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.

Isaiah 14:13

14:13 You said to yourself, ³ 

“I will climb up to the sky.

Above the stars of El ⁴ 

I will set up my throne.

I will rule on the mountain of assembly

on the remote slopes of Zaphon. ⁵ 

Isaiah 45:8

45:8 O sky, rain down from above!

Let the clouds send down showers ⁶  of deliverance!

Let the earth absorb it ⁷  so salvation may grow, ⁸ 

and deliverance may sprout up ⁹  along with it.

I, the Lord, create it. ¹⁰ 

[6:2]  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.

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

[14:13]  ³ tn Heb “you, you said in your heart.”

[14:13]  ⁴ sn In Canaanite mythology the stars of El were astral deities under the authority of the high god El.

[14:13]  ⁵ sn Zaphon, the Canaanite version of Olympus, was the “mountain of assembly” where the gods met.

[45:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “let the clouds drip with”; KJV “let the skies pour down.”

[45:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “open up” (so NASB); NIV, NLT “open wide.”

[45:8]  ⁷ tc The plural verb should be emended to a singular form. The vav (ו) ending is probably virtually dittographic (note the yod at the beginning of the following word).

[45:8]  ⁸ tc The Hiphil verb form (תַצְמִיחַ, tatsmiakh) should probably be emended to a Qal (תִצְמַח, titsmakh). The יח sequence at the end of the form is probably due to dittography (note the following יַחַד, yakhad).

[45:8]  ⁹ tn The masculine singular pronominal suffix probably refers back to יָשַׁע (yasha’, “salvation”).