_8. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings._ Notice carefully that he is _not_ saying that each creature had four man-like hands, one on each of four sides. He is saying that each has the normal number of hands and they are located _below_ their wings. Remember that he was a careful observer and he had probably noticed that birds have wings _instead_ of arms. These had both. In addition, he has given us another bit of information about the distribution of the wings. They do not appear to be arranged like a biplane, but each wing is at a ninety-degree angle from its neighboring wing like a helicopter. Ezekiel must have been something of a numerologist. He points out that there are four creatures, and each of the four has four faces each, and each has four wings each--but not four hands. _9. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward._ He is not saying that the wings of one creature are joined to the wings of another creature. He is saying that each wing is joined to another wing, not directly to the creature. The second and third parts of this verse present a mystery. We do not know what the "theys" refer to. There are three "theys" in this verse, one after another and we are given very few clues to which refer to _creatures_ and which refer to wings. The first "they" most likely is tied to the first part of the verse and therefore refers to the wings. Given this, there are still three interpretations: 1. _The wings_ turned not when _the wings_ went; _The wings_ went every one straight forward. 2. _The wings_ turned not when _the creatures_ went; _The wings_ went every one straight forward. 3. _The wings_ turned not when _the creatures_ went; _The creatures_ went every one straight forward. None of these three statements make much of a point, whether the creatures have helicopter wings, or bird-angel wings. Let us assume then that the first "they" refers to the creatures: 1. _The creatures_ turned not when _the creatures_ went; _The creatures_ went every one straight forward. 2. _The creatures_ turned not when _the wings_ went; _The wings_ went every one straight forward. 3. _The creatures_ turned not when _the wings_ went; _The creatures_ went every one straight forward. This last statement would pretty well describe the action of the blades of an inoperative helicopter being carried forward in a straight line. It would strike Ezekiel as odd that the wings might move and turn without turning the men under them. You might wonder why he would say "... wings went ..." instead of "... wings turned...." When a light breeze moves the blades of an inoperative helicopter the blades not only turn, but they change their pitch and plane in a most random manner.