Commentary Par XXVIII 109-111

This tercet offers apparent aid and comfort to those who propose a 'Dominican' Dante, one who values knowledge over love.  However, here the poet is saying that knowledge precedes love temporally, not that it is better than it.  Clearly, we are meant to understand that, in a Christian soul, they work together.  If not, the poet would have found a way to present the Cherubim as the highest order of angels.