Herein we begin a series regarding Cherubim and Seraphim in text generally termed the Apocrypha, Deutero Canonical, Pseudepigrapha, Gnostic Texts, etc. (see my article on the Apocrypha here). The fuller complete result consists of quotations of those sections within the text that refer to Angels, Cherubim, Seraphim, Devil, Satan, demons, serpent and dragon. The point is not to elucidate these references but to provide relevant partial quotations and citations. See my section on Angels in general and in apocryphal texts here.
Cherubim & Seraphim in in the Testament of Job, Gospel of Bartholemew aka Questions of Bartholemew, Bartholomew’s Book Of The Resurrection of Christ, Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians, Spectacles by Tertullian, Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children, Book of the All-Virtuous Wisdom of Joshua ben Sira aka Wisdom of Sirach aka Sirach aka Siracides aka Book of Ecclesiasticus (not to be confused with the biblical book Ecclesiastes), The Narrative of Joseph of Arimathaea and Melchizedek.
Testament of Job – 1st century BC to 1st century AD
11:28 She spoke in the dialect of the Cherubim, singing the praise of the Ruler of the cosmic powers (virtues) and extolling their (His) glory.
Gospel of Bartholemew aka Questions of Bartholemew
III:6 And he led them away into a place that is called Cherubim (Cherukt Slav., Chairoudee Gr., Lat. 2 omits), that is the place of truth.
Bartholomew’s Book Of The Resurrection of Christ
Then Jesus rose and mounted into the chariot of the Cherubim. He wrought havoc in Hell, breaking the doors, binding the demons Beliar and Melkir (cf. Melkira in the Ascension of Isaiah), and delivered Adam and the holy souls…At midnight he rose and went out and found all the orders of Angels: Cherubim Seraphim, Powers, and Virgins…Believe me, my brethren the holy apostles, I, Bartholomew beheld the Son of God on the chariot of the Cherubim. All the heavenly hosts were about him. He blessed the body of Mary.
Meanwhile the Angels were singing the hymn which the Seraphim sing at dawn on the Lord’s day over his body and his blood.
Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians – 2nd century AD
5 For even I, though I am bound [for Christ], and am able to understand heavenly things, the Angelic orders, and the different sorts of Angels and hosts, the distinctions between powers and dominions, and the diversities between thrones and authorities, the mightiness of the Aeons, and the pre-eminence of the cherubim and seraphim, the sublimity of the spirit, the kingdom of the Lord.
Spectacles by Tertullian – 197-220 AD
Therefore, if I enter the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol or that of Serapis as a sacrificer or worshiper, I shall fall away from God, just as I do if I enter the circus theater as a spectator.
Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children – 2nd century BC
1:32 Blessed art thou that beholdest the depths, and sittest upon the cherubims: and to be praised and exalted above all for ever.
Book of the All-Virtuous Wisdom of Joshua ben Sira aka Wisdom of Sirach aka Sirach aka Siracides aka Book of Ecclesiasticus (not to be confused with the biblical book Ecclesiastes) – 200 to 175 BC
49:8 It was Ezekiel who saw the vision of glory which God showed him above the chariot of the cherubim.
The Narrative of Joseph of Arimathaea
3 And He said to the robber: Go away, and tell the cherubim and the powers, that turn the flaming sword, that guard paradise from the time that Adam, the first created, was in paradise, and sinned, and kept not my commandments, and I cast him out thence.
4 And Jesus, having sat down in a certain place, thus read: We, the cherubim and the six-winged, who have been ordered by Thy Godhead to watch the garden of paradise.
Melchizedek – 150-300 AD
Ellipses in original translation by Søren Giversen and Birger A. Pearson.
For when they ate of the tree of knowledge, they trampled the Cherubim and the Seraphim with the flaming sword. They […], which was Adam’s, […] the world-rulers, and […] them out […] after they had brought forth […] offspring of the archons and their worldly things, these belonging to … (13 lines unrecoverable)
In the next segment, we will consider Book of Enoch & The Book of Adam.