(15) The cherubs ascended; those were the creatures that I had seen by the Chebar Canal. (16) Whenever the cherubs went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubs lifted their wings to ascend from the earth, the wheels did not roll away from their side. (17) When those stood still, these stood still; and when those ascended, these ascended with them, for the spirit of the creature was in them. (18) Then the Presence of the LORD left the platform of the House and stopped above the cherubs. (19) And I saw the cherubs lift their wings and rise from the earth, with the wheels beside them as they departed; and they stopped at the entrance of the eastern gate of the House of the LORD, with the Presence of the God of Israel above them. (20) They were the same creatures that I had seen below the God of Israel at the Chebar Canal; so now I knew that they were cherubs.
IWhat is the meaning of “cherub”? Rabbi Abbahu said: Like a baby [keravya], for in Babylonia they call a baby ravya. Rav Pappa said to Abaye: However, if that is so, what is the meaning of that which is written: “The first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle”? The face of a cherub is the same as the face of a man; what is the difference between them? He replied: The difference is that the face of a man is referring to a large face, whereas the face of a cherub means the small face of a baby.
a Rav Ketina said: When the Jewish people would ascend for one of the pilgrimage Festivals, the priests would roll up the curtain for them and show them the cherubs, which were clinging to one another, and say to them: See how you are beloved before God, like the love of a male and female. The two cherubs symbolize the Holy One, Blessed be He, and the Jewish people.
Ibn Ezra suggests that the word keruv just means “form” (צורה), and says that the Torah does not tell us here what the form is, other than that they have wings.[6However, he notes that he explained the meaning in his gloss to Gen. 3:24, which describes cherubs that were placed outside the Garden of Eden to block the path. Ibn Ezra says there that the cherubs were “frightening images” (צורות מפחידות). English
R. Joseph Bekhor Shor says that ark is the divine throne and the divine throne and the cherubs are the “holy beasts” referenced in Ezekiel.
Rashbam and Chizkuni both suggest that a keruv is a bird (עוף), presumably because they are depicted with wings. On the total opposite spectrum, R. Bachya ben Asher says they are angels. This interpretation of cherub associates them with another group of winged angels, the Seraphim mentioned in Isaiah 6. (Most biblical angels do not have wings.) Moreover, R. Bachya suggests that the meaning of the symbolism is to remind the Israelites of the second most important (עיקר) principle in Judaism, the existence of angels; according to him, angels make prophecy possible and without prophecy there can be no Torah. The reason there are two, he suggests, is so that the viewer not mistake the statue for an image of God Article n Torah.com Zev Farber
- Rav Chaim Paltiel suggests that the two statues represent the two attributes of God, mercy and justice.
- R. Jacob ben Asher (Ba’al haTurim) believes they represent two study partners in a beit midrash, having a give and take about Torah.