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Document Details : Title: Cherub Subtitle: A History of Interpretation Author(s): EICHLER, Raanan Journal: Biblica Volume: 96 Issue: 1 Date: 2015 Pages: 26-38 DOI: 10.2143/BIB.96.1.3183407 Abstract : The cherub is a type of creature mentioned some 90 times in the Hebrew Bible, where it is portrayed as a predominant motif in Israelite iconography. This paper surveys the attempts to determine the form of the cherub, in both textual and iconographic sources, from the fourth century to the twenty-first. The cherub has been interpreted as a winged human (child or adult), a bird, a winged bovine, a griffin, a winged sphinx, and a composite creature in general. The last two identifications, which prevail in contemporary scholarship, are rejected, and a path to a correct identification is proposed. |
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