He mounted ¹  a winged angel ²  and flew; he glided ³  on the wings of the wind. ⁴ 

biblegateway Psa 18:10

He rode upon a cherub and flew; And He sped upon the wings of the wind.

He rode on a cherub and flew, soaring on the wings of the wind.

He rode on one of the angels as he flew, and he soared on the wings of the wind.

biblegateway Psa 18:10

He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.

He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.

bibleoremus Psa 18:10

He rode on a cherub, and flew; he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.

He flew on the back of a cherub; he swooped on the wings of the wind.

biblegateway Psa 18:10

And He rode upon a cherub, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind.

And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

biblegateway Psa 18:10

He mounted ¹  a winged angel ²  and flew; he glided ³  on the wings of the wind. ⁴ 

¹ tn Or “rode upon.”

² tn Heb “a cherub.” Because of the typical associations of the word “cherub” in English with chubby winged babies, the term has been rendered “winged angel” in the translation.

² sn Winged angel (Heb “cherub”). Cherubs, as depicted in the OT, possess both human and animal (lion, ox, and eagle) characteristics (see Ezek 1:10; 10:14, 21; 41:18). They are pictured as winged creatures (Exod 25:20; 37:9; 1 Kgs 6:24-27; Ezek 10:8, 19) and serve as the very throne of God when the ark of the covenant is in view (Pss 80:1; 99:1; see Num 7:89; 1 Sam 4:4; 2 Sam 6:2; 2 Kgs 19:15). The picture of the Lord seated on the cherubs suggests they might be used by him as a vehicle, a function they carry out in Ezek 1:22-28 (the “living creatures” mentioned here are identified as cherubs in Ezek 10:20). In Ps 18:10 the image of a cherub serves to personify the wind (see the next line of the psalm).

³ tc 2 Sam 22:11 reads “appeared” (from רָאָה, ra’ah); the relatively rare verb דָאָה (da’ah, “glide”) is more difficult and probably the original reading here in Ps 18.

⁴ sn The wings of the wind. Verse 10 may depict (1) the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option (2) is that two different vehicles (a cherub and the wind) are envisioned. Yet another option (3) is that the wind is personified as a cherub. For a discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in v. 10, see M. Weinfeld, “‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” JANESCU 5 (1973): 422-24.