Chapter Six

1–4. The calling of the prophet Isaiah to prophetic service: a) Theophany, 5–7. purification of the prophet, 8–13. his sending forth to preach

Isa 6:1-4. To his high service Isaiah, like Moses, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, was called by a special solemn Theophany. He saw God as the King of the universe, solemnly seated upon His throne-palace. He was surrounded by the highest angelic spirits—the Seraphim, loudly confessing the holiness of the Most High and His great glory, before which even they covered themselves with their wings.

Isaiah 6:1. In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of His robe filled the temple. In the year that King Uzziah died, that is, 740 B.C. According to tradition reported by Saint Ephrem the Syrian, Isaiah was greatly grieved by King Uzziah’s audacity toward the temple, when the king dared to enter the temple to burn incense. The prophet clothed himself in sackcloth—a sign of mourning—and wore it until King Uzziah’s death; in the year of this king’s death Isaiah was called to service by a solemn vision (Works of the Holy Fathers in Russian translation, vol. 20, pp. 237–238). Eusebius of Caesarea speaks even more directly, saying that only with Uzziah’s death, having angered God, could the prophet receive a revelation from God, who until then, because of the king’s sin, had turned His face away from the Judean people (Selecta from the Fathers of the Church, Caillaut, p. 24, pp. 28 and 29). Blessed Theodoret adds on his part that the Lord was also angered at Isaiah himself, who kept silent at the time when Uzziah allowed himself such audacity toward the temple. Modern commentators (e.g., Hengstenberg in Lange’s Bible Work, vol. XIV, pp. 84 and 85) explain the matter more simply, saying that Isaiah was needed at precisely that time. Why does the prophet speak of his calling after the prophecies placed in chapters 1–5? It is very likely that Isaiah wished in the first five chapters to sketch a picture of contemporary Judean people’s life so that his mission would be fully clearly motivated. Isaiah saw God, of course, not with bodily eyes, but with the eyes of the spirit, being in a state of prophetic rapture (ecstasy). “Isaiah hears the voice of the Lord,” says Saint Basil the Great, whose words apply to Isaiah’s vision as well, “although nothing struck the bodily ear” (Works of the Holy Fathers in Russian translation, vol. b, p. 253 and 260). “Lord”—in Hebrew called Adonaj, the Lord of the world, universe. In verse 5 the prophet says that his eyes saw the Lord of hosts (from Hebrew, Lord of the armies, that is, God the Father). The temple in which Isaiah saw the Lord could be either the earthly temple in Jerusalem or the temple in heaven (cf. 1 Sam 22:19). Since the prophet does not explain which temple he means, it is most natural to see in his words a reference to the Jerusalem temple known to all, especially since certain furnishings of the Jerusalem temple are mentioned here (altar of incense and tongs, verse 6). But since the prophet was in ecstasy, the Jerusalem temple appeared to him with wider capacity. “The train of His robe” in translation from Hebrew is the hem of the mantle. The King Being is presented to the prophet as dressed, like an earthly king, in a long and wide mantle.

Isaiah 6:2. Above Him stood the Seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. “Seraphim.” The word seraphim occurs only once in the Bible, and therefore its meaning is quite difficult to interpret. Some recognize this name as identical with the name of the serpents mentioned in the book of Numbers (Num 21, the burning serpents) and say that in appearance they resembled serpents or flying dragons, which, according to the belief of the ancients, stood guard over divine treasures. But it is unlikely that servants of God—Angels—appeared to the prophet in the form of serpents, which true worshippers of the Lord considered entirely inappropriate subjects for worship, as is evident from the fact that King Hezekiah destroyed the image of the bronze serpent. (2 Sam 18:4). Moreover, in the book of Numbers the word seraph is an adjective (meaning burning), while here it is a noun. Other commentators derive this word from the verb seraph (to burn or blaze) and see in it an indication of the fiery nature of the Seraphim, in virtue of which they “scorch” or “burn” all that comes into contact with them. Finally, still others, with greater probability, assert that the Seraphim are bearers of divine fire of love, burning away all impurity and purifying people. Still others derive this name from the Arabic word scharufa—to be a ruler, and see here an indication of the exceptionally high position of the Seraphim among the Angels. Some see in this name a reproduction of the name of the god of fire Nergal—Sarapu (incinerator) or the Egyptian seref—the name of the dragon guarding tombs. Thus, philology does not provide sufficient indications for determining the nature of the Seraphim. The text of the book of Isaiah itself is therefore a more reliable source. From this source we learn that the Seraphim speak, sing hymns of praise to God in turns, fulfill God’s commands—consequently, they are rational, spiritual beings, Angels. They have wings, which indicate in them beings of the heavenly world or height, strength, divine might, as is evident from the fact that ancient peoples—the Babylonians and Persians—attached several pairs of wings to images of their kings, in order to indicate that these kings were equal to the gods (see Weisser. Picture atlas of world history—image of Cyrus). Incidentally, wings served the Seraphim also to cover their bodies before the majesty of God. Since they stand before the Lord and around Him, from ancient times they have been recognized as the highest choir in the heavenly host (Cherubim only bear the throne of God). The function of the Seraphim, according to the text of the book of Isaiah, consists in the service of God, which they accomplish with fiery zeal. Their distinction from other Angels consists in that they are not sent to earth, like other Angels, but belong exclusively to the sphere immediately of Divine presence.

Isaiah 6:3. And one called to another and said: “Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory! “And one called to another.” Apparently the Seraphim were divided into two choirs, who alternately proclaimed praise to God. “Holy,” that is, removed from all sin, from all imperfection. This definition, for the highest emphasis, is repeated three times, just as in Ezekiel, for example, the word “I will destroy” is repeated three times (Ezek 21:27; cf. Jer 7:4). But besides this interpretation of the threefold repetition of the word “holy,” there is another explanation, very ancient, according to which the Seraphim here portrayed the mystery of the Holy Trinity (Saint Ephrem the Syrian, Blessed Jerome). Namely, the prophet Isaiah has a passage proving the faith of the contemporary Old Testament Church in the Trinity of the Persons of the Godhead. This passage is chapter 63, verses 9 and following, where God is mentioned separately, separately the Angel of His face or the Son of God, and separately the Holy Spirit. From this it follows that in the threefold repetition of the word “holy” Isaiah could point to this great mystery.

Isaiah 6:4. And the pivots of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. “And the pivots of the thresholds shook.”—According to the meaning of the Hebrew text, here is indicated a shaking of those recesses in the wall into which the two halves of the temple doors are inserted. Condamin translates: “the doors trembled on their hinges.” This shaking was caused by the loud cries of the Seraphim. The smoke, in all likelihood, the prophet saw rising from the altar of incense. By the connection of the speech, this smoke could mean the prayers of the Seraphim to the Lord: such significance was held by the smoke rising heavenward from the earthly altar when the priests offered incense. Ephrem the Syrian considers this smoke a sign of the presence in the temple of the glory of the Lord, since in the Old Testament the Lord appeared in darkness and cloud, so that weak people might not be blinded by the radiance of His glory (1 Sam 8:10-12). Isa 6:5-7. The prophet, hearing the song of the Seraphim, seeing the trembling doors and smelling the rising smoke, falls into mortal fear: he saw that which the eye of a mortal is unworthy to see, the sight of which a sinful man is not able to bear. Isaiah feels with particular bitterness the impurity of his lips, which could not take part in the glorification of the Seraphim. Therefore his lips are purified first of all by sacred fire from the altar. But, moreover, the lips are purified precisely because by them Isaiah will chiefly serve God.

Isaiah 6:5. And I said: “Woe is me! I am ruined; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts! The fear of a sinful man before an encounter with the Divine appears in all religions. Jacob, who wrestled with God at night, says with amazement that he saw God face to face and yet his soul was preserved—he remained alive (Gen 32:30; cf. Exod 30:20). “Save us,” says Ovid in his prayer to Pales, from the sight of the Dryads, or bathing Diana, or Faunus, when he wanders through the fields at midday (Fasti IV, 761). The mortal body of Semele could not bear the appearance of Jupiter and burned, as the same poet tells us.

Isaiah 6:6. Then flew one of the Seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. According to the interpretation of our church hymns, the fiery coal was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the tongs—the hands of the Most Holy Mother of God. “You bear fire, O pure one; I fear to receive in my arms the Infant God.” Thus in the 2nd tropary of the 5th song of the canon for the Presentation, Simeon the God-receiver speaks. Further, in the 3rd tropary, the same elder speaks to the Most Holy Virgin: “You enlighten me, offering with your hands, as it were with tongs, the Bearer held by you.”

Isaiah 6:7. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin is forgiven. The purifying action was to be accomplished by the burning coal, as a coal taken from God’s altar. Here in a figurative sense it points to the purifying power of God’s grace, which burns away, like fire, all that is unclean in man. “Your guilt... and your sin”—your sins. Isa 6:8-13. Feeling himself clean, Isaiah willingly offers himself for service in the work of preaching, when he hears the question of the Most High about who is willing to go to the Hebrew people. God condescends to his desire and sends him as a preacher to the people, but thereby predicts to him the failure of his prophetic activity. His word will not convert the people to the true path, but will further harden them in sin. To the prophet’s question about how long the people will remain in such a state, God answers that salvation will be given to the people not before he experiences all the horrors of enemy invasion and even captivity, deportation to a foreign land. The last tenth of the people will be destroyed, until the proud oak, that is, the Israelite people, is completely destroyed.

Isaiah 6:8. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said: “Here am I; send me. By His question the Lord calls forth and encourages Isaiah to declare his readiness to serve the Lord. For us, that is, “for Me and for those surrounding Me,” as this expression is interpreted by almost all modern Western commentators on the basis of (1 Sam 22 and Ps 88:7). Some ancient church writers saw in this expression a reference to the Trinity of Persons in the Godhead (Blessed Jerome), but in their interpretation it is unclear why God at first speaks in the singular (whom shall I send?) and then in the plural (for us). However, according to the first interpretation, it is truly the one God who sends, as Lord, while the prophet will act before the face of all who appeared to him, whose interests are identical with the purposes which God has.

Isaiah 6:9. And He said: “Go, and say to this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Isaiah 6:10. Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed. The mission of the prophet Isaiah appears very difficult and hopeless if one reads verse 10 according to the Hebrew Masoretic text, thus: “harden the heart of this people, make their ears deaf, shut their eyes, so that...” and so forth, and understands all these expressions strictly literally. But if we take into account the Semitic way of expressing thoughts, then the mission of the prophet will not appear so terrible either for him or for the people. True, the verbs used in verse 10 are in the hiphil form, which generally has the meaning of causing something. But on the other hand it is certain that this form has different evaluations of meaning. So the verb “to justify” in Hebrew (hiphil form) can mean both actually justifying someone and declaring righteous (in the eyes of people). Or the verb “to give life, to vivify” can mean simply: to leave alive, when there is a possibility to kill. Besides, hiphil points to an action to which only an impetus is given. In this last sense, it is undoubtedly this form is used here. The preaching of Isaiah, in view of the bad disposition of his listeners, will give them reason to harden themselves, to resist God’s will, which the people manifested partly even before. Our Russian Synodal translation, in accord with the LXX and Slavonic, incorrectly understands this hardening of heart as already reaching fullness—better to translate the verbs standing in verse 10 in the future tense. “Heart” here is taken as the capacity for understanding moral tasks of human life (cf. Hos 4:11). “Hardening” is this fatness of heart, when it becomes unable to move and not receptive. This passage is cited twice in the New Testament—in two instances as a place serving to explain the imperceptiveness of the Judeans to this preaching (Matt 13:15; Acts 28:27).

Isaiah 6:11. Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is utterly desolate, Isaiah 6:12. And the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. The judgment of God upon the Hebrew people sounds decisive and stern, but the prophet, from love for his people, cannot accept the thought that the people will remain in hardening and, consequently, in rejection by God, forever. The Lord answers to this that both the cities and the lands of the Judeans must be completely deprived of inhabitants, who will be led into captivity. What epoch one must understand here—it is difficult to say. Most likely, God points the prophet to all subsequent judgments of His upon the chosen people, culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, as Saint Basil the Great and Eusebius of Caesarea interpret this prophecy.

Isaiah 6:13. And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again; but as a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” So the holy seed is its stump. This verse indicates such terrible desolation of Judea after which no more than a tenth part of its inhabitants will remain. This could only apply to the time of the taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar. “And it will return,” this expression should be replaced by the words: in turn (will be destroyed). “But as from a terebinth” in translation from Hebrew: “as an oak or terebinth (perishes), whose trunk is cut down.” In the whole verse, therefore, one thought is: that the Hebrew people, as a political whole, will in time cease completely its existence and lose its land. Only then—so one can express the fundamental thought of all God’s discourse with Isaiah—only then will the hardening of the people begin to soften and its turning to God become possible. At this point the prophet points to the Holy Seed (that is, the Messiah) as the support (according to the Slavonic, the foundation) of the further existence of the Israelite people. The Messiah has not yet come; therefore the people from whose midst He is to come must preserve their existence. The sixth chapter is in general recognized by critics as authentic. If Marti points out that in verses 12 and 13 the Lord speaks of Himself in the third person, then such a turn of speech is nothing unusual in the book of Isaiah (cf. Isa 13:13). Reuss sees in this chapter a prose work, but others find here also poetic sections, namely, first, in the hymn of the Seraphim, and then in verses 7 and following (excluding inserted remarks: I heard, I said, etc.) The sixth chapter is appointed to be read as a paremeia on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, because, as is evident from church hymns (5th irmology of the canon for the Presentation, 1st tropary of the 5th song of the canon, 3rd tropary and 2nd of the same song), the Church sees here a prediction of the incarnation of the Son of God and of His presentation in the temple (tongs—the hands of the Most Holy Virgin, holding the Baby God). * * * In Lopukhin’s commentary on Genesis the expression Adonaj is interpreted as the Supreme and Just Judge—from the root word dan—judge. Editor’s note. In the Slavonic translation from the LXX this verse is translated thus: “And it was in the year in which Uzziah the king died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and exalted, and the house was filled with his glory.” Editor’s note.

Isaiah 63:9. In the Slavonic translation from the LXX the text of Is.63:9 is laid out thus: “Not a mediator, nor an angel, but the Lord Himself saved them, for He loves them and spares them: He Himself delivered them and took them up and exalted them in all the days of the age.” As noted above, the exclusion from the Synodal translation of words about the Supreme Council whose messenger is the Messiah, which are present in the Greek translation LXX and the Slavonic version, the earthing of his (the Messiah’s) essence (fruit of the earth, instead of—heavenly seed) led to the forgetting of many obvious indications of the Triune essence of the Most High. Editor’s note. It is groundless to suppose that the Lord could have grounds to equate to Himself the surrounding heavenly ranks. The word “us” presupposes equal hierarchical dependence. Editor’s note. Jerome’s interpretation is fully clarified in light of the Orthodox Creed—I believe in one God the Father... And in the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, who together with the Father and Son is worshipped... Again, this is fully understandable when mentioning the Messiah—the messenger of the Supreme Council. Editor’s note.