Psalms 18:10

And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly,.... The Targum renders it in the plural number, "cherubim"; and so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions; and by whom may be meant, either the angels,

And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. He rode upon a cherub - see note, Ezekiel 1:6.

Upon a cherub; or, upon the cherubims, by an enallage of number; that is, upon the angels, who are so called, , who are also called God’ s chariots, , upon which he is said to sit and ride; all which is not to be understood grossly, but only to note God’ s using of the ministry of angels in raising such storms and tempests as are here described. Upon the wings of the wind; as swiftly as the wind. He came to my rescue with all speed.

Psalms 18:10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.Ver. 10. And he rode upon a cherub] Which word hath affinity with rechub, a chariot. Hereby is noted God’ s swiftness in coming to succour David. He waits to be gracious, and when it is a fit season he comes leaping and skipping over the mountains of Bether or division, all lets and impediments. Gabriel came to Daniel with weariness of flight, Daniel 9:21. He did fly upon the wings of the wind] For, by the ministry of angels, God raiseth and stilleth the winds (Vatablus).

(10) Cherub.—See Exodus 25:19. This passage alone would show how naturally the idea of winged attendants on the Divine Being grew out of the phenomena of cloud and storm. No doubt many features of the developed conception were derived from contact with Assyrian art, but for the poetry of this passage we have only to think of those giant pinions into which cloud so often shapes itself, this clause being in close parallelism with “wings of the wind.” The variation in Samuel, “appeared” for “did fly,” is, no doubt, a transcriber’s error. For the picture we may compare Oceanus’ approach in Prometheus Vinctus:—“On the back of the quick-winged bird I glode, And I bridled him in With the will of a God.” MRS. ’S translation.It has been, however, conjectured that for kherûb we should read rekhûb, “chariot,” as in Psalms 104:3. Comp. “And rushed forth on my chariot of wings manifold.”—ibid.

Verse 10. He rode upon a cherub, and did fly] - That is, as it is immediately explained, Yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. God was in the storm, and by the ministry of angels guided the course of it, and drove it on with such an impetuous force as nothing could withstand. He 'rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm.' Angels are in a peculiar sense the attendants and messengers of the Almighty, whom he employs as his ministers in effecting many of those great events which take place in the administration of his providence; and particularly such as manifest his immediate interposition in the extraordinary judgments which he inflicts for the punishment of sinful nations. See Psalms 103:20; Psalms 104:4. The cherub is particularly mentioned as an emblem of the Divine presence, and especially as employed in supporting and conveying the chariot of the Almighty, when he is represented as riding in his majesty through the firmament of heaven: - -Forth rush'd with whirlwind sound The chariot of paternal Deity; Flashing thick flames, wheel within wheel undrawn, Itself instinct with spirit, but convey'd By four cherubic shapes. Par. Lost, lib. vi. This seems to be the image intended to be conveyed in the place before us. "He rode upon a cherub, and did fly; he flew on the wings of the wind," i.e., the cherub supported and led on the tempest, in which the Almighty rode as in his chariot. This is agreeable to the office elsewhere ascribed to the cherubim. Thus they supported the mercy-seat, which was peculiarly the throne of God under the Jewish economy. God is expressly said to "make the clouds his chariot," Psalms 104:3; and to "ride upon a swift cloud," Isaiah 19:1: so that "riding upon a cherub," and "riding upon a swift cloud," is riding in the cloud as his chariot, supported and guided by the ministry of the cherubim. The next clause in the parallel place of Samuel is, "He was seen on the wings of the wind;" ירא yera, he was seen, being used for ידא yede, he flew, ד daleth being changed into ר resh. Either of them may be the true reading, for the MSS. are greatly divided on these places; but on the whole וירא vaiyera appears to be the better reading: "And he was seen on the wings of the wind." As the original has been supposed by adequate judges to exhibit a fine specimen of that poetry which, in the choice of its terms, conveys both sense and sound, I will again lay it before the reader, as I have done in the parallel place, 2 Samuel 22:2. The words in italic Hebrew to be read from right to left. ויעף כרוב על וירכב vaiyaoph kerub al vayirkab And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly! רוח כנפי על וידא ruach canphey al waiyede Yea, he flew on the wings of the wind!

10. As the Shechinah, or mystic Presence of Jehovah in the cloud of glory, rested over the cherubim which were upon the “Mercy-seat” or covering of the ark (2 Samuel 6:2; Psalms 80:1; Hebrews 9:5), so here Jehovah is represented “riding upon a cherub,” as the living throne on which He traverses space. The Cherubim appear in Scripture (a) as the guardians of Paradise (Genesis 3:24): (b) as sculptured or wrought figures in the Tabernacle and Temple (Exodus 25:17-22; Exodus 26:1; 1 Kings 6:23 ff; 1 Kings 7:29; 1 Kings 7:36): (c) in prophetic visions as the attendants of God (Ezekiel 10:1 ff.; cp. Ezekiel 1; Isaiah 6; Revelation 4). The Cherubim of the Tabernacle and Temple seem to have been winged human figures, representing the angelic attendants who minister in God’s Presence: those of Ezekiel’s vision appear as composite figures (Ezekiel 10:20-21), symbolical perhaps of all the powers of nature, which wait upon God and fulfil His Will. yea, he did fly] R.V. yea, he flew swiftly. The Heb. word is a peculiar one, used of the swooping of birds of prey (Deuteronomy 28:49; Jeremiah 48:40; Jeremiah 49:22). The reading “yea, he was seen” in 2 Sam. is an obvious corruption. The consonants of the two words are so nearly alike (ειψΰ—ειγΰ), that the rarer word would easily be altered into the more common one. For “the wings of the wind” cp. Psalms 104:3.

And he rode upon a cherub - Compare Isaiah 14:13, note; Isaiah 37:16, note.

10. He rode upon a cherub—The plural is cherubim, and the word commonly occurs in this form.