פני שור או פני הכרוב?

מאת: אבנר רמו

אל: avnerramu @ aol.com

The initial vision of the Prophet Ezekiel by the river Chebar includes:
וארא והנה רוח סערה באה מן-הצפון, ענן גדול ואש מתלקחת, ונגה לו סביב; ומתוכה--כעין החשמל, מתוך האש.
ומתוכה--דמות ארבע חיות; וזה מראיהן--דמות אדם להנה.
וארבעה פנים לאחת; וארבע כנפים לאחת להם.
“And I looked, and, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with a fire flashing up, so that brightness was round about it; and out of the midst thereof as the color of electrum, out of the midst of the fire.
And out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.
And every one had four faces, and every one of them had four wings” (Eze 1:4-6).

ודמות פניהם, פני אדם ופני אריה אל-הימין לארבעתם, ופני-שור מהשמאול לארבעתן; ופני-נשר לארבעתן.
“As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man; and they four had the face of a lion on the right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four had also the face of an eagle” (Eze 1:10).

Several chapters later the Prophet had another vision were he saw four cherubim and then he realized:
היא החיה אשר ראיתי תחת אלהי-ישראל--בנהר-כבר; ואדע כי כרובים המה.
ארבעה ארבעה פנים לאחד, וארבע כנפים לאחד; ודמות ידי אדם תחת כנפיהם.
ודמות פניהם--המה הפנים אשר ראיתי על-נהר-כבר,
“This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim.
Everyone had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar” (Eze 10:20-22).
However we read that in this vision the faces of each of the cherubim are:
וארבעה פנים לאחד: פני האחד פני הכרוב, ופני השני פני אדם, והשלישי פני אריה, והרביעי פני-נשר.
וירמו הכרובים--היא החיה אשר ראיתי בנהר-כבר.
“And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
And the cherubim mounted up--this is the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar” (Eze 10:14-15).

It is not clear why the פני-שור - “face of an ox” mentioned in the first description does not appear in the second one. We also have to wonder why the פני הכרוב - “face of the cherub” appearing in the second description is not mentioned in of the description of the “living creatures” of the first vision. Apparently the Greek translators were also wondering about this discrepancy. Their solution was to omit altogether verse Eze 10:14 from the translation.