⸻ · ⸻
Isaiah 6 · the throne vision and the commission
Mikhail Vrubel, Six-winged Seraph, 1905 · public domain
6.1
The Book of Isaiah 6.1 · I saw the Lord on a throne6.1I saw the Lord on a throne
Isaiah begins the story of his call by dating it to the year King Uzziah died. He then describes a vision of God in the temple.
· · ·
בִּשְׁנַת־1
bi-šənaṯ-
In the yearin year of
מוֹת2
môṯ
deathdeath of
הַמֶּלֶךְ3
ha-mmeleḵ
the king
עֻזִּיָּהוּ4
ʿUzziyyāhû
Uzziah
, וָאֶרְאֶה5
wā-ʾereʾeh
I sawand I saw
אֶת־6
ʾeṯ
mark of the accusative
אֲדֹנָי7
ʾăḏōnāy
the Lordmy lords
יֹשֵׁב8
yōšēḇ
sitting
עַל־9
ʿal-
on
כִּסֵּא10
kissēʾ
a throne
, רָם11
rām
high
וְנִשָּׂא12
wə-niśśāʾ
and lifted up
, וְשׁוּלָיו13
wə-šûlāyw
and his trainand his skirts
מְלֵאִים14
məlēʾîm
filling
אֶת־15
ʾeṯ-
mark of the accusative
הַהֵיכָל׃16
ha-hêḵāl
the templethe palace
. In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filling the temple.
In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filling the temple.
6.2
The Book of Isaiah 6.2 · Seraphs stood above him6.2Seraphs stood above him
Isaiah's vision of the Lord on his throne continues. Winged beings stand in attendance above him.
· · ·
Seraphs were standing above him. Six wings, six wings to each one: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
The year is about 740 BC. Uzziah had ruled Judah for half a century, and his death is the date stamp on the most famous vision in the prophets. Isaiah sees ʾădōnāy, “the Lord”, on a throne so vast that the hem of his robe alone fills the hêḵāl, the great hall of the Temple. The word is borrowed, by way of Akkadian, from the Sumerian for “big house”.
The Greek Bible changes one detail. Where the Hebrew has the robe’s train filling the hall, the Septuagint says πλήρης ὁ οἶκος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ, “the house was full of his glory”. The translators would not dress God.
The Greek Bible (Septuagint, Swete 1894): καὶ πλήρης ὁ οἶκος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ, “and the house was full of his glory”. the printed page, p. 110