Philo Judaeus, De Cherubim, ed. Leopold Cohn, 25

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[25] τὸ δ’ ἄνευ θεοῦ ψεκτόν. 8 τὰ μὲν δὴ Χερουβὶμ καθ’ ἕνα τρόπον οὕτως ἀλληγορεῖται· ῥομφαίαν δὲ φλογίνην καὶ στρεφομένην τὴν κίνησιν
αὐτῶν καὶ τοῦ παντὸς οὐρανοῦ τὴν ἀίδιον φορὰν ὑποτοπητέον λέγεσθαι. μήποτε δὲ καθ’ ἑτέραν ἐκδοχὴν τὰ μὲν Χερουβὶμ δηλοῖ τῶν ἡμισφαιρίων ἑκάτερον· καὶ γὰρ ἀντιπρόσωπά φησιν εἶναι νεύοντα πρὸς τὸ ἱλαστήριον πτεροῖς (Exod. 25, 19), ἐπειδὴ καὶ ταῦτα ἀντικρὺ μέν ἐστιν ἀλλήλων, νένευκε δὲ ἐπὶ γῆν τὸ μέσον τοῦ παντός, ᾧ καὶ διακρίνεται·

De Cherubim. Philo Judaeus. ed. Leopold Cohn. Germany. 2014.

Funding provided by European Social Fund Saxony.

Current edition First1KGreek

De Cherubim (Greek) (Philo Judaeus. Opera quae supersunt, Volume 1. Cohn, Leonard, editor. Berlin: Reimer, 1896.)

Translations (1)

On the Cherubim; and on the Flaming Sword; and on the First-Born Child of Man, Cain First1KGreek (The works of Philo Judaeus, the contemporary of Josephus, Volume 1. Yonge, C. D., translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854.) — 25 focus

This, then, is one of the systems, according to which what is said of the cherubim may be understood allegorically. But we must suppose that the sword, consisting of flame and always turning in every direction, intimates their motion and the everlasting agitation of the entire heaven. And may we not say, according to another way of understanding this allegory, that the two cherubim are meant as symbols of each of the hemispheres? For they say that they stand face to face, inclining towards the mercy-seat; since the two hemispheres are also exactly opposite to one another, and incline towards the earth which is the centre of the whole universe, by which, also, they are kept apart from one another.

Philo Judaeus De Cherubim 25

ed. Leopold Cohn

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