Quick Answer
Cherubim (singular cherub, Hebrew kerub) are powerful angelic beings of divine wisdom and the guardians of sacred space. They appear throughout the Bible: at Eden's entrance, over the Ark of the Covenant, and in Ezekiel's chariot vision with four faces (human, lion, ox, eagle), four wings, and many eyes. They are not the chubby infants of Renaissance art, and Rudolf Steiner called them Spirits of Harmony, the second order of the first angelic hierarchy.
Key Takeaways
- Etymology: Hebrew kerub likely derives from the Akkadian karibu, referring to the human-headed winged guardian figures at Mesopotamian temple gates. These "threshold guardians" are the cultural and conceptual origin of the biblical cherubim.
- Biblical appearances: Cherubim appear in more contexts than seraphim: Eden, the Ark of the Covenant, Solomon's Temple, Psalm 18, Ezekiel's chariot vision (Merkabah), and Revelation 4.
- Ezekiel's vision: Four faces (human, lion, ox, eagle), four wings, many eyes, bearing the divine throne-chariot. This is the most detailed description of cherubim in the entire Bible and the founding text of Jewish Merkabah mysticism.
- Not the Renaissance putti: The popular chubby infant image has no biblical basis and actively misleads about the character of these formidable beings.
- Steiner: Cherubim are Spirits of Harmony (Geister der Harmonie), the second order of the first hierarchy, who receive the divine creative will from the seraphim and transmit it as cosmic wisdom and order.
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Etymology: From the Mesopotamian Karibu to the Hebrew Kerub
The Hebrew word kerub (plural kerubim, later Anglicised to cherubim) is of uncertain etymology, and the uncertainty is itself theologically interesting. The most widely accepted derivation connects it to the Akkadian karibu or kuribu, a term used in Mesopotamian religious culture to describe the human-headed, winged bull or lion figures that stood at the entrances of temples and palaces throughout the ancient Near East.
These figures, known in later scholarship as lamassu (the bull form) or shedu (the human-headed lion), were not merely decorative. They were understood to be genuinely protective spiritual presences stationed at the threshold between the profane exterior world and the sacred interior space of the temple. The Akkadian karibu means "one who prays" or "one who intercedes," describing a being who stands permanently before the divine presence and mediates between the divine and the human.
The Threshold Guardian
The image of the threshold guardian, a being of formidable power stationed at the boundary between the sacred and the profane, between the divine and the human, is one of the most universal motifs in world religion and mythology. The Assyrian lamassu at the gates of Nineveh, the sphinxes at the entrances of Egyptian temples, the dvarapalas at Indian temple doorways, the nio guardians at Japanese Buddhist temple gates: all are variations on the same archetype. The Hebrew cherubim belong to this tradition. They are not decorative angels; they are cosmic guardians, and their presence at the gates of Eden, above the Ark, and bearing the divine throne marks the most sacred thresholds in the biblical world.
The physical form of the Assyrian and Babylonian karibu, a composite creature with the body of a bull or lion, the wings of an eagle, and a human head, maps closely onto the biblical descriptions of cherubim as multi-formed, winged, powerful beings. Archaeological discoveries from the 19th and 20th centuries, including the massive lamassu figures excavated from Nineveh and now in the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, gave biblical scholars a concrete reference point for understanding what the ancient Israelites meant when they described cherubim. They were not thinking of anything like the Renaissance putti.
The First Correction: Cherubim Are Not Babies
The single most important thing to know about cherubim is the thing most people already think they know but have entirely wrong. The image of the cherub as a chubby, winged infant, familiar from Botticelli's Sistine Madonna (actually a separate study), Raphael's Sistine Madonna (the source of the two famous pensive putti at the bottom), and from countless subsequent illustrations, has no basis in the biblical text.
This error has a traceable history. The confusion arose when Renaissance humanist artists, working from both the biblical tradition and the revived classical tradition, conflated the Hebrew kerubim with the Greek Eros (god of love, frequently depicted as a winged child or young man in Greek art) and the Roman Amor or Cupido (also depicted as a winged infant in Roman art). The putti (small boys) that appear in so much Renaissance and Baroque painting are Hellenistic-Roman figures, not biblical angels. But they were placed in religious paintings near scenes involving cherubim, and over several generations the conflation became complete.
The Cultural Capture of Cherubim
The infantilisation of the cherubim is not a minor aesthetic point. It represents a significant misreading of a major element of the biblical angelological tradition, and it has practical consequences for how these beings are understood and related to. A chubby infant does not guard sacred thresholds, does not bear the divine throne, and does not manifest as a terrifying composite being covered in eyes. The biblical cherubim, encountered on their own terms, are formidable presences of cosmic wisdom and guardianship. Meeting them in that character is a different spiritual encounter than relating to the decorated Renaissance infant. Reading the actual texts of Genesis, Ezekiel, and Revelation with fresh eyes, after recognising the Renaissance confusion, is one of the stranger and more disorienting experiences biblical scholarship can offer.
The biblical cherubim are, consistently, beings of awesome power, profound wisdom, and fearsome appearance. The prophet Ezekiel collapsed in terror at the vision of them (Ezekiel 1:28, 3:23). John of Patmos, who saw similar beings in Revelation 4, described them in language of overwhelming cosmic authority. These are not beings to be domesticated into nursery decoration.
Cherubim Throughout the Bible
Cherubim appear in more biblical contexts than any other named category of spiritual being. Their range spans from the earliest chapters of Genesis to the final vision of Revelation, and they occupy the most sacred spaces in the entire biblical world.
Eden: The First Guardians (Genesis 3:24)
After the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, God "placed the cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life." The cherubim are positioned as permanent threshold guardians at the most sacred location in the world: the place where the divine and human had originally coexisted in direct relationship. They do not merely block the return; they embody the sacred nature of what lies beyond the threshold, marking the boundary between the human condition and the divine presence with their formidable reality.
The Ark of the Covenant: The Mercy Seat (Exodus 25)
God instructs Moses (Exodus 25:18-22) to make two golden cherubim and place them on opposite ends of the mercy seat (the cover of the Ark of the Covenant). Their wings are to be stretched out above, covering the mercy seat, and their faces turned toward each other, looking down at the mercy seat. "There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you." The cherubim mark the precise location of the divine presence among the people: the space between their wings, above the mercy seat, is where God speaks to Moses.
Solomon's Temple (1 Kings 6)
Solomon's Temple incorporated cherubim extensively. Two large olive-wood cherubim, each fifteen feet tall with fifteen-foot wingspans, stood in the inner sanctuary (the Holy of Holies), their combined wings spanning the entire room from wall to wall. Their inner wings touched above the Ark. The walls, floor, and doors of the Temple were carved with cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. The cherubim were not decorative; they defined the sacred space of the Temple as the place where the divine presence dwelt.
Psalm 18 / 2 Samuel 22: God Rides on the Cherubim
One of the most arresting images in the Hebrew Psalter appears in Psalm 18:10 (paralleled in 2 Samuel 22:11): "He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind." This image of the divine riding on the cherubim connects directly to Ezekiel's chariot vision: the cherubim are not merely guardians of sacred space but the living vehicle of the divine presence as it moves through the cosmos. The storm clouds, the wind, and the cherubim are all expressions of the same divine dynamism in this passage.
Ezekiel's Chariot Vision: The Most Detailed Portrait
The richest and most detailed description of cherubim in the entire Bible is Ezekiel's throne-chariot vision, recorded in Ezekiel 1 and explicitly identified as cherubim in Ezekiel 10. The prophet, among the exiles in Babylon by the river Chebar, sees a vision of a storm cloud approaching from the north: "a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire."
Within the fire appear four living creatures (Hebrew: hayyot). Each has a human form but four faces: human (to the front), lion (to the right), ox (to the left), and eagle (to the back). Each has four wings: two spread upward and two covering the body. Their legs are straight, their feet like calves' feet, gleaming like burnished bronze. Beside each creature is a wheel within a wheel, and the wheels are covered with eyes. A crystal expanse stretches above the creatures, and above the expanse a throne of sapphire, and on the throne a figure of human appearance surrounded by fire and rainbow.
The Wheels Within Wheels
The wheels of Ezekiel's vision have generated an immense body of interpretive literature. The "wheel within a wheel" (Hebrew ophan b'tokh ophan) that accompanies each living creature represents a kind of omnidirectional mobility: the cherubic throne-vehicle can move in any direction without turning, because each wheel is oriented at right angles to the others, creating a sphere of possible movement. The wheels are also covered with eyes, like the creatures themselves: omniscience and omnidirectional attention are expressed in the very structure of the divine chariot. In Merkabah mysticism, the wheels themselves (the Ophanim) were sometimes treated as a separate angelic class, distinct from but intimately connected to the cherubim.
This is not a vision one can approach with pre-formed categories. Ezekiel himself repeatedly says "like" and "as the appearance of" and "the likeness of": he is reaching for language to describe something that exceeds the capacity of language, and the text preserves this epistemic humility in its very syntax. The cherubim of Ezekiel are not beings that can be reduced to a clean symbolic analysis; they are beings whose reality overflows any single interpretive framework.
The Four Faces and Their Symbolic Meaning
The four faces of the Ezekiel cherubim (human, lion, ox, eagle) have attracted sustained interpretive attention from Jewish and Christian commentators across more than two millennia. The standard fourfold symbolism, established by the early Christian interpreter Irenaeus of Lyon (c. 180 CE) and refined by Jerome and Gregory the Great, distributes the four faces among the four Evangelists of the Christian New Testament:
| Face | Symbolic Meaning | Evangelist (Christian tradition) | Quality Represented |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human | Wisdom, reason, divine intelligence | Matthew | The human capacity for rational spiritual perception |
| Lion | Strength, nobility, divine sovereignty | Mark | The kingly quality of spiritual authority |
| Ox (Bull) | Steadfast service, sacrifice, endurance | Luke | The priestly quality of sustained patient service |
| Eagle | Transcendence, spiritual vision, height | John | The mystical quality of vision that sees from above |
Beyond the Evangelist symbolism, the four faces represent the totality of the living world: the highest of the domestic animals (ox), the highest of the wild animals (lion), the highest of the birds (eagle), and the being who encompasses all the others (human). Together, they form a complete picture of the creaturely order at its most exalted expression, all four brought into a single, perfectly integrated being oriented wholly toward the divine.
Steiner on the Four Faces and Human Development
Steiner connected the four faces of the Ezekiel cherubim to his own account of human constitution in Occult Science: An Outline and in the lecture cycles on the Apocalypse of John. He described the four faces as corresponding to the four members of the human being in their cosmic or archetypal form: the physical body (ox, the principle of dense materiality), the etheric body (lion, the principle of living vitality), the astral body (eagle, the principle of sentient awareness and aspiration), and the ego or I (human, the principle of self-conscious spiritual intelligence). The cherubim, in this reading, are beings who have fully developed and integrated all four members at a cosmic level of perfection: they carry, in their fourfold form, the ideal image of what the human being is gradually becoming through the process of spiritual evolution.
Cherubim and Merkabah Mysticism
Ezekiel's chariot vision (Hebrew: Merkabah, from merkav, chariot) became the foundational text of one of the most important and esoteric currents in Jewish mysticism. Merkabah mysticism, which flourished from approximately the 1st century BCE through the 7th century CE, centred on the practitioner's ascent through the heavenly palaces (Hebrew: Hekhalot, palaces) to the throne of God and the direct contemplation of the divine chariot described in Ezekiel 1.
The cherubim played a central role in this contemplative tradition. The Merkabah mystic who ascended through the seven Hekhalot (palaces), each guarded by angelic gatekeepers, ultimately encountered the divine chariot and its cherubic bearers. This was not a metaphorical encounter; the texts describe it as a direct, if terrifying, experience of the spiritual reality that Ezekiel had seen. The many eyes of the cherubim were understood to see the mystic approaching, and the tradition includes elaborate passwords and seals required to pass the angelic guardians at each stage.
Rabbinic Caution About Merkabah
The rabbis of the Talmudic period were sufficiently concerned about Merkabah mysticism that they placed significant restrictions on its study. The Mishnah (Hagigah 2:1) states that the chariot may not be expounded before even one person unless that person is a scholar who can understand it with his own understanding. The Talmud records traditions of mystics who entered the Pardes (orchard, a code for mystical practice) and were destroyed or damaged by the experience: "Four entered the Pardes: Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher, and Akiva. Ben Azzai looked and died. Ben Zoma looked and was stricken. Acher looked and cut the shoots (became a heretic). Rabbi Akiva entered in peace and departed in peace." The cherubim are not beings to be approached casually, even by the most advanced practitioners. This caution is itself theologically significant.
The Merkabah tradition preserved by such texts as the Hekhalot Rabbati, the Hekhalot Zutarti, and the Sefer Raziel HaMalakh represents the most sustained and systematic engagement with the cherubim as living spiritual beings in the entire Jewish tradition. Where biblical texts describe them in the context of prophetic vision, the Merkabah texts describe the practitioner's actual encounter with them in the course of contemplative ascent. Whether one reads these texts literally or symbolically, they preserve a detailed phenomenology of the cherubic encounter that goes well beyond anything in the canonical Scripture.
Cherubim and the Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant (Hebrew: Aron HaBrit) was the most sacred object in Israelite religion: the chest made of acacia wood overlaid with gold that contained the two tablets of the law, Aaron's rod, and a jar of manna. Its lid, the mercy seat (Hebrew: kapporet), was the most sacred space in the entire Tabernacle and Temple: the specific location where God's presence dwelt among the people and where Moses received direct divine communication.
The two golden cherubim stood on either end of the mercy seat, their wings spread upward and meeting above it, their faces looking down toward it. The space between the cherubim's wings and above the mercy seat was where the divine presence was located (Exodus 25:22; Numbers 7:89). The cherubim did not merely decorate the Ark; they defined and bounded the sacred space of the divine presence. The divine, in this theology, was not simply everywhere equally; it was specifically present in the sacred space that the cherubim marked and guarded.
When the Ark was captured by the Philistines (1 Samuel 4-5), the Hebrew text describes the departure of the divine presence using the phrase Ichabod: "the glory has departed from Israel." The cherubim on the Ark were the physical markers of where the divine glory dwelt; without the Ark and its cherubim in the appropriate sacred space, the divine presence was no longer localized among the people. The cherubim were not merely symbols; they were functional participants in the theology of divine presence in Israel.
Cherubim and Seraphim: The Two Highest Orders
Having already examined the seraphim in a separate article, it is worth drawing the comparison clearly, because the two orders are regularly confused or conflated in popular treatments.
Seraphim are beings of fire and love. Their primary function is the continuous adoration of divine holiness. They appear once in the canonical texts (Isaiah 6), they burn with love for the divine, they transmit the purifying fire of divine holiness, and their characteristic action is to sing. They are described with six wings. In Steiner's terms, they are Spirits of Love.
Cherubim are beings of knowledge and wisdom. Their primary function is the guardianship of sacred space and the transmission of divine intelligence. They appear throughout the canonical texts, they know with the omniscient knowledge of the many eyes, they bear the divine throne-chariot, and their characteristic action is to guard and to transmit. They are described with four wings in most contexts (though the living creatures of Revelation 4 have six). In Steiner's terms, they are Spirits of Harmony.
| Quality | Seraphim | Cherubim |
|---|---|---|
| Primary quality | Fire and love | Wisdom and knowledge |
| Primary function | Adoration and purification | Guardianship and transmission of divine wisdom |
| Biblical appearances | Isaiah 6 only (canonical) | Genesis, Exodus, 1 Kings, Psalms, Ezekiel, Revelation |
| Wings | Six | Four (Ezekiel) or six (Revelation 4) |
| Steiner's name | Spirits of Love (Liebesgeister) | Spirits of Harmony (Geister der Harmonie) |
| Hierarchy position | First (highest) | Second |
Rudolf Steiner: Cherubim as Spirits of Harmony
Rudolf Steiner's treatment of the cherubim is woven through multiple lecture cycles, most significantly in The Spiritual Hierarchies and Their Reflection in the Physical World (1909, GA 110), Occult Science: An Outline (1909, GA 13), and the lectures published as The Apocalypse of St John (1908, GA 104).
Steiner places the cherubim in the second position within the first hierarchy, between the seraphim above and the thrones below. He calls them Geister der Harmonie, Spirits of Harmony, and describes their function as follows: the seraphim receive the divine creative will in its most primordial and undifferentiated form, burning with love as they receive it. They pass this will to the cherubim. The cherubim receive what the seraphim transmit and transform it through their quality of cosmic wisdom: they know all things because they carry within them the divine thought from which all things proceed.
The Cherubim as Divine Thought
Steiner states in the lectures of GA 110: "The Cherubim express in their being the cosmic wisdom as it has been transformed by the seraphim's love. They are the wise ones who know the plans of the cosmos, who perceive within themselves the whole structure of what is to be created." This is why Ezekiel's cherubim are covered in eyes: in Steiner's reading, the many eyes represent the omniscience that comes from being constituted by divine thought itself. A being who carries the divine thought within its own nature does not need to look outward to know what is there; it knows from within, because the thought that structured what is there is the same thought that structures its own being. The cherubim are, in this sense, the living memory of God: the beings in whom the divine creative wisdom is permanently present as their own nature.
Steiner also connected the four faces of the Ezekiel cherubim to specific phases of Earth's evolution. In his cosmic history, the Earth has passed through three prior incarnations (Saturn, Sun, Moon) and is now in its fourth incarnation (Earth proper). Each prior incarnation was the development of one of the four members of the human being: the physical body on Old Saturn, the etheric on Old Sun, the astral on Old Moon, and the ego on present Earth. The four faces of the cherubim represent these four phases integrated at a cosmic level: the cherubim carry within their fourfold nature the complete developmental history of the Earth and humanity, and they work to align the present Earth's development with this cosmic wisdom.
For a deeper understanding of how Steiner's hierarchy of spiritual beings relates to the Neoplatonist tradition, see our article on emanation in Neoplatonism. The article on seraphim provides the context for understanding the first hierarchy as a whole.
The Four Faces Contemplation: A Practice
The four faces of the cherubim offer a contemplative practice that is rooted in one of the most ancient mystical traditions: the meditation on cosmic wholeness through the symbol of the fourfold creature. This practice does not require any particular religious commitment; it draws on the universal symbolic resonance of the four qualities the faces represent.
The Four Qualities of the Cherubic Wholeness
Before beginning, familiarise yourself with what each face represents as an inner quality: the human face as clear, self-aware intelligence; the lion as noble strength and generous courage; the ox as patient, steadfast endurance and willingness to serve; the eagle as the capacity to perceive from a height, to see the whole rather than only the part. These are not merely symbolic; they are actual soul capacities that the contemplation can help develop and integrate.
The Contemplation
Sit quietly with your spine upright. Begin with the human face, located in front of you. Feel into the quality of clear self-aware intelligence: the capacity to know what you are doing and why, to act from full presence rather than from habit or reaction. Breathe with it. Then turn inwardly to the lion at your right: strength, nobility, the courage to be fully what you are. Breathe with it. Then turn to the ox at your left: patient endurance, the willingness to serve something larger than immediate gratification. Breathe with it. Then the eagle above and behind you: the capacity to perceive from height, to see the pattern and the meaning of what is happening in the larger frame. Breathe with it. Then allow all four qualities to be simultaneously present: the whole cherubic being, all four faces, all four qualities integrated in a single orientation toward the divine. Remain in this quality of fourfold wholeness for two to three minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are cherubim?
Cherubim are among the highest orders of angels in the biblical and angelological traditions, characterised by profound wisdom, the guardianship of sacred space, and the transmission of divine knowledge. They appear throughout the Hebrew Bible: guarding Eden's entrance, hovering over the Ark of the Covenant, bearing the divine throne in Ezekiel's vision, and appearing as the four living creatures in Revelation 4. Rudolf Steiner called them Spirits of Harmony, the second order of the first hierarchy.
What does cherubim mean?
The Hebrew kerub (plural kerubim, Anglicised as cherubim) likely derives from the Akkadian karibu, referring to the winged guardian figures stationed at temple gates in Mesopotamian culture. The karibu were described as "ones who intercede," beings of immense power permanently stationed at the threshold between the human and the divine. The Hebrew kerub carries this sense of a threshold guardian of sacred space, combining awesome power with wisdom and the specific function of marking and protecting the boundary of the divine presence.
Where do cherubim appear in the Bible?
Cherubim appear in Genesis 3 (guarding Eden), Exodus 25 (over the Ark of the Covenant), 1 Kings 6 (in Solomon's Temple as giant olive-wood figures), Psalm 18:10 (God riding on a cherub), Ezekiel 1 and 10 (the chariot vision with four-faced, four-winged living creatures), and Revelation 4 (four living creatures around the divine throne). They are present in more biblical contexts than any other named angelic order.
What do cherubim look like?
Biblical descriptions vary. The Ark of the Covenant's cherubim are humanoid golden figures with wings. Ezekiel's cherubim have four faces (human, lion, ox, eagle), four wings, straight legs, calves' feet, and the appearance of burnished bronze; they are covered with many eyes representing omniscience. John's four living creatures in Revelation 4 are similar: lion, ox, human face, and eagle, each with six wings and covered in eyes. None of these descriptions bear any resemblance to the chubby winged infants of Renaissance art, which are Greek-Roman putti, not biblical cherubim.
What do the four faces of the cherubim mean?
The four faces (human, lion, ox, eagle) represent the highest types within the four orders of living creatures, fully integrated in a single being oriented toward the divine. The human face represents wisdom and self-aware intelligence; the lion represents noble strength and sovereignty; the ox represents patient service and endurance; the eagle represents transcendence and spiritual vision. Together, they represent the totality of the living world at its highest expression. Steiner connected them to the four members of the human being in their cosmic ideal form.
What is Merkabah mysticism?
Merkabah mysticism is a major current of Jewish esoteric tradition centred on Ezekiel's chariot vision (Merkabah = chariot in Hebrew). Practitioners sought to ascend through the seven heavenly palaces (Hekhalot) to the divine throne and directly contemplate the cherubic chariot. The tradition flourished from approximately the 1st century BCE through the 7th century CE and left a substantial body of texts including the Hekhalot Rabbati and Hekhalot Zutarti. The cherubim as throne-bearers were the ultimate object of the Merkabah mystic's contemplation.
What is the difference between cherubim and seraphim?
Seraphim are beings of fire and love, continuously adoring divine holiness and purifying those who enter the divine presence. Cherubim are beings of knowledge and wisdom, guarding sacred space and transmitting divine intelligence. In Steiner's angelology, seraphim are Spirits of Love and cherubim are Spirits of Harmony. Seraphim appear once in the canonical texts; cherubim appear throughout. The popular images of both have been distorted: the infantile "cherub" has no biblical basis, and the seraphim are not generic winged humans but six-winged fire beings.
What did Rudolf Steiner say about cherubim?
Steiner called the cherubim Spirits of Harmony (Geister der Harmonie), placing them in the second position of the first hierarchy. He described them as receiving the divine creative will from the seraphim, already transfigured by seraphic love, and transmitting it as cosmic wisdom: the pattern and plan by which creation is structured. The many eyes of Ezekiel's cherubim represent, in Steiner's reading, their omniscience as beings who carry the divine thought itself as their own nature. He also connected the four faces to the four members of the human being and to the four phases of Earth's evolution.
The Threshold You Are Approaching
Every genuine spiritual threshold in the human life, the threshold of genuine self-knowledge, the threshold of real compassion, the threshold of honest encounter with the sacred, is guarded by something like the cherubic principle. Not to prevent your passing but to ensure that what passes is genuinely ready for what lies beyond. The many-eyed wisdom of the cherubim sees you clearly, in all four directions at once, with the comprehension that comes from carrying the divine thought itself. Standing at any genuine threshold, that seeing is not a threat. It is the most honest welcome you will ever receive.
Sources & References
- Steiner, R. (1909). The Spiritual Hierarchies and Their Reflection in the Physical World (GA 110). Anthroposophic Press.
- Steiner, R. (1909). Occult Science: An Outline (GA 13). Rudolf Steiner Press.
- Steiner, R. (1908). The Apocalypse of St John (GA 104). Rudolf Steiner Press.
- Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. (c. 500 CE / 1987). The Celestial Hierarchy. Paulist Press.
- Schaefer, P. (1992). The Hidden and Manifest God: Some Major Themes in Early Jewish Mysticism. SUNY Press.
- Davidson, G. (1967). A Dictionary of Angels, Including the Fallen Angels. Free Press.
- Halperin, D. (1988). The Faces of the Chariot: Early Jewish Responses to Ezekiel's Vision. Mohr Siebeck.
- Keel, O. (1977). Jahwe-Visionen und Siegelkunst. Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk.