Isaiah 6:1-2

Isaiah’s Commission

6:1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death, ¹  I saw the sovereign master ²  seated on a high, elevated throne. The hem of his robe filled the temple. 6:2 Seraphs ³  stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, ⁴  and they used the remaining two to fly.

Isaiah 16:1-2

16:1 Send rams as tribute to the ruler of the land, ⁵ 

from Sela in the desert ⁶ 

to the hill of Daughter Zion.

16:2 At the fords of the Arnon ⁷ 

the Moabite women are like a bird

that flies about when forced from its nest. ⁸ 

Isaiah 28:27

28:27 Certainly ⁹  caraway seed is not threshed with a sledge,

nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin seed. ¹⁰ 

Certainly caraway seed is beaten with a stick,

and cumin seed with a flail.

[6:1]  ¹ sn That is, approximately 740 b.c.

[6:1]  ² tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 8, 11 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[6:2]  ³ 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.

[6:2]  ⁴ sn Some understand “feet” here as a euphemistic reference to the genitals.

[16:1]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “Send [a plural imperatival form is used] a ram [to] the ruler of the land.” The term כַּר (kar, “ram”) should be emended to the plural כָּרִים (karim). The singular form in the text is probably the result of haplography; note that the next word begins with a mem (מ).

[16:1]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text has “toward [across?] the desert.”

[16:2]  ⁷ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[16:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “like a bird fleeing, thrust away [from] a nest, the daughters of Moab are [at] the fords of Arnon.”

[28:27]  ⁹ tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB).

[28:27]  ¹⁰ sn Both of these seeds are too small to use the ordinary threshing techniques.