1:10 Their faces had this appearance: Each of the four had the face of a man, with the face of a lion on the right, the face of an ox on the left and also the face of an eagle. 1
“‘A great eagle 5 with broad wings, long feathers, 6
with full plumage which was multi-hued, 7
came to Lebanon 8 and took the top of the cedar.
17:7 “‘There was another great eagle 9
with broad wings and thick plumage.
Now this vine twisted its roots toward him
and sent its branches toward him
to be watered from the soil where it was planted.
1 tc The MT has an additional word at the beginning of v. 11, וּפְנֵיהֶם (ufÿnehem, “and their faces”), which is missing from the LXX. As the rest of the verse only applies to wings, “their faces” would have to somehow be understood in the previous clause. But this would be very awkward and is doubly problematic since “their faces” are already introduced as the topic at the beginning of v. 10. The Hebrew scribe appears to have copied the phrase “and their faces and their wings” from v. 8, where it introduces the content of 9-11. Only “and (as for) their wings” belongs here.
2 tn Heb “each one”; the referent (the cherubim) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 sn The living creature described here is thus slightly different from the one described in Ezek 1:10, where a bull’s face appeared instead of a cherub’s. Note that some English versions harmonize the two descriptions and read the same here as in 1:10 (cf. NAB, NLT “an ox”; TEV, CEV “a bull”). This may be justified based on v. 22, which states the creatures’ appearance was the same.
4 tn The parable assumes the defection of Zedekiah to Egypt and his rejection of Babylonian lordship.
5 sn The great eagle symbolizes Nebuchadnezzar (17:12).
6 tn Hebrew has two words for wings; it is unknown whether they are fully synonymous or whether one term distinguishes a particular part of the wing such as the wing coverts (nearest the shoulder), secondaries (mid-feathers of the wing) or primaries (last and longest section of the wing).
7 tn This term was used in 16:10, 13, and 18 of embroidered cloth.
8 sn In the parable Lebanon apparently refers to Jerusalem (17:12).
9 sn The phrase another great eagle refers to Pharaoh Hophra.