Isaiah 6:2

6:2 Seraphs ¹  stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, ²  and they used the remaining two to fly.

Daniel 9:21-23

9:21 yes, while I was still praying, ³  the man Gabriel, whom I had seen previously ⁴  in a vision, was approaching me in my state of extreme weariness, ⁵  around the time of the evening offering. 9:22 He spoke with me, instructing me as follows: ⁶  “Daniel, I have now come to impart understanding to you. 9:23 At the beginning of your requests a message went out, and I have come to convey it to you, for you are of great value in God’s sight. ⁷  Therefore consider the message and understand the vision: ⁸ 

Hebrews 1:7

1:7 And he says ⁹  of the angels, “He makes ¹⁰  his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire,” ¹¹ 

Hebrews 1:14

1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to serve those ¹²  who will inherit salvation?

¹ tn Hebrew שָׂרָף (saraf, “seraph”) literally means “burning one,” perhaps suggesting that these creatures had a fiery appearance (cf. TEV, CEV “flaming creatures”; NCV “heavenly creatures of fire”). Elsewhere in the OT the word “seraph” refers to poisonous snakes (Num 21:6; Deut 8:15; Isa 14:29; 30:6). Perhaps they were called “burning ones” because of their appearance or the effect of their venomous bites, which would cause a victim to burn up with fever. It is possible that the seraphs seen by Isaiah were at least partially serpentine in appearance. Though it might seem strange for a snake-like creature to have wings, two of the texts where “seraphs” are snakes describe them as “flying” (Isa 14:29; 30:6), perhaps referring to their darting movements. See the note at 14:29.

² sn Some understand “feet” here as a euphemistic reference to the genitals.

³ tn Heb “speaking in prayer.”

⁴ tn Heb “in the beginning.”

⁵ tn The Hebrew expression בִּיעָף מֻעָף (mu’af bi’af) is very difficult. The issue is whether the verb derives from עוּף (’uf, “to fly”) or from יָעַף (ya’af, “to be weary”). Many ancient versions and modern commentators take the first of these possibilities and understand the reference to be to the swift flight of the angel Gabriel in his coming to Daniel. The words more likely refer to the extreme weariness, not of the angel, but of Daniel. Cf. 7:28; 8:27; 10:8-9, 16-17; also NASB.

⁶ tn Heb “he instructed and spoke with me.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.

⁷ tn Or “a precious treasure”; KJV “greatly beloved”; NASB, NIV “highly esteemed.”

⁸ tn This sentence is perhaps a compound hendiadys (“give serious consideration to the revelatory vision”).

⁹ sn The Greek correlative conjunctions μέν and δέ (men and de) emphasize the contrastive parallelism of vs. 7 (what God says about the angels) over against vv. 8-9 and vv. 10-12 (what God says about the son).

¹⁰ tn Grk “He who makes.”

¹¹ sn A quotation from Ps 104:4.

¹² tn Grk “sent for service for the sake of those.”