What Does Ezekiel 10:5 Mean?
And the sound of the cherubim's wings was heard even to the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.THE KEY
The Hebrew repeats קוֹל (qol) for both the cherubim’s “sound” and the Almighty’s “voice,” placing wing-noise and divine speech in one audible field.
THE MEANING
The wings’ sound reaches the outer court and is compared to the voice of the Almighty speaking. What is heard there carries the force of that comparison across the boundary of the court.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse loosens the assumption that the wings make only background noise: their sound is compared to the Almighty’s voice as he speaks.
THE ROOT
קוֹל
qol
GROWS FROM
קול
qol
sound, voice, or audible call
The KJV renders this Hebrew word as “sound” for the wings and “voice” for the Almighty. Hebrew repeats קוֹל (qol) in both places, so the comparison joins them through one word.
ALSO GROWS
qol: sound, voice, or cry
קוֹל
This is the word used for both the wings’ sound and the Almighty’s voice.
qolot: sounds or voices; also used for thunderclaps
קוֹלוֹת
Its plural keeps varied audible events within the same sound-and-voice field.
נִשְׁמַע
nishma
GROWS FROM
שמע
shama
to hear, listen, or receive sound
The sound does not remain enclosed with the cherubim; it is heard as far as the outer court. The root keeps attention on sound received across distance.
ALSO GROWS
shama: to hear or listen
שָׁמַע
It names the hearing through which the wings’ sound reaches the court.
shemuah: a report or tidings, something heard and conveyed
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch shows how hearing can carry sound onward as something received.
בְּדַבְּרוֹ
bedabbero
GROWS FROM
דבר
dabar
to speak; word or matter
“speaketh” in this verse is bedabbero. The Almighty is described in the act of speaking, and Hebrew uses the same root that forms דָּבָר (davar), “word” or “matter.” The verse’s comparison is between an audible sound and speech that bears a word.
ALSO GROWS
dibber: to speak or utter
דִּבֵּר
This is the speaking named at the end of the verse.
davar: word, matter, or thing
דָּבָר
The related noun links speaking with the word or matter carried in speech.
THE PATTERN
Scripture lets sounds in the created world share the same audible field as divine voice.
And when they walked, I heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the voice of one speaking, like the din of a camp. When they stood, they let their wings drop.The voice of the LORD is upon the waters. The God of weight thunders. The LORD is upon many waters.And on the third day, in the morning, there were thunders and flashes, and a heavy cloud upon the mount, and the sound of the ram's horn was very strong, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.THE THREAD
And when they walked, I heard the sound of their wings, like the sound of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the voice of one speaking, like the din of a camp. When they stood, they let their wings drop.This verse repeats קוֹל (qol) across the wings’ noise and the Almighty’s voice, while Ezekiel 1:24 makes the wing-sound likeness even more explicit. Together they let the same sound be heard through wings, waters, and speech.
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