Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)
The symbolical figure so called was a composite creature-form which finds a parallel in the religious insignia of Assyria, Egypt and Persia, e.g. the sphinx, the winged bulls and lions of Nineveh, etc. A cherub guarded paradise. (Genesis 3:24) Figures of Cherubim were placed on the mercy-seat of the ark. (Exodus 25:18) A pair of colossal size overshadowed it in Solomon’s temple with the canopy of their contiguously extended wings. (1 Kings
6:27) Those on the ark were to be placed with wings stretched forth, one at each end of the mercy-seat.” Their wings were to be stretched upwards, and their faces “towards each other and towards the mercy-seat.” It is remarkable that with such precise directions as to their position, attitude and material, nothing, save that they were winged, is said concerning their shape. On the whole it seems likely that the word “cherub” meant not
only the composite creature-form, of which the man, lion, ox and eagle were the elements, but, further, some peculiar and mystical form. (Some suppose that the cherubim represented God’s providence among men, the four faces expressing the characters of that providence: its wisdom and intelligence (man), its strength (ox), its kingly authority (lion), its swiftness, far-sighted (eagle). Others, combining all the other references with the
description of the living creatures in Revelation, make the cherubim to represent God’s redeemed people. The qualities of the four faces are those which belong to God’s people. Their facing four ways, towards all quarters of the globe, represents their duty of extending the truth. The wings show swiftness of obedience; and only the redeemed can sing the song put in their mouths in (Revelation 5:8-14)—ED).
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
CHERUB, CHER'UBIM. Many derivations have been proposed. The best are from roots signifying either "strong" or "to plough;" hence, terrible. The cherubim were not angels, since altogether different occupations are given to them in the Bible. Thus angels are sent out upon messages, but the cherubim always are in the presence of God. They are winged, and are in appearance like combinations of parts of different animals. The word first occurs in Gen
3:24, and is applied to the guard which was placed over Eden after the expulsion of fallen man. "It is remarkable that while there are precise directions as to their position, attitude, and material, Ex 26:18, etc., and descriptions, 2 Chr 3:10-13, nothing is said about their shape, except that they were winged. On the whole, it seems likely that the word 'cherub' meant not only the composite creature Egyptian Winged Figures. form, of which the
man, lion, ox, and eagle were the elements, but, further, some peculiar and mystical form." -Smith:Dictionary of the Bible. According to the primitive conception, the cherubim were the bearers of God when he appeared in his glory upon the earth, Ps 18:10; so, in Ezekiel's vision, they carry the throne of God. Eze 11:22; cf. Eze 1:19; Neh 10:16 ff. They are the "wings of the wind," by which God in the thunder-cloud is borne to the world. Isa 19:1;
Ps 104:3. Hence they are the witnesses of his presence: wherever they are, God is. How appropriately, therefore, were representations of them placed in the tabernacle and temple! In the former, two golden cherubim stood in the holy of holies, upon the mercy-seat. Ex 37:8. They were likewise pictured upon the curtains. Ex 26:1, 1 Chr 24:31; Ex 36:8, Ex 28:35. In Solomon's temple two colossal figures of the cherubim, overlaid with gold, stood upon
the floor and overshadowed the ark, which was between them, in the holy of holies. 1 Kgs 6:27. They were also carved upon the doors, upon all the "walls of the house," and put between representations of palm trees. 1 Kgs 6:29, Jud 1:32, Ex 28:35; 2 Chr 3:7. Indeed, in all parts did they constitute, with lions, oxen, and palm trees, the ornamentation of the temple. 1 Kgs 7:29, Eze 23:36. The cherubim, therefore, testified that God was in the midst
of his people. A second idea which they represent is that they were the watchers of the places where God is. They cover his glory from vulgar gaze; they stand in the service of the invisible and the unapproachable God. Comp. Ex 19:9, Ex 17:16; Gen 24:15. Similar winged creatures are met with in great variety in the legends and symbols of other peoples of antiquity, but the originality of the Hebrew cherubim is not to be disputed. Still, the forms
which they assumed may have been in part derived from these nations. Very interesting is the comparison of the Hebrew cherubim with figures in the Egyptian and Assyrian temples.