Ezekiel 1:23

were their wings straight "straight" is even, level, and the reference appears to be to the upper side of the wings stretched out horizontally under the firmament. It is not meant that the firmament restedon the wings or heads of the living creatures, it was over them.

the one toward the other A repetition of the statement that the outspread wings of one creature touched those of the other creatures; see Ezekiel 1:9; Ezekiel 1:11.

on thisside … on thatside] In these rather obscure words "this side," "that side" do not refer to the "sides" of the individual creature, but to the positions of the different creatures, and might be rendered, "here … there," or, "respectively … respectively." It is doubtful, however, if the words can have this meaning. Probably the rendering should be: every one had two covering them, and every one had two covering them, even their bodiesthe words "their bodies" giving a more exact definition of "covering them." Cf. Isaiah 11:9. The statement is repeated in order to distribute it over each of the creatures, although the andbefore the repetition is less usual (ch. Ezekiel 4:6; Ezekiel 46:21). LXX. reads simply: every one had two, covering their bodies.