A cherub or imaginary figure
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The Hebrew noun kərûḇ names a cherub, with the familiar plural cherubim. Scripture presents cherubim as created heavenly guardians and throne attendants, and it also uses their forms in divinely commanded tabernacle and temple art.
Reader summary
Full entry for כְּרוּב (H3742) · Open the biblical lexicon
The Hebrew noun kərûḇ names a cherub, with the familiar plural cherubim. Scripture presents cherubim as created heavenly guardians and throne attendants, and it also uses their forms in divinely commanded tabernacle and temple art.
The BSB source-word alignment has 91 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include cherubim (17), the cherubim (15), cherub (12), - (8), of the cherubim (5).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 3:24. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (31), 1 Kings (20), Exodus (17), 2 Chronicles (11).
The Hebrew noun kərûḇ names a cherub, with the familiar plural cherubim. Scripture presents cherubim as created heavenly guardians and throne attendants, and it also uses their forms in divinely commanded tabernacle and temple art. They guard the way to the tree of life after humanity's expulsion from Eden. Hammered-gold cherubim overshadow the mercy seat, where the Lord promises to meet Moses and speak, yet the figures are not the Lord and are never worshiped.
Israel later brings the ark from Shiloh while corrupt priests accompany it, showing that sacred furniture and cherubic imagery cannot function as a talisman. Poetry depicts the Lord riding a cherub, while Ezekiel identifies the living creatures beneath God's glory as cherubim. Isaiah confesses that the One enthroned above them alone is God and made heaven and earth.
Responsible teaching preserves the distinction between Creator, living attendants, artistic representations, and poetic or visionary imagery. It refuses angel worship, speculative rankings, magical uses of sacred art, and claims that a vision or object guarantees God's protection or approves a leader.
Kərûḇ moves from Eden's guarded boundary to sanctuary artwork, the ark and divine throne language, poetic divine movement, and Ezekiel's living creatures. Across these settings cherubim remain created servants or representations beneath the Lord's authority.
So He drove out the man and stationed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden, along with a whirling sword of flame to guard the way to the tree of life.
Cherubim guard the excluded way to the tree of life after humanity's expulsion from Eden.
Make two cherubim of hammered gold at the ends of the mercy seat,
The tabernacle instructions explicitly command crafted cherubic figures as part of the mercy seat's design.
And I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony; I will speak with you about all that I command you regarding the Israelites.
The Lord promises to meet and speak above the mercy seat between the figures without being identified with them.
So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
Israel brings the ark into battle while corrupt priests accompany it, and the following defeat exposes talismanic confidence.
He mounted a cherub and flew; He soared on the wings of the wind.
David's song uses exalted poetic movement to portray the Lord coming in power to deliver him.
These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the River Kebar, and I knew that they were cherubim.
Ezekiel identifies his complex living creatures as cherubim while keeping them beneath the God of Israel.
“O Lord of Hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.
Hezekiah's prayer distinguishes the enthroned Creator from the cherubim and confesses His universal sovereignty.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Celestial guardian figure with wings, positioned at God's throne and guarding sacred spaces in temple imagery
Celestial guardian figure with wings, positioned at God's throne and guarding sacred spaces in temple imagery
a cherub or imaginary figure BDB: cherub Usage: cherub, (plural) cherubims.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 91 lexical occurrence verses.
כְּרוּב is of uncertain origin - no further derivation.
Greek words that correspond to or develop the meaning of this Hebrew word in the New Testament.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Kərûḇ helps readers distinguish divine presence from the created forms associated with it. Genesis assigns cherubim a guarding role at Eden's closed boundary. Exodus then commands their artistic representation over the mercy seat, showing that the prohibition of idols does not make every religious image identical; divine command, purpose, and worship matter.
The Lord promises to speak above the mercy seat between the cherubim, yet He is never reduced to or contained by them. First Samuel 4 provides a crucial warning: Israel can carry the ark named for the Lord enthroned between cherubim and still suffer defeat when the object is treated as leverage while corruption remains. David's song uses a cherub in poetic imagery for God's swift deliverance.
Ezekiel's visions identify extraordinary living creatures as cherubim beneath God's glory, not as rival deities. Isaiah's prayer makes the hierarchy explicit: the Lord alone is God and Creator over all kingdoms. Faithful teaching can appreciate biblical art and heavenly imagery without worshiping angels, using objects as guarantees, inventing detailed ranks, or claiming that a leader's dream carries automatic authority.
Exod.25.22
Kərûḇ is a masculine Hebrew noun whose plural is conventionally rendered cherubim. The same noun can name living heavenly beings, crafted sanctuary figures, or a poetic image, so grammatical number alone does not identify the literary setting.
Hebrews 9 recalls the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat when describing the earlier sanctuary. Revelation's living creatures share throne-room features with prophetic visions, but readers should compare the texts without forcing every detail into a single angelic chart.