History

• St. Dionysius the Areopagite, a Greek student of St. Paul, first wrote about a hierarchy of angels. According to St. Dionysius, seraphim and cherubim are the angels closest to God. Seraphim rank at the top of the angelic hierarchy, and cherubim rank just below them on his list of nine different angelic beings or spirits.
  
  Seraphim and cherubim share a similar description as guards or attendants of holy places, but differ in their appearance and duties performed.
  
  

Features

• In the book of Ezekiel, the bible depicts cherubim as powerful beings with an appearance bright as fire. Each had four faces representing man, lion, ox and eagle, and four wings. One pair of wings covered their body and one pair extended upward. This appearance is quite different from the image most often associated with cherubs today: that of a chubby, winged infant or toddler.
  
  The word for seraphim also refers to fire, meaning burning ones or flying serpents. Their appearance is described as similar to cherubim, but with six wings. One set of wings cover their face, one set covers their feet, while they use their final set of wings to fly.
  
  

Duties

• Seraphim only appear in the biblical account of the prophet Isaiah's vision in which he described them as standing over God's throne and praising him by repeatedly crying out, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. His glory is the fullness of the whole earth." (Isaiah 6:3)
  
  In addition to worshiping around the throne of God, tradition holds that cherubim guard the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. Their motion is described as fast as lightning and the rustling of their wings as loud as a great waterfall.
  
  

Significance

• Seraphim and cherubim both represent creatures that attend to God himself and guard holy places. The bible describes them as almost frightening in their power.
  
  Gold statues of cherubim adorned the Ark of the Covenant, which was considered the dwelling place of God while the Israelites were in exodus in the desert. When the Jewish Temple was built in Jerusalem, the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the holiest part of the temple, which also featured statues of cherubim.