In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 23. Olive. Hebrew “trees full of oil or resin,” distinguished from olive trees. 2 Ezra 8:15. Vatab. 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, ( Bible.) covering the smaller cherubim of Moses. They only reached half the height of the sanctuary. Their form is not clearly ascertained. See Exodus 25:18. 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? Bible.—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 temple, the cherubim had two faces, one of a man and another of a lion, each looking at palm-trees; as these were placed alternately with cherubim, round the walls. Ezekiel 41:18. 19.
“Cherubim” is plural of “cherub”, an angelic being.