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A cherub is one of the unearthly beings who directly attend to God. Aside from YHWH, the cherubim are the most frequently occurring heavenly being in the Hebrew Bible, with the Hebrew word for the beings appearing 91 times when referring to a cherub. The numerous depictions of cherubim assign to them many different roles; out of these duties, the one with which cherubim must have been most originally conceived with is the protection of the Garden of Eden.
Different sources give conflicting information as to the physical appearance of cherubim. An early, traditional Jewish notion supposes that cherubim had youthful, human features (although some early midrashic literature conceives of the cherubim as non-corporeal). In the Book of Ezekiel and (at least some) Christian icons, the cherub is depicted as having a number of wing pairs, and four faces: that of a lion (symbolizing nobility), that of an ox (symbolizing strength), that of a human (symbolizing wisdom), and that of an eagle (symbolizing quickness).
Cherubim became associated with the putto and the Greco-Roman god Cupid/Eros, resulting in the misconception that cherubim are small and plump winged boys.
Angelic status is not attributed to cherubim in the Old Testament (at least not explicitly); only in later sources like De Coelesti Hierarchiaare they identified as a hierarchical rank of angels. They are regarded in traditional Christian angelology as angels of the second highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy.
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