CE5. ISAIAH 6: 1-8

Douglas McC.L. Judisch

1. In the year of the death of the king Uzziah

I once saw my Lord sitting upon a throne

being high and lifted up,

Even as His skirts were filling the temple.

2. Seraphim were standing around Him,

Each one having six wings:

with two he kept covering his face;

with two he kept covering his feet;

with two he kept flying.

3. And one called to another and said:

"Holy One, Holy One, Holy One, the LORD of Hosts;

His glory is that filling the whole of the earth."

4. And then the foundations of the thresholds shook

from the voice of him who was calling,

Even as the house kept being filled with smoke.

5. And then I said:

"Woe to me, for I have been cut off;

for a man of uncleanness of lips am I,

and in the midst of a people of uncleanness of lips

am I dwelling,

for mine eyes have seen the King,

the LORD of Hosts."

6. And then one of the seraphim flew to me,

And in his hand was a stone

which he had taken with tongs from upon the altar.

7. And then he made it touch upon my mouth,

And then he said:

"Behold, this has touched upon thy lips,

and thy guilt has turned aside,

and thy sin will be provided propitiation."

8. And then I heard the voice of my Lord saying:

"Whom shall I send,

and who will go for Us?"

And then I said:

"Behold me!

Send me!"

The reading from the Old Testament which is assigned to the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany in Series C of Lutheran Worship consists in the first eight verses of the sixth chapter of the Book of Isaiah. (The exegesis of these verses below is, assuredly, in no way designed to promote the use in the main service of the week of any such modern selection of gospels and epistles as those suggested in Lutheran Worship. This exegete, on the contrary, would continue to urge, on various grounds, fidelity to the pericopal tradition inherited from the ancient church by the church of the reformation and modified only slightly by the Blessed Reformer of the Church, if one is speaking specifically of the gospels and epistles to be read in the main (eucharistic) service of the week. No comparable series of readings, on the other hand, from the Old Testament was either handed down from the ancient church or bestowed on us by the Blessed Reformer; nor, indeed, is there such a program of readings from the New Testament to be used in all the possible additional offices of any given week. In such cases, therefore, even such a traditionalist as this exegete is able, with consistency, to make use of any pericope drawn from the region of Holy Scripture desired.)

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HISTORICAL AND LITERARY SETTING

The historical and literary observations which follow assume the auctorial integrity of the Book of Isaiah which this exegete has defended elsewhere (especially in An Introduction to the Book of Isaiah). Isaiah ben-Amoz began his lengthy prophetic ministry of some six decades already in 739 B.C. in the final year of the reign of Uzziah as king of Judah. He then uttered the various prophecies contained in the first main unit of the Book of Isaiah (chapters 1-35 as we have come to call them since medieval times) on various occasions in the years leading up to 701 B.C. In the course of these years Isaiah prophesied again and again the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrians which finally occurred in 701 B.C. in the midst of the reign of Hezekiah -- as recounted in the "historical bridge" constituting chapters 36-39 of his magnum opus.

Isaiah then proceeded to compose in the course of the ensuing two decades the tightly integrated third unit of his book consisting in the chapters which we now enumerate as 40-66. The prophet had, indeed, evidently finished these chapters by the time that King Hezekiah died in 686 B.C. in view of the absence of any succeeding king from the superscription to the volume as a whole (1:1). Isaiah subsequently published the final edition of his book in its entirety circa 680 B.C., shortly before his martyrdom in the bloody persecution of the true faith sponsored by King Manasseh.

Chapters 1-12 (as Isaiah has come to be divided into chapters since medieval times) constitutes the first of the seven distinct cantos which comprise the Book of Isaiah according to its original design. Each of these cantos provides, in its own individual way, the rationale of the thesis of Isaiah as a whole, namely, that the Lord is the only reasonable object of faith.

Canto 1, then, of the Book of Isaiah argues that the Lord is the only reasonable object of faith because, in the first place, He punishes those Israelites who lack trust in Him. This canto, which was first issued in the first year of the primacy of King Ahaz (which was 734 B.C.), consists in material which was added on both ends of the initial collection of the revelations of God to Isaiah in the course of the reigns of Jotham and Uzziah in Judah. An introduction was, on the one hand, prefixed to the beginning which remained the introduction to all succeeding editions of his book during the course of the lengthy prophetic ministry of Isaiah. The reference is, of course, to the three paragraphs which came eventually to be called chapter 1 of Isaiah. At the same time, on the other hand, the so-called Book of Immanuel (chapters 7-12) was now added as a continuation of the prophetic material already available to the people of Judah.

The earliest words of Isaiah, then, are to be found in chapters 2-6 of his book. The position, therefore, of the call of Isaiah in his sixth chapter is by no means so mysterious as the critics and others imagine. Although, to be sure, the seven cantos of Isaiah occur in chronological order, the material within each canto is often arranged in topical order rather than chronological. Here in particular the order is logical, proceeding from the substance to the basis of Isaiah's original corpus of prophecy.

For the call of Isaiah to the prophetic office provides the logical, and specifically theological, justification of the assertions which Isaiah has made in chapters 2-5. The same call, of course, provides the logical, indeed theological, basis of all the assertions which Isaiah would continue to make in this office in the course of all his remaining years. For the immediate acceptance of his words which Isaiah demanded in faith and life could only be justified on the basis of his call to the prophetic ministry, whereby he could rightly claim that all the words which he preached and wrote were the very words of the One True God.

The call of Isaiah itself is specifically dated at the outset of chapter 6 to "the year of the death of the King Uzziah" (6:1). This phrase could, theoretically, refer to a point in 739 B.C. subsequent to the demise of Uzziah. The superscription, however, to the final edition of Isaiah (1:1) makes certain the initial impression created by 6:1 in itself, namely, that Isaiah was already prophesying while Uzziah was still living and reigning. Isaiah saw, then, the theophany recorded in his sixth chapter sometime in 739 B.C. (or possibly 740 B.C.) before the eternal glorification of King Uzziah.

For Uzziah (or Azariah), the ninth king of Judah, was a pious man, leading a life of repentance, despite one grave public sin from which he suffered very grave temporal consequences to the end of his days in this world. He became primus rex upon the death of his father Amaziah, who was assassinated by disaffected courtiers. He then reigned for twenty-eight years as primus rex of Judah between 767 and 739.

Holy Scripture classifies Uzziah as a "good king" in terms of his personal and public life. (1.) He trained a well-armed army. (2.) He promoted the fortification of the country and the development of new weapons of defense. (3.) He subjugated the Philistines and made them his vassals, taking the cities of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. (4.) He made the Ammonites his vassals, receiving tribute from them on a regular basis. (5.) He reconstructed the port of Elath on the Gulf of Aqaba. (6.) He instituted a vigorous agricultural program. (7.) His reign, in short, saw the restoration of the southern half of the empire of David and Solomon (while Jeroboam II of Israel reigned over most of what had been the northern portion of the Solomonic empire). Amos and Hosea appeared on the scene as prophets of God before the death of Jeroboam II, the last king of significance in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, which was, indeed, in his reign the leading nation of the Levant.

It was, specifically, in 753 B.C. that Jeroboam II, the thirteenth king of Israel, died and was succeeded by his son Zechariah, who reigned for only six months. With the death of its last monarch of note, in fact, the Northern Kingdom of Israel entered a period of rapid deterioration which left Judah under Uzziah the most influential power on the eastern coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. Thus, in 752 B.C. Shallum ben-Jabesh assassinated Zachariah, the son of Jeroboam II. Then Shallum, in turn, was assassinated by Menahem ben-Gadi, who established himself as the sixteenth king of Israel, reigning for ten years (752-742), evidently in association with Pekah ben-Remaliah, the latter probably acting as palatine in Gilead.

It was probably in 750 B.C. that Uzziah committed his one grave public sin, the temporal consequences of which he suffered all his remaining life. The otherwise pious king was apparently led astray by contemporary ideas of monarchical rights in the Near East and, even if in a relatively minor way, usurped the priestly office. He was, in consequence, afflicted with leprosy, which necessarily excluded him thenceforth from the palace and temple in Jerusalem. The year 750 is being suggested as the probable date of Uzziah's sin since it was evidently in this year that Uzziah made his son Jotham his co-regent. His leprosy would, certainly, have made such a co-regency a virtual necessity.

In Mesopotamia, meanwhile, seemingly far away, events were unfolding which would have enormous effects on Judah in the days of Isaiah. In 745 B.C. an Assyrian general named Pulu extinguished the dynasty of Tiglath-Pileser I and established the Sargonid dynasty, which was to become the greatest of the Assyrian houses, assuming himself the name Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727 B.C.). He quickly added Babylonia to his realm and then subjugated the Urartu to his north. Tiglath-Pileser III made it the policy of his dynasty to deter revolt in its empire by incorporating any rebellious nation as an Assyrian province and deporting its people to other parts of the empire.

In 743 B.C. Tiglath-Pileser III staged his first western campaign, in which he crossed the Euphrates to extend his empire to the Levant. He encountered there a coalition of western princes in which Menahem of Israel and the Aramaeans of Syria participated, with Uzziah of Judah serving as head of the anti-Assyrian alliance. Tiglath-Pileser III claimed the victory in this confrontation and forced a heavy tribute from Syria and Israel, but Judah was left unscathed for the time being. It was, presumably, in the absence of both Uzziah and Jotham on campaign that Uzziah made Ahaz, the son of Jotham, a second co-regent in Judah.

In the quickly crumbling Northern Kingdom King Menahem died in 742 B.C. and was succeeded by his son Pekahiah, who reigned, however, as the seventeenth king of Israel but two years (742-740 B.C.). For in 740 B.C. Pekahiah was assassinated in his palace in Samaria by Pekah ben-Remaliah and fifty Gileadites. Pekah was evidently the representative of an anti-Assyrian party in Israel engendered by the heavy tribute demanded by Tiglath-Pileser III. Pekah, at any rate, established himself as the eighteenth king of Israel, reigning for eight years as primus rex between 740 and 732 B.C.

The Prophet Amos had completed his book by the time that Isaiah received his call to the prophetic office in 739 B.C. Then within the same year King Uzziah died and was succeeded as primus rex by his son Jotham. Although Jotham held the title of "king" a full twenty years by virtue of lengthy co-regencies, the chronological exigencies leave him but four years in actual command as tenth king of Judah between 739 and 735 B.C. Holy Scripture classifies Jotham as a "good king" in terms of his personal and public life. (1.) He promoted a vigorous program of construction and fortification in Judah. (2.) He re-subjugated Ammon when it rebelled. During his reign the Prophet Micah received his call.

Then, strangely enough, the chronological exigencies indicate that Ahaz, the son of Jotham, evidently assumed the primacy of Judah in 735 B.C., even though Jotham lived yet four more years. Such a change, however, in the imperium could well have been the work of a pro-Assyrian party who feared for a future visitation of Assyrian vengeance upon Judah if Jotham should remain its primus rex. Ahaz reigned then as the eleventh king of Judah for sixteen years (as primus rex) between 735 and 719 B.C.

Holy Scripture classifies Ahaz as an "evil king" in contrast with his grandfather and father, as also with his son Hezekiah. Ahaz worshipped various false gods and goddesses, used the high places, destroyed temple vessels, built new altars, and even sacrificed children to the gods of Canaan. In accord, therefore, with the terms of the Sinaitic Berith, God quickly brought depredations on the new king and the people who eagerly followed him in his wicked ways. In 734 B.C. Pekah, the king of Israel, and Rezin, the king of Damascus, formed an anti-Assyrian coalition and tried to force Ahaz into it, laying siege to Jerusalem and devastating the countryside of Judah. It was probably at this time that Ahaz worshipped Syrian gods in an attempt, apparently, to win favor with the supernatural powers behind the Syrian armies ravaging his kingdom. The Ammonites, meanwhile, and the others who were vassals of Judah in the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham revolted; and, indeed, the Edomites and Philistines actually invaded Judah to add to the devastation already in progress. Ahaz then submitted to the suzerainty of Tiglath-Pileser III, sending him presents, and appealed to him for help.

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EXEGETICAL AND CONTEXTUAL OUTLINE

The following outline thus emerges of the First Canto of Isaiah (chapters 1-12) with special emphasis on chapter 6 of the book:

Words Emanating from the Reigns of Uzziah and Jotham

and the First Year of Ahaz, 739-734 B.C.

"The Lord's Punishment of the Israelites Who Lack Faith in Him"

I. Introduction: Israel's Lack of Faith in the Lord (chapter 1)

II. Isaiah's Original Message to Israel

in the Days of Uzziah and Jotham (chapters 2-6)

A. Its Substance (chapters 2-5)

1. The first message, contrasting Judah's present and future (chapters 2:2-3:15)

a. Judah's future possession of true glory (chapter 2: 2-4)

b. Judah's present need of repentance (chapters 2:5-3:15)

(1.) A first call to repentance (chapter 2: 5-21)

(a.) Its enunciation (2:5)

(b.) Its rationale: the sinfulness of Judah in general (2: 6-21)

[1.] Its manifestations (2: 6-9)

[a.] Divination (2:6)

[b.] Materialism (2:7)

[c.] Idolatry (2: 8-9)

[2.] Its future consequences: the day of the Lord (2: 10-21)

(2.) A second call to repentance (chapters 2:22-3:15)

(a.) Its enunciation (2:22)

(b.) Its rationale: the sinfulness of Judah's leaders (3: 1-15)

[1.] Its personadah (verse 9)

(a.) The commission (verse 9a)

(b.) The message (verse 9b)

[1.] "Truly hear or stop understanding" (verse 9b1)

[2.] "Truly see or stop perceiving" (verse 9b2)

(2.) The foreseen results of the message to the hardened hearts of Judah: final hardening in impenitence (verse 10)

(3.) The duration of the message to the hardened hearts of Judah (verse 11-12)

[1.] The question of Isaiah (verse 11a)

[2.] The response of the Lord, consigning Judah to the Babylonian Exile (verse 11b-12)

b. The purification of the faithful (verse 13)

(1.) The return from the Babylonian Exile (verse 13a1)

(2.) The final destruction of the nation (verse 13a2)

(3.) The salvation of a minority (verse 13b)

III. Isaiah's Message to Israel in the First Year of Ahaz,

e. Against a justice-perverting people (5: 22-24)

5. The fifth message: an oracle of doom (5: 25-30)

B. Its Basis (chapter 6): The Call of Isaiah

1. Its Setting (verses 1-7)

a. The setting in time (verse 1a1)

b. The setting in space and circumstances: a theophany in the temple (verses 1a2-7)

(1.) The appearance of the Lord (verse 1a2-1b)

(2.) The attendants of the Lord (verse 2)

(3.) The song of the attendants: the holiness and glory of the Lord (verse 3)

(4.) The remaining circumstances (verse 4)

(5.) The desperate dread of Isaiah (verse 5)

(6.) The reassurance of Isaiah (verses 6-7)

[1.] The action of the seraph (verses 6-7a1)

[2.] The explanation of the seraph (verse 7a2-7b)

2. Its Extension and Acceptance (verse 8)

a. Its extension by the Lord (verse 8a)

b. Its acceptance by Isaiah (verse 8b)

3. Its Goal (verses 9-13)

a. The condemnation of the faithless (verses 9-12)

(1.) The decisive nature of the message to the hardened hearts of Juect is clearly being used with preterite force with reference to the theophany which Isaiah saw only once, which is to say as the very initiation of his long prophetic ministry. The conjunction is a strong waw with its expected pathach protracted, by compensatory lengthening, to qametz by the impossibility of doubling the 'aleph (as would be indicated by daghesh forte). A strong waw with preterite may follow a specification of time, or even place or cause, referring to the past, even when no perfect, such as hyh ("and it came to be"), occurs in the specification [GKC, 326; 111.b; 111.1, Remark 1 and Note 2]. (The phrase in Gesenius-Kautzsch-Cowley, "whenever such expressions are equivalent in meaning to a perfect," lacks both precision and relevance, since perfects have a variety of meanings aside from the preterite [GKC, 326; 111.1, Remar="center">the So-Called "Immanuel Book" (chapters 7-12)

In the outline above the division between parts 1 and 2 of the first half of verse 13 occurs not, as usually, with the zaqeph qaton, which here stands above 'siriyyah ("a tenth"), but rather one word later with the tiphchah under wshabhah ("and it shall return"). The 'athnach, however, provides, as always, the line of demarcation between the two main halves of the verse.

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A LITERAL TRANSLATION AND COMMENTS

1. In the year of the death of the King Uzziah

I once saw my Lord sitting upon a throne

being high and lifted up,

Even as His skirts were filling the temple.

The phrase "I once saw" in the translation above renders the common singular of the first person of the qal imperfect of r'h (which means "see" in some way) with prefixed waw. The imperfect is clearly being used with preterite force with reference to the theophany which Isaiah saw only once, which is to say as the very initiation of his long prophetic ministry. The conjunction is a strong waw with its expected pathach protracted, by compensatory lengthening, to qametz by the impossibility of doubling the 'aleph (as would be indicated by daghesh forte). A strong waw with preterite may follow a specification of time, or even place or cause, referring to the past, even when no perfect, such as hyh ("and it came to be"), occurs in the specification [GKC, 326; 111.b; 111.1, Remark 1 and Note 2]. (The phrase in Gesenius-Kautzsch-Cowley, "whenever such expressions are equivalent in meaning to a perfect," lacks both precision and relevance, since perfects have a variety of meanings aside froy promises of God, was one day to becomek 1].)

Most interpreters understand Isaiah 6 as the record of a vision and very often, indeed, a vision of the heavenly temple of God instead of His earthly temple in Jerusalem. Isaiah, however, says nothing of visions in the fashion, for instance, of the Prophet Ezekiel (as in chapters 1:1 and 40:2). Isaiah, on the contrary, not only uses r'h here in verse 1 in the manner just explained ("I once saw"), but then employs the perfect of the verb in the more emphatic phrasing of verse 5: "mine eyes have the King, the LORD of hosts" (ra'u 'eynay). The Apostle John, too, refers back to the Lord's self-revelation here as an occasion when Isaiah, simply, "saw His glory" (John 12:41).

As a layman Isaiah would have been outside the temple proper, but from the courtyard dominated by the immense altar of burnt-offering he would have been quite capable of up seeing into the holy place (as opposed to the holy of holies) when its massive doors of carved cypress overlaid with gold were folded back (1 Kings 6: 34-35) [H.G. Stigers, ZPEB, V, 625 and 629a, in 622a-656b]. Such would be the case especially if he were standing or kneeling just before the steps leading up to the open porch. Thus, the way in which he speaks specifically, in verse 4, of the shaking of "the foundations of the thresholds" in by His divine omnipotence. The royal robe of office, fourthly, with which He is vested is so capacious that the folds of its voluminous skirts fill all the space below His elevated throne, thereby indicating the universality of His kingship.

2. Seraphim were standing around Him,

Each one having six wings:

with two he kept covering his face;

with two he kept covering his feet;

with two he kept flying.

The visual assertion of the Lord's majesty continues here with a description of His roy incarnate as the Messiah in order to redeem all mankind, by His suffering unto death, from the wrath of God which was justly aroused by human sin.

Here is the primary connection with any pericope of the gospels (including Luke 5: 1-11) which may be used in conjunction with the passage of Isaiah before us. Christ Jesus is the Divine Prophet who gave His words to all the prophets who, in turn, bore witness to Him. Thus does the Apostle Peter speak as he does of the prophets: "the Spirit of Christ who was in them ... testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow" (1 Peter 1:11). Our Lord, indeed, as the Deus Revelans has, as a general rule, spoken directly, not to all of His people indiscriminately, but only to a relative few whom He called as His prophets and apostles to relay His words (in speech and writing), by the infallible inspiration of the Holy Ghost, to all others to the end of history.

The majesty of the Lord is expressed visually in various interrelated ways in this verse. He is, firstly, seated upon a throne, which is symbolic of kingship. His throne, secondly, is a particularly "high" one so as to betoken His position as the King of Kings. His throne, thirdly, is high by virtue, not of a supporting pedestal, but its being "lifted up" from the earth by His divine omnipotence. The royal robe of office, fourthly, with which He is vested is so capacious that the folds of its voluminous skirts fill all the space below His elevated throne, thereby indicating the universality of His kingship.

2. Seraphim were standing around Him,

Each one having six wings:

with two he kept covering his face;

with two he kept covering his feet;

with two he kept flying.

The visual assertion of the Lord's majesty continues here with a description of His royal retinue. Every earthly king, to be sure, has His courtiers to wait upon Him, but no earthly king has courtiers so majestic and yet so loyal as these. The word "seraphim" derives from the verb srp (which means "burn") and so signifies "burning ones" etymologically [as to srp, BDB, 976b-977a; as to sraphim, BDB, 977a, rejecting the connection suggested there with mythical serpent-deities]. Things capable of burning others, including fire itself, are frequently figures of holiness both within Sacred Scripture and outside in conventional symbolism by virtue of the way in which fire is used to purify or destroy contaminated objects. Thus, the angels in immediate attendance on the All-Holy God are called distinctively "burning ones" who are themselves pure of all sin.

The preposition "around" in the translation above renders the substantive ma'al with prefixed min and ensuing lamedh. The resulting prepositional phrase (mimma'al l-) would literally equal "from a higher part to" and so denotes "on top of" or "above" in the ordinary idiom [BDB, 751b]. The combination, however, of 'al with the verb 'md (meaning "stand") signifies specifically "stand serving before" someone, as in Zechariah 4:14 [GKC, 383; 119.cc; 119.3(e.3)]. The same usage occurs here in Isaiah 6, where mimma'al with ensuing lamedh is only an elaboration on 'al. The basis of this usage was the custom of having servants "stand over" masters who were sitting or, in the ancient world, reclining at table [GKC, 383; 119.cc; 119.3(e.3)].

The clause "d through a longer or shorter period" in past time [GKC, 314; 107.b; 107.1.(a)]. Such a usage resembles, to some extent, the use of the participle 'omdhim in the first half of this verse ("standing" and, in the context, "were standing") and of the four participles in the preceding verse: yosheb ("sitting"), ramsomething which "is to" a person is that which he has. In addition, however, Isaiah combines in this verses two possible ways in Classical Hebrew of indicating distribution by means of numerals (producing the "each" in the translation above). One way is simple repetition, as happens here with shesh knaphayim ("six wings, six wings") [GKC, 436; 134.q; 134.5]. A second way is the use of 'echad ("one") with ensuing or, as here, preceding lamedh [GKC, 436; 134.q; 134.5]. The dual form knaphayim is utilized, as opposed to the plural, because of the wings being arranged in pairs ("six wings in pairs" and so three pairs of wings to each seraph) [GKC, 246; 88.f; 88.2).

The final three clauses of verse 2 describe the purpose to which the seraphim seen by Isaiah were putting each of the several pairs of wings which each of them possessed. The first two clauses contain identical forms of the piel of ksh ("he kept covering") [BDB, 491a-492a]. The ultimate form is a polel of the hollow (specifically, 'ayin-waw) verb 'wp ("he kept flying") [BDB, 733a-b}. In all three clauses, however, the aspect of the verb remains the same, which is to say the imperfect.

These imperfects are employed to describe unfinished action in the past, in accordance with the general conception of the non-perfective aspect in Classical Hebrew as indicating incompleteness, in opposition to the perfect with its connotation of completeness [as stated in CHEL, II.B.2]. An imperfect of this kind may, then, be said to "express actions ... which continued through a longer or shorter period" in past time [GKC, 314; 107.b; 107.1.(a)]. Such a usage resembles, to some extent, the use of the participle 'omdhim in the first half of this verse ("standing" and, in the context, "were standing") and of the four participles in the preceding verse: yosheb ("sitting"), ram ("being high"), nissa' ("lifted up"), and mle'im ("filling" and, in the context, "were filling").

There is, however, this difference between the use of the true imperfect and the participle in speaking of the past, that the basic conception of the participle is continuity as opposed to incompleteness [as intimated in CHEL, II.B.5]. Thus, Gesenius-Kautzsch-Cowley rightly endorses S.R. Driver's "stress upon the inherent distinction between the participle as expressing mere duration, and the imperfect as expressing progressive duration" whether in the future or the present or the past [GKC, 315; 107.d; 107.(a.)Remark 2]. Actions, events, or states, indeed, "which might be regarded in themselves as single or even momentary, are, as it were, broken up by the imperfect into their component parts, and so pictured as gradually completing themselves" (although the preterite, we must recall, also still appears in Classical Hebrew, even without the strong waw as a prefix) [GKC, 315; 107.d; 107.(a.)Remark 2].

The idea is not, then, as is usually supposed, that the seraphim were holding one pair of wings over the face and one pair over the feet. They were, instead, moving them back and forth, covering and uncovering face and feet, while moving the remaining pair back and forth in the intervening space so as to be hovering in the air. The use of the imperfect, then, among other points, demonstrates the silliness of the modern understanding of "feet" as a euphemism for the genitals. (None of the angels would have had any reason, in any case, to hide his nakedness in the situation described.) The motion of the wings over the face and feet was, in actuality, an expression of reverence in precisely the same way as repeated kneeling and bowing, while still showing continual readiness to do rd, how much more so is heaven as the venue of His immediatgs.

3. And one called to another and said:

"Holy One, Holy One, Holy One, the LORD of Hosts;

His glory is that filling the whole of the earth."

The assertion of the Lord's majesty in this verse changes from visual symbolism to audible adoration. There is no need to assume as Gesenius-Kautzsch-Cowley and others that the perfect of qr' with prefixed waw ("and ... called") carries on any frequentative idea from the previous verse (which Gesenius-Kautzsch-Cowley connects, strangely, with the participle 'omdhim, rather than, as would be expected, with the three intervening imperfects) [GKC, 332; 112.k; 112.3.(a.)e]. The use, however, of the matching demonstrative pronouns in the phrase zeh 'el-zeh ("one ... to another" or, even more literally, "this one to this one") implies the singing of the seraphic hymn in an antiphonal fashion.

The song of the angels overheard by Isaiah is repeated by the church of God, not only in the midst of the Te Deum Laudamus, in the order of matins (as something which "cherubim and seraphim continually do cry") [TLH, 35], but above all, in the Sanctus of the main divine service [TLH, 26]. There the church joins "with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven" to "laud and magnify" the "glorious name" of God, "evermore praising" Him in these words [TLH, 25; TLH, 26]:

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth,

Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.

Here the use of the third person in reference to the Lord changes to the second person in addressing the Lord. The addition of "heaven" to "earth" as a place full of the glory of the Lord follows logically de minore ad maius. If even this sinful world is filled with the glory of the Lord, how much more so is heaven as the venue of His immediate presence to sinless beings.

The words of the seraphim have, subsequently, been the objects of continual appropriation by the hymnographers of the people of God. Of all such uses, however, in the whole treasury of hymnody nothing comes even close to the level of the chorale of the Blessed Reformer of the Church. In the hymn Jesaia, dem Propheten ("Isaiah, Mighty Seer, in Days of Old") the Venerable Doctor Martin Luther has produced a paean of consummate theological and aesthetic beauty, in terms of both words and music (printed as Hymn 249 in The Lutheran Hymnal).

The contents of the seraphic hymn itself are so rich as to require a separate study in itself (which this exegete has, indeed, begun but has not yet completed). It will have to suffice for the time being to identify the original idea of the root qdsh, which appears in all words in its lexical family, as separation. The Prophet Isaiah, in a quite distinctive way, uses the adjective qadhosh ("holy") nominally as a divine name. The "Holy One" is He who is wholly separate by nature from any of His mere creatures and all the more separate, of course, from those creatures of His who have fallen away from Him into sin. Here, then, each of the three articulations of qadhosh ("Holy One") acclaims, in succession, one of the three persons of the Holy Trinity. So it is that words borrowed from Isaiah 6 are applied to each of the several divine persons in the course of the New Testament -- to God the Son in John 12 (verse 41), to the Holy Spirit in Acts 28 (verses 25-27), and to God the Father in Revelation 4 (verses 2, 6, and 8).

The One True God is adored by means of the Divine Name par excellence, YHWH, as the Self-Existing One, the only being who exists of Himself from eternity to eternity, as opposed to all His creatures. The tzbha'oth (or, to use the old transliteration in the Divine Liturgy, "Sabaoth") are the heavenly armies ("hosts") who serve without ceasing the Self-Existing One. The angels of God, such as the seraphim whom Isaiah sees in the scene before us, are awesome manifestations, both in person and work, of His mighty majesty.

The second clause of the Ter-Sanctus could be rendered even more literally than above as "the filling of the whole of the earth is His glory" if "filling" be understood as "the thing which fills" rather than in a verbal sense. For mlo'-kol-ha'aretz ("the filling of the whole of the earth") is, in actuality, a construct chain of three nouns. In the biblical usage of both testaments the "glory" of God (kabhod in the Old Testament and doxa in the New Testament) is the external manifestation of His attributes. The idea, then, of the clause as a whole is that everything in the world manifests the various attributes of God in one way or another. These attributes would include both those which can be known from His natural revelation and those which can be known only from His special revelation (from which they all, in any case, can be known more clearly).

4. And then the foundations of the thresholds shook

from the voice of him who was calling,

Even as the house kept being filled with smoke.

In this verse the expression of the Lord's majesty changes from the audible adoration heard in the previous verse back to such visual indications of His majesty as we saw in verses 1 and 2, although here, indeed, they are palpable as well. The phrase "kept being filled with" in the translation above renders the niphal imperfect of ml'. The imperfect is employed here again, as thrice in verse 2, to indicate unfinished action in the past in accordance with the general conception of the non-perfective aspect in Classical Hebrew as signifying incompleteness, in opposition to the perfect [as stated in CHEL, II.B.2]. Here again, too, the imperfect breaks up the phenomenon described into components coming in progression, and so yimmale' paints the picture of new clouds of smoke filling the holy place again and again [GKC, 315; 107.d; 107.(a.)Remark 2].

The word "smoke" in the translation above renders the noun 'ashan, which occurs some twenty-five times in the Old Testament [BDB, 798b]. Smoke is associated with theophanies in particular already in the Pentateuch, specifically in Genesis 15 (verse 17) and Exodus 19 (twice in verse 18), both in connection with God establishing a brith (an oath-bound obligation). In the post-mosaic books smoke is, understandably, indicative of divine wrath in Psalm 18:9 (MT, 8 EV), which is parallel to 2 Samuel 22:9, in Isaiah 65:5, and, in connection with the Jewish rejection of the Messiah, in Joel 3:3 (MT; 2:30 EV). Smoke is also used, however, as an emblem of the grace of God in the Messiah in Song of Songs 3:6 and in Isaiah 4:5, where Isaiah is, actually, building upon the rhetorical question of Solomon. All these associations of smoke with the presence or action of God arise, of course, from the fire which is even more commonly an indication, literally or symbolically, of the presence and action of God. The conventional and scriptural connection between fire and holiness has already been noted above in discussing verse 2.

5. And then I said:

"Woe to me, for I have been cut off;

for a man of uncleanness of lips am I,

and in the midst of a people of uncleanness of lips

am I dwelling,

for mine eyes have seen the King,

the LORD of Hosts."

In the incomplete sentence 'oy-liy the preposition lamedh with pronominal suffix follows the interjection 'oy to indicate the object of the calamity anticipated [GKC, 470; 147.d; 147.3: Remark 1]. The significance, therefore, is "woe to me!" or, idiomatically, "woe is me!" with "me" fulfilling the role of the indirect object. The response of Isaiah here to the self-revelation of God is essentially the same as the response of Simon Peter in Luke 5: "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (verse 8).

The clause "I have been cut off" renders the one word nidneyti in the origave been hot enough to have reminded Isaiah of the fire which consumed the sacramental victims which were burnt every day on the altar of sacrifice.

Palestine, actually, has no deposits of mineral coal, but charcoal was, to sure, used in cooking and heating (as in Isaiah 44:19 and 47:14 respectively) and in forges (as in Isaiah 44:12 and 54:16) [G.H. Livingston, ZPEB, I, 896a]. The ordinary words, however, signifying "charcoal" are gacheleth (which is used in the first two cases just cited) [BDB, 160b-161a] and pecham (which is used in the latter two cases) [BDB, 809a]. There is no evidence to authorize "charcoal" as the translation of any other words [Livingston, ZPEB, I, 896a].

The word "tongs" in the translation above renders melqachayim, which evidently derives from the verb lqch, which immediately follows in the original text. The noun which occurs only, as here, in the dual form, usually refers to the "snuffers" which were used to extinguish the lamps first in the tabernacle (Exodus 25:38 and 37:23 and Numbers 4:9) and then in the temple (in 1 Kings 7:49 and its parallel in 2 Chronicles 4:21). Isaiah 6:6, then, is the only occasion on which the reference seems to be, by contextual necessity, to some implement, presumably consisting in two parts (in view of the duality), used to take things up from somewhere. The reason why the seraph would pick up the stone with tongs before t, BDB, 954a].

The noun ritzpah is, in fact, found only here and in 1 Kings 19:6, where Elijah awakens to find an 'ugath-ritzapim, which is to say a cake baked on stones. Probable cognates in other Semitic languages are a word meaning "heated stone" in Arabic and one meaning "bread baked in ashes" in Syriac [BDB, 954a]. The lexicon suggests "glowing stone" and "coal" as meanings [BDB, 954a], but "coal" is speculative and the stone need only have been hot enough to have reminded Isaiah of the fire which consumed the sacramental victims which were burnt every day on the altar of sacrifice.

The word "altar" in the translation above renders mizbeach. The masculine noun derives, of course, from the verb zbch, meaning "slaughter for sacrifice" (occurring 134 times in the Old Testament), [BDB, 256b-257a] and so is cognate with the noun zebhach, meaning "sacrifice" (found 162 times in the TaNaK) [BDB, 257a-258a]. The noun mizbeach, however, is even more common than its well-known cognates, occurring some 401 times in the Old Testament with reference to various altars of the One True God and also of false gods [BDB, 258a-259a].

There were te of the final 'ayin. The identity of wayyagga' as hiphil, as opposed to the corresponding qal, wayyigga', appears from the typical pointing of the preformative of the hiphil with pathach as opposed to the vocalization of the preformative of the qal with short chireq [BDB, 619a].

The verb ng' occurs some hundred and fifty times in the Old Testament and gives birth to the masculine noun nega' (meaning "stroke, plague, or "mark" in the sense of a "plague-spot") is found seventy-eight times [BDB, 619a-b; 619b]. The basic idea of the triliteral root is touching of some kind. The majority of the occurrences of the verb are forms of the qal with the significance of "touch" and then "strike" and, less transitively, "reach" or "extend to" something [BDB, 619a]. The verb is found but thrice in the piel and but once each in the niphal and the pual [BDB, 619a].

The remaining instances of ng' are forms, as here, of the hiphil [BDB, 619a-b]. The basic significance, as would be expected, is "cause to touch" with two objects stated or implied. Here the stone heated on the altar ("it" inrenders the single word wayyagga' in the original text. In this form a strong waw of temporal consequence is prefixed to the masculine singular of the third person of the hiphil breviate of the verb ng' [BDB, 619a-b]. The initial nun of the pe-nun verb has been assimilated to the middle letter of the root, thus causing the doubling of the gimel which is indicated by the daghesh forte. The breviate, with pathach beneath the gimel, is clearly shorter than the imperfect form yaggia', with both long chireq and furtive pathach [BDB, 619a]. The presence of pathach in the final syllable, whether furtive or exclusive, results from the guttural influence of the final 'ayin. The identity of wayyagga' as hiphil, as opposed to the corresponding qal, wayyigga', appears from the typical pointing of the preformative of the hiphil with pathach as opposed to the vocalization of the preformative of the qal with short chireq [BDB, 619a].

The remaining instances of ng' are forms, as here, of the hiphil [BDB, 619a-b]. The basic significance, as would be expected, is "cause to touch" with two objects stated or implied. Here the stone heated on the altar ("it" in the translation above) is, indeed, implied as the direct object of the verb. The indirect object, as in Jeremiah 1:9, is indicated by the prepositional phrase 'al-piy ("upon my mouth"). Less transitively, then, the hiphil of ng' proceeds to such meanings as "reach" ("extend" and "arrive"), "approach" in time, and "befall" as one's lot or fate [BDB, 619b].

The usus loquendi of 'awon is, not "iniquity" as is often supposed, but rather "guilt" in the forensic sense. The significance of the verb kpr is "propitiate" someone or "provide propitiation" in regard to sin or sinners. Reference may be made to this exegete's studies of the verb previously published in the Concordia Theological Quarterly ("Propitiation in the Language and Typology of the Old Testament" and "Propitiation in the Prophecy of the Old Testament").

8. And then I heard the voice of my Lord saying:

"Whom shall I send,