χερούβ

Forms

χερούβ (kheroúb) n or m (genitive χερούβ); irregular declension^[1] Plural χερουβίμ (kheroubím), also χερουβείμ (kheroubeím), χερουβίν (kheroubín), χερουβείν (kheroubeín), and Josephus writes Χερουβεῖς.^[2][3]

Etymology

borrowed from Biblical Hebrew כְּרוּב (kərūḇ), plural כְּרוּבִים (kərūḇīm), which gave the Greek plural χερουβίμ (kheroubím).^[1][2][4] The Hebrew word is perhaps related to an Akkadian verb meaning "to bless"; others explain it as "hybrid" or, with the consonants reversed, as "mount, steed".^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found first in the Septuagint, of the winged figures that guard the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24) and stand over the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25:18–19).^[2][7] It is indeclinable and usually neuter, τὰ χερουβίμ, more rarely masculine.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Philo and Josephus use it of the cherubim over the ark, Josephus with the Greek plural Χερουβεῖς, and the Epistle to the Hebrews (9:5) speaks of "the cherubim of glory".^[2][7] The magical papyri use it in invocations, "upon the cherubim".^[2]

In Christian Greek the cherubim became one of the orders of angels, and the Byzantine liturgy named the Cherubic Hymn after them (Modern Greek χερουβικό (cherouvikó)).^[6] It was borrowed as Latin cherub, the source of English cherub (late 14th century); Old English had cerubin, from the Greek plural.^[5][1]

Timeline

• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Philo uses τὰ χερουβίμ of the figures over the ark.^[2][8]
• 1st century AD – The Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of "the cherubim of glory", and Josephus uses the plural Χερουβεῖς.^[2][9]
• 3rd century AD – Origen uses the plural χερουβείν.^[9]
• Late 14th century – English cherub is recorded as the name of an order of angels.^[5]
• Modern Greek – χερουβίμ (cherouvím) names an order of angels.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cherub, one of the winged figures guarding Eden and over the ark of the covenant; chiefly in the plural.^[2][10][1]
2. (Christian) One of the orders of angels.^[6][5]

Related words

• Latin cherub
• English cherub

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
3. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
4. ^ Strong, James (1890), A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament, in The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, New York: Hunt & Eaton
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
7. ^ a b c Thayer, Joseph Henry (1889), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, New York: American Book Company
8. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
9. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.