The living creatures, living beings, or hayyot (Hebrew חַיּוֹת ḥayyōṯ) are a class of heavenly beings in Jewish mythology. They are described in the prophet Ezekiel's vision of the heavenly chariot in the first and tenth chapters of the Book of Ezekiel. References to the sacred creatures recur in texts of Second Temple Judaism, in rabbinical merkabah ("chariot") literature, in the Book of Revelation in the Christian New Testament, and in the Zohar.

According to Jewish and Christian traditions, there are four living creatures, although their description varies by source. The symbolic depiction of the four living creatures in religious art, especially Christian art, is called a tetramorph.

Ezekiel's four living creatures

Ezekiel's vision of the four living creatures in Ezekiel 1 are identified as cherubim in Ezekiel 10. Each of Ezekiel's cherubim have four faces, that of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle.

Revelation's four living beings

In the New Testament book of Revelation 4:6–8, four living beings (Greek: ζῷον, zōion)^[1] are seen in John's vision. These appear as a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle, much as in Ezekiel but in a different order. They have six wings, whereas Ezekiel's four living creatures are described as having four.^[1] In verse 6, they are said to have "eyes all over, front and back", suggesting that they are alert and knowledgeable, that nothing escapes their notice.^[1] The description parallels the wheels that are beside the living creatures in Ezekiel 1:18; 10:12, which are said to be "full of eyes all around". The Hebrew word for "wheel" (galgal) was also used in later Jewish literature to indicate a member of the angelic orders and is also defined by the Strong's Concordance to the King James Version of biblical scriptures as "A Whirlwind", "Heaven", or "a rolling thing".(1 Enoch 71:7; 3 Enoch 1:8; 7:1; 25:5–6, etc.). In this passage in Revelation, the four beasts surround "The One" on the red throne (which is of ruby and sardius).

Comparing the living creatures in Ezekiel with Revelation's is a prominent apocalyptic study in Western Christianity.^[2] An example is the 18th century works of Jonathan Edwards' recorded interpretation of 1722/23.

Religious views

In Judaism, the living beings are considered angels of fire, who hold up the throne of God.^[3] According to the Zohar, they hold up the firmament itself.^[3][4] They are ranked first in Maimonides' Jewish angelic hierarchy. They have also been correlated with four archangels: "Michael is the 'lion-headed', Raphael the "human-headed", Uriel the "ox-headed", and Gabriel the "eagle-headed".^[5]

In Christianity, the four living creatures are Cherubim.^[6] A prominent early interpretation, variously modified by different interpreters, has been to equate the four creatures with the Four Evangelists. Throughout church history, the most common interpretation (first laid out by Victorinus), but not the original or the only, is that the lion represents Mark, the calf Luke, the man Matthew, and the eagle John. Irenaeus was the first to make the association with the evangelists, but the interpretation laid out by Victorinus and adopted by Jerome, Gregory the Great, and the Book of Kells became dominant.^[7] Its influence has been on art and sculpture^[8] and is still prevalent in Catholicism^[9] and Anglicanism.^[10] A view held by many modern commentators is that the four living creatures of Revelation are agents of God and heavenly representatives of the created order, who call every living thing to worship the Creator.^[11]