Page:A critical and exegetical commentary on Genesis (1910).djvu/192



of the winged bulls of Assyrian palaces, seems to be definitely disproved (see Je. 218).—A great part of the OT symbolism could be explained from the hypothesis that the Cherubim were originally wind-demons, like the Harpies of Greek mythology (Harrison, Prol. 178 ff.). The most suggestive analogy to this verse is perhaps to be found in the winged genii often depicted by the side of the tree of life in Babylonian art. These figures are usually human in form with human heads, but sometimes combine the human form with an eagle's head, and occasionally the human head with an animal body. They are shown in the act of fecundating the date-palm by transferring the pollen of the male tree to the flower of the female; and hence it has been conjectured that they are personifications of the winds, by whose agency the fertilisation of the palm is effected in nature (Tylor, PSBA, xii. 383 ff.). Starting with this clue, we can readily explain (1) the function of the Cherub as the living chariot of Yahwe, or bearer of the Theophany, in Ps. 18$11$ (2 Sa. 22$11$). It is a personification of the storm-wind on which Yahwe rides, just as the Babylonian storm-god Zû was figured as a bird-deity. The theory that it was a personification of the thunder-cloud is a mere conjecture based on Ps. 18$11f.$, and has no more intrinsic probability than that here suggested. (2) The association of the winged figures with the Tree of Life in Babylonian art would naturally lead to the belief that the Cherubim were denizens of Paradise (Ezk. 28$14. 16$), and guardians of the Tree (as in this passage). (3) Thence they came to be viewed as guardians of sacred things and places generally, like the composite figures placed at the entrances of Assyrian temples and palaces to prevent the approach of evil spirits. To this category belong probably in the first instance the colossal Cherubim of Solomon's temple (1 Ki. 6$23ff.$ 8{6f.}), and the miniatures on the lid of the ark in the Tabernacle (Ex. 25$18ff.$ etc.); but a trace of the primary conception appears in the alternation of cherubim and palm-trees in the temple decoration (1 Ki. 6$29ff.$, Ezk. 41$18ff.$; see, further, 1 Ki. 7$29ff.$, Ex. 26$1. 31$). (4) The most difficult embodiment of the idea is found in the Cherubim of Ezekiel's visions—four composite creatures combining the features of the ox, the lion, the man, and the eagle (Ezk. 1$5ff.$ 10$1ff.$). These may represent primarily the 'four winds of heaven'; but the complex symbolism of the Merkābāh shows that they have some deeper cosmic significance. Gu. (p. 20) thinks that an older form of the representation is preserved in Apoc. 4$6ff.$, where the four animal types are kept distinct. These he connects with the four constellations of the Zodiac which mark the four quarters of the heavens: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio (in the earliest astronomy a scorpion-man), and Aquila (near Aquarius). See KAT$3$, 631 f.   The Origin and Significance of the Paradise Legend.

1. Ethnic parallels.—The Babylonian version of the Fall of man (if any such existed) has not yet been discovered. There is in the British Museum a much-debated seal-cylinder which is often cited as evidence that a legend very similar to the biblical narrative was current in Babylonia. It shows two completely clothed figures seated on either