And within the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.
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Bede
AD 735
“Cherubim,” as the prophet Ezekiel explicitly declares, is a title of dignity, and in the singular number the form cherub is used, but cherubim in the plural. Hence the figures of the cherubim that were made in the oracle can be appropriately taken to mean the angelic retinues that always wait on their Creator in heaven. And they are properly said to have been made of olive wood because, of course, angelic virtues are anointed with the grace of the Holy Spirit lest they should ever grow arid in the love of God. For they are those fellow companions of ours of whom the prophet speaks in his praise of Christ: “God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.” In figurative terms it was quite right that those whom their Creator later filled with the light of heavenly wisdom were made of olive wood. That is why he wanted them called cherub, which means in Latin “a great store of knowledge.” And they are ten cubits high because they enjoy the denarius of eternal lif...
Olive. Hebrew, "trees full of oil or resin "distinguished from olive trees, 2 Esdras viii. 15. Vatable translates, "pine "others, "cypress-wood. "(Calmet)
Height. Their gigantic stature served to denote the magnificence and greatness of God. They looked towards the east. (Menochius)
Their wings extended equalled their height; so that the two cherubims occupied the whole space from north to south, (Haydock) covering the smaller cherubim of Moses. They only reached half the height of the sanctuary. Their form is not clearly ascertained. See Exodus xxv. 18. (Calmet)
What will the Iconoclasts say to these images, which adorned not only the temple, which the people might behold, but also the most sacred place? (Haydock)
Villalpand and Salien suppose, that a cherub resembled a young man in the higher parts, adorned with four wings of an eagle and a lion's skin, round his breast and shoulders, while his feet were like those of a calf. (Menochius)
Ezechiel seems to insinuate that, in the ...
