12. the ridges of the Cherubim, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels are full of feathers; from which the Prophet understood the abundance of their knowledge, which is what the name “Gelgel” means, and says this: Ezek.10:13. I cried out to these wheels, O Gelgel, and I hear; that is, they were commanded to roll and be in motion. Ezek.10:15. And the Cherubim took hold: The Prophet continues, and then, letting us know that he had seen this before, he says: This is an animal that was seen on the Chebar River. But then he enjoyed contemplation, he didn’t know the name, but now he found out this too. Ezek.10:16. And when the Cherubim walked, they walked and their wheels, and they held fast to them: and when the Cherubim raised up their cry, which was lifted up from the earth, their wheels did not turn, and they held fast to them. Ezek.10:17. Whenever they stood, they stood, and whenever they rose, they rose with them: the spirit of life was in them. The Wheels, says the Prophet, followed the Cherubim in everything: when the Cherubim were in motion, they also moved; when they flew, they also rose; and when they stood, they stopped, not being carried away by any compulsion, but fulfilling all this on their own, because they were spiritually involved in life. Ezek.10:18–19. And the glory of the Lord came out from the covering of the house, and went up on the Cherubim, and the Cherubim raised up their wings, and rose up from the ground before me when they stood up, and stood over the threshold of the gates of the house of the Lord, which was opposite, and the glory of the Lord God of Israel was above them. God, after commanding the coals to be taken, apparently withdrew, so that the one who received the command would dare to proceed. When this was done, it apparently returns again and is offered on the Cherubim. Cherubim, says the Prophet, comfortably soar and rush through the air, using wings instead of legs; The wheels also follow them, without being separated even by a small space. And on the Cherubim sits the glory of God, and not God Himself, because He is indescribable, present everywhere and fills everything, but His glory appears for the sake of dispensations. Ezek.10:20. This is the animal that I saw under the God of Israel on the river Chebar, and I knew that they were Cherubim. I had already enjoyed this contemplation before, but I only learned the name now. And from this it can be clearly understood that the Prophet saw not the very essence of invisible natures, but certain images and similarities. For in the first vision, as he said, one Cherub had four wings, but here he sees eight, not because the nature itself suffered a change, but because the vision took on images commensurate with the need. Since the Prophet acquired greater knowledge from his conversation with God, and the wings signify the speed of knowledge, then, signifying the increase in knowledge that took place in him, God shows him the wings of the Cherubim in greater numbers, because the very name: “Cherub” in translation means: “multitude of knowledge.”