One beast becomes four, and four become one

In Ezekiel 1, the prophet sees strange hybrid "living creatures" that are part man, part lion, part ox, and part eagle.

And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot . . . And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; . . . As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle (Ezek. 1:5-10).

John of Patmos separates these chimaeras into four separate creatures.

And round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle (Rev. 4:6-7).

In Daniel 7, the prophet has a dream of four separate beasts.

I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

The first was like a lion . . . . And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear . . . . After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which . . . had also four heads . . . . After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; . . . and it had ten horns (Dan 7:2-7).

Daniel's four beasts have among them a total of seven heads and ten horns. John of Patmos combines them into one.

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion (Rev. 13:1-2).

In the Old Testament, the cherubim are monstrous hybrids, while the pagan kingdoms are individual creatures, "diverse one from another." In the Apocalypse, this is reversed: Each cherub has its own distinct character, while the pagan kingdoms have been amalgamated into a single grotesque Beast.