Isaiah 6:2

Above it stood the seraphims,.... Not above the temple, nor above the throne, much less above him that sat upon it, but either "by him", on the right hand and on the left, as Aben Ezra; or "near

Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

Above it stood, as ministers attending upon their Lord, and waiting to receive and execute his commands, the seraphims; certain holy and blessed angels, thus called from fire and burning, which this word properly signifies; to represent either, 1. Their nature, which is bright and glorious, subtile, and pure, and spiritual, like fire; or, 2. Their property, of fervent zeal for God’ s service and glory; or, 3. Their office and present employment, which was to execute God’ s vengeance upon the Jews, and to burn them up like dross. Covered his face, out of profound reverence, as being so sensible of the infinite distance between God and him, that he durst not presume to look directly upon him, and judged himself neither able nor worthy to behold the brightness of his glory. Covered his feet; either, 1. His secret parts, which sometimes come under that name, as 36:12; of which see more in my Latin Synopsis upon . And so this is done for our instruction, to teach us modesty and chastity. Or, 2. Their feet properly so called, as that word is generally used; from which use we should not depart without necessity, which, with submission, seems not to be in this place. And so this may signify a sense of their own natural, though not moral infirmity, and a desire that God would not too severely examine all their ways and actions, which the feet commonly signify, because though they did not swerve from God’ s commands, yet they were not worthy of the acceptation, nor suitable to the dignity of so glorious a Majesty. Did fly; which signifies their great forwardness and expedition in executing God’ s commands. Compare .

Isaiah 6:2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.Ver. 2. Above it stood the seraphims.] Those heavenly salamanders that are all on a light fire with love to God and zeal of his glory. Fiery serpents, full of deadly poison, are also called seraphims, πρηστηρας the Greeks call them. That old serpent the devil can transform himself into an angel of light, At bonum erat tibi si ignifer magis esses quam lucifer, saith Bernard, in his third sermon upon this vision of Isaiah. Each one had six wings.] So had those four beasts or living wights; and observe that in the Revelation the Holy Ghost borroweth most of the elegancies and flowers found in the Old Testament to set out the story of the New in succeeding ages. With twain he covered his face.] As with a double scarf, before God’ s surpassing brightness, that would put out their eyes else. When the lightning flasheth in men’ s eyes they clap their hands on their faces, so here do the angels. The moon never casteth less light than when she is nearest the sun. Sol reliqua sidera occultat, quibus et lumen suum faenerat; sic et Deus gloriae Neither are any so humble as they who are nearest to God. Angels make their addresses with greatest self-abasements; what then should vile men do? worms and not men! And with twain he covered his feet.] As conscious to themselves of a kind of comparative impurity, and unworthiness so to stand before God - i.e., to minister unto him. And with twain he did fly.] That is, he was ready to fly; velabant, et volabant; as Gabriel came to Daniel with weariness of flight - that is, with incredible swiftness. Their six wings, say some, might set forth a six fold motion, upward, downward, forward, backward, to the right hand or to the left - any way were they ready to fly where God would, ita ut celeritate superent ventos, falmina, solem, coelosque omnes, swifter than the wind, thunderbolt, sun, or any of the celestial orbs. Plin., lib. ii. cap. 6. A Lapide. - Perer.

(2) Above it stood the seraphims . . .—It is noticeable that this is the only passage in which the seraphim are mentioned as part of the host of heaven. In Numbers 21:6, the word (the primary meaning of which is the burning ones) occurs as denoting the fiery serpents that attacked the people in the wilderness. Probably the brazen serpent which Hezekiah afterwards destroyed (2 Kings 18:4) had preserved the name and its significance as denoting the instruments of the fiery judgments of Jehovah. Here, however, there is no trace of the serpent form, nor again, as far as the description goes, of the animal forms of the cherubim of Eze 1:5-11, and of the “living creatures” of Revelation 4:7-8. The “burning ones” are in the likeness of men, with the addition of the six wings. The patristic and mediaeval distinction between the seraphim that excel in love, and the cherubim that excel in knowledge, rests apparently on the etymology of the former word. The “living creatures” of Revelation 4:7-8, seem to unite the forms of the cherubim of Ezekiel with the six wings of the seraphim of this passage. Symbolically the seraphim would seem to be as transfigured cherubim, representing the “flaming fire” of the lightning, as the latter did the storm-winds and other elemental forces of nature (Psalms 104:4). Each one had six wings.—The thought seems to be that the human form was clothed as it were with six wings. One pair of wings covered the face in token of adoring homage (Ezekiel 1:11); a second, the feet, including the whole lower part of the human form, while with the third they hovered as in the firmament of heaven above the skirts of the glory of the Divine Throne. It is noticeable that the monuments of Persepolis represent the Amshashpands (or ministers of God) as having six wings, two of which cover the feet.

Verse 2. Above it stood the seraphim] שרפים seraphim, from שרף seraph, to burn. He saw says Kimchi, the angels as flames of fire, that the depravity of that generation might be exhibited, which was worthy of being totally burnt up. He covered his feet - "He covereth his feet"] By the feet the Hebrews mean all the lower parts of the body. But the people of the East generally wearing long robes, reaching to the ground, and covering the lower parts of the body down to the feet, it may hence have been thought want of respect and decency to appear in public and on solemn occasions with even the feet themselves uncovered. Kempfer, speaking of the king of Persia giving audience, says, Rex in medio supremi atrii cruribus more patrio inflexis sedebat: corpus tunica investiebat flava, ad suras cum staret protensa; discumbentis vero pedes discalceatos pro urbanitate patria operiens. - Amoen. Exot. p. 227. "The king sat on the floor cross-legged, as is the custom of the country. He was covered with a yellow garment, which reached down to the feet when standing, but covered the feet for decency when sitting with his slippers off." Sir John Chardin's MS. note on this place of Isaiah is as follows: Grande marque de respect en orient de se cacher les pieds, quand on est assis, et de baisser le visage. Quand le souvrain se monstre en Chine et a Japon, chacun se jette le visage contre terre, et il n'est pas permis de regarder le roi; "It is a great mark of respect in the East to cover the feet, and to bow down the head in the presence of the king."

2. Above it … seraphims] better, Seraphim were standing over Him, i.e. in the attitude of service. One standing in the presence of another who is seated is always said to be over him, whatever their mutual relations may be: 1 Kings 22:19; Genesis 18:2; Genesis 18:8; Exodus 18:13, &c. The Seraphim (probably “fiery beings”) are mentioned nowhere else in Scripture as angelic beings. Their function in this vision is purely symbolical. They are the attendants of Jehovah’s court or the ministers of the invisible sanctuary; they reflect the glory of God, and by their presence and actions suggest new and fuller conceptions of His ineffable majesty. The basis of the symbol is obscure. The serpents with which the Israelites were plagued in the desert are called Seraphim (sing. Sârâph: Numbers 21:6-9; Deuteronomy 8:15), and some connexion between the two uses of the word is probable. An intermediate link would be supplied by the “flying Saraph” of ch. Isaiah 14:29, Isaiah 30:6,—apparently an allusion to a widely diffused mythological notion; see Herodotus II. 75 on the winged serpents of Arabia. It is also worthy of notice that the brazen Saraph (Numbers 21:8) made by Moses must have been a conspicuous object in the temple at the time of Isaiah’s call (2 Kings 18:4). On the other hand the analogy of the Cherubim has led to the theory that both are personifications of the phenomena of the thunder-storm, the Cherubim representing the dark cloud and the Seraphim the serpent-like lightning (see Cheyne, Comm., and art. ‘Cherubim’ in Encyc. Brit.). Different elements, in fact, seem to be combined in the conception of the Saraph; but whether it had been already incorporated in the religion of Israel, or whether Isaiah was the first who lifted it into the sphere of pure spiritual ideas it is quite impossible to say. Isaiah’s Seraphim are winged creatures, but certainly not serpentine in form, probably human, or at least partly human, like the Cherubim (Ezekiel 1:5-14). with twain he covered his face …] The sense is well expressed by the Targum: “With two he covered his face that he might not see; and with two he covered his body that he might not be seen.”

Above it - Either above the throne, or above him. The Septuagint renders it, ‘Round about him’ - κύκλῳαὐτοῦ kuklō autou.

2. Above it — Rather, above Him; that is, as winged beings, higher than the divine Occupant of the throne, hovering around when in motion, standing like choristers in a gallery when still.