In the fire ¹  were what looked like ²  four living beings. ³  In their appearance they had human form, ⁴ 

biblegateway Eze 1:5

Within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form.

The form of four living creatures came from it. And this was their appearance: They had human form,

In the center of the cloud I saw what looked like four living creatures. They were shaped like humans,

biblegateway Eze 1:5

and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was that of a man,

And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness,

bibleoremus Eze 1:5

In the middle of it was something like four living creatures. This was their appearance: they were of human form.

In the fire was the likeness of four living creatures in human form.

biblegateway Eze 1:5

Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.

Also out of the midst thereof [came] the likeness of four living creatures. And this [was] their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.

biblegateway Eze 1:5

In the fire ¹  were what looked like ²  four living beings. ³  In their appearance they had human form, ⁴ 

¹ tc Heb “from its midst” (מִתּוֹכָהּ, mitokhah). The LXX reads ἐν τῷ μέσῳ (en tw mesw, “in the midst of it”). The LXX also reads ἐν for מִתּוֹךְ (mitokh) in v. 4. The translator of the LXX of Ezekiel either read בְּתוֹךְ (bÿtokh, “within”) in his Hebrew exemplar or could not imagine how מִתּוֹךְ could make sense and so chose to use ἐν. The Hebrew would be understood by adding “from its midst emerged the forms of four living beings.”

² tn Heb “form, figure, appearance.”

³ tn The Hebrew term is feminine plural yet thirty-three of the forty-five pronominal suffixes and verbal references which refer to the living beings in the chapter are masculine plural. The grammatical vacillation between masculine and feminine plurals suggests the difficulty Ezekiel had in penning these words as he was overcome by the vision of God. In ancient Near Eastern sculpture very similar images of part-human, part-animal creatures serve as throne and sky bearers. For a discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:26-31. Ezekiel’s vision is an example of contextualization, where God accommodates his self-revelation to cultural expectations and norms.

⁴ sn They had human form may mean they stood erect.