Job 15:15-16

15:15 If God places no trust in his holy ones, ¹ 

if even the heavens ²  are not pure in his eyes,

15:16 how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt, ³ 

who drinks in evil like water! ⁴ 

Job 25:5-6

25:5 If even the moon is not bright,

and the stars are not pure as far as he is concerned, ⁵ 

25:6 how much less a mortal man, who is but a maggot ⁶  –

a son of man, who is only a worm!”

Psalms 103:20-21

103:20 Praise the Lord, you angels of his,

you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees

and obey his orders! ⁷ 

103:21 Praise the Lord, all you warriors of his, ⁸ 

you servants of his who carry out his desires! ⁹ 

Psalms 104:4

104:4 He makes the winds his messengers,

and the flaming fire his attendant. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 6:2-3

6:2 Seraphs ¹¹  stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, ¹²  and they used the remaining two to fly. 6:3 They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy ¹³  is the Lord who commands armies! ¹⁴  His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!”

[15:15]  ¹ tn Eliphaz here reiterates the point made in Job 4:18.

[15:15]  ² sn The question here is whether the reference is to material “heavens” (as in Exod 24:10 and Job 25:5), or to heavenly beings. The latter seems preferable in this context.

[15:16]  ³ tn The two descriptions here used are “abominable,” meaning “disgusting” (a Niphal participle with the value of a Latin participle [see GKC 356-57 §116.e]), and “corrupt” (a Niphal participle which occurs only in Pss 14:3 and 53:4), always in a moral sense. On the significance of the first description, see P. Humbert, “Le substantif toáe„ba„ et le verbe táb dans l’Ancien Testament,” ZAW 72 [1960]: 217ff.). On the second word, G. R. Driver suggests from Arabic, “debauched with luxury, corrupt” (“Some Hebrew Words,” JTS 29 [1927/28]: 390-96).

[15:16]  ⁴ sn Man commits evil with the same ease and facility as he drinks in water – freely and in large quantities.

[25:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “not pure in his eyes.”

[25:6]  ⁶ tn The text just has “maggot” and in the second half “worm.” Something has to be added to make it a bit clearer. The terms “maggot” and “worm” describe man in his lowest and most ignominious shape.

[103:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “[you] mighty ones of strength, doers of his word, by listening to the voice of his word.”

[103:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “all his hosts.”

[103:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “his attendants, doers of his desire.”

[104:4]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “and his attendants a flaming fire.” The lack of agreement between the singular “fire” and plural “attendants” has prompted various emendations. Some read “fire and flame.” The present translation assumes an emendation to “his attendant” (יו in the Hebrew text being virtually dittographic).

[6:2]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² sn Some understand “feet” here as a euphemistic reference to the genitals.

[6:3]  ¹³ tn Some have seen a reference to the Trinity in the seraphs’ threefold declaration, “holy, holy, holy.” This proposal has no linguistic or contextual basis and should be dismissed as allegorical. Hebrew sometimes uses repetition for emphasis. (See IBHS 233-34 §12.5a; and GKC 431-32 §133.k.) By repeating the word “holy,” the seraphs emphasize the degree of the Lord’s holiness. For another example of threefold repetition for emphasis, see Ezek 21:27 (Heb. v. 32). (Perhaps Jer 22:29 provides another example.)

[6:3]  ¹⁴ tn Perhaps in this context, the title has a less militaristic connotation and pictures the Lord as the ruler of the heavenly assembly. See the note at 1:9.