כרוב

Forms

כְּרוּב (kərûḇ) noun, masculine, plural כְּרוּבִים^[1][3] Plural כְּרוּבִים, also written defectively כְּרֻבִים.^[4][5]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[6] Most scholars connect it with the verb Akkadian karābu (“to pray, bless, pay homage”): its participle kāribu, “one who prays, intercessor”, and the noun kurību, a protective spirit with non-human features whose figures stood at the entrances of Assyrian buildings.^[5][6][7][8] Tawil and Huehnergard note that this verb corresponds to the West Semitic root with the consonants in another order, Hebrew בָּרַךְ (bāraḵ, “to bless”).^[8][9][10] SAHD judges that the shared apotropaic role supports the link with the Assyrian figures, but that the evidence does not prove it; it also mentions a possible connection with the Semitic root ⟨k-r-b⟩ “to plough”, since the cherubim are associated with gardens and sacred trees.^[6] HALOT and BDB also cite Sabaean krb (“to sacrifice”), and BDB rejects the older derivation from Ancient Greek γρύψ (grúps, “griffin”) or a Persian word.^[5][4]

The word was borrowed from Hebrew into Classical Syriac ܟܪܘܿܒܵܐ (krōḇā),^[11] and then into Arabic and Ge'ez ኪሩብ (kirub), directly or by way of Ancient Greek χερούβ (kheroúb).^[5][12] The plural Punic krbm (“cherubs”) occurs in a temple inscription from Carthage.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun occurs 91 times.^[1] Two of these are in the royal psalm that Sáenz-Badillos counts among the archaic poems (2 Samuel 22:11 = Psalm 18:11), where God wayyirkaḇ ʿal-kərûḇ wayyāʿōp̄, “rode on a cherub and flew”, parallel to the wind's wings: BDB calls the cherub here the living chariot of God, perhaps identified with the storm wind.^[14][1][4]

Semantic evolution

In the narrative of Genesis 3:24 the cherubim guard the way to the tree of life in the garden of Eden, and Ezekiel places a cherub on the mountain of God (Ezekiel 28:14, 16).^[5][4] Most uses describe images: two golden cherubim on the cover of the ark (Exodus 25:18–22), two great figures of olive wood in Solomon's inner sanctuary (1 Kings 6:23–28), and cherubim woven into the curtains or carved on the walls among palm trees and flowers.^[15][4] From the ark comes God's title yōšēḇ hakkərûḇîm, “enthroned on the cherubim” (1 Samuel 4:4).^[5][15] In Ezekiel 1 and 10 they become the living creatures that carry the divine throne.^[15]

The Septuagint transcribes the word rather than translating it.^[1] The Dead Sea Scrolls use it 56 times, among them the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice.^[16] In Syriac Christian usage the cherubim became one of the orders of angels.^[11] The word lives on as Modern Hebrew כרוב (kruv).^[3]

Timeline

• Archaic Hebrew poetry – God riding on a cherub (2 Samuel 22:11 = Psalm 18:11).^[14][1]
• Classical Biblical Hebrew – 29 occurrences in Genesis to Kings: the cherubim of Eden, of the ark and of Solomon's temple.^[1][4]
• Prophets – 23 occurrences, most of them in Ezekiel's visions.^[1][15]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – the Septuagint transcribes it.^[17][1]
• 2nd century BC – 2nd century AD – 56 occurrences in the Dead Sea Scrolls.^[18][16]

Meanings

Noun

1. a cherub, a winged being that guards a holy place, as at the garden of Eden.^[5][4]
2. a figure of a cherub on the ark, in the temple, or woven and carved as ornament.^[4][15]
3. a bearer of God's throne or chariot, in poetry and in Ezekiel's visions.^[4][15]

Descendants

• Classical Syriac ܟܪܘܿܒܵܐ (krōḇā)^[11]
• Arabic كَرُوبِيّ (karūbiyy)^[3]
• Ancient Greek χερούβ (kheroúb)^[3]
• Ge'ez ኪሩብ (kirub)^[12]
• Modern Hebrew כרוב (kruv)^[3]

Usage notes

A place in Babylonia called כְּרוּב (Ezra 2:59, Nehemiah 7:61) is listed separately by HALOT and BDB.^[19][20] Post-biblical Hebrew has a homonym כְּרוּב “cabbage”, borrowed from Ancient Greek κράμβη (krámbē).^[10][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Clear Bible (2023–), MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets (Westminster Leningrad Codex, with Greek alignment), github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-hebrew, CC BY 4.0
2. ^ Højgaard, Christian Canu; Naaijer, Martijn; Schorch, Stefan (2023), Text-Fabric Dataset of the Samaritan Pentateuch, Zenodo, doi:10.5281/zenodo.7734632
3. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Brown, Francis; Driver, S. R.; Briggs, Charles A. (1906), A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. כְּרוּב²
5. ^ a b c d e f g Koehler, Ludwig; Baumgartner, Walter; Stamm, Johann Jakob (1994–2000), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, transl. and ed. M. E. J. Richardson, 5 vols, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. כְּרוּב
6. ^ a b c Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database (SAHD), online edition, sahd-online.com (articles by individual authors, dated), p. s.v. כְּרוּב
7. ^ Gelb, Ignace J., et al., eds. (1956–2010), The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 21 vols, Chicago: Oriental Institute, p. K 559
8. ^ a b Tawil, Hayim ben Yosef (2009), An Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebrew: Etymological-Semantic and Idiomatic Equivalents, Jersey City: Ktav, p. 173
9. ^ Huehnergard, John (2011), "Proto-Semitic Language and Culture" and "Semitic Roots", in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b Klein, Ernest (1987), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English, Jerusalem: Carta; Haifa: University of Haifa, p. s.v. כְּרוּב
11. ^ a b c Sokoloff, Michael (2009), A Syriac Lexicon, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns; Piscataway: Gorgias Press, p. 647
12. ^ a b Leslau, Wolf (1987), Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, p. 290
13. ^ Krahmalkov, Charles R. (2000), Phoenician-Punic Dictionary, Leuven: Peeters (OLA 90), p. s.v. krb
14. ^ a b Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 69
15. ^ a b c d e f Gesenius, Wilhelm; Buhl, Frants (1915), Hebräisches und aramäisches Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament, 17th ed., Leipzig: F. C. W. Vogel, p. s.v. כְּרוּב
16. ^ a b Abegg, Martin G.; Jacobs, Jarod; Roorda, Dirk (2022), The Dead Sea Scrolls, Text-Fabric dataset, version 2.0.2, github.com/ETCBC/dss
17. ^ Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 93
18. ^ Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 143
19. ^ Koehler, Ludwig; Baumgartner, Walter; Stamm, Johann Jakob (1994–2000), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, transl. and ed. M. E. J. Richardson, 5 vols, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. כְרוּב
20. ^ Brown, Francis; Driver, S. R.; Briggs, Charles A. (1906), A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. כְּרוּב