Texts in Conversation
Isaiah 6:3 includes a triple declaration of holiness that fills the earth with divine splendor. The Aramaic translation in Targum Jonathan expands this into praise describing holiness in heaven, on earth, and for all ages. This may reflect an Aramaic tradition that influenced other Jewish and Christian texts.
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Isaiah 6:3
Hebrew Bible
1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord seated on a high, elevated throne. The hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphs stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and they used the remaining two to fly. 3 They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!” 4 The sound of their voices shook the door frames, and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 I said, “Woe to me! I am destroyed, for my lips are contaminated by sin, and I live among people whose lips are contaminated by sin. My eyes have seen the king, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
Date: 7th-5th Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Jonathan Isaiah 6:3
Targum
1 In the year in which King Uzziah was smitten with the leprosy the prophet said, I saw the glory of the Lord sitting upon His throne, high, and lifted up unto the highest heavens, and the temple was filled with the brightness of His glory. 2 Holy ministers on high stood before him: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, that it should not see; and with twain he covered his body, that it should not be seen; and with twain he was ministering. 3 And one cried unto another, and they were saying, Holy in the highest and exalted heavens is the house of His Shekinah, holy upon the earth is the work of His might, holy for ever, world without end, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of the brightness of His glory. 4 And the posts of the threshold of the temple moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house of the sanctuary was filled with cloudy darkness. 5 Then said I, Woe is me, for I have sinned, for I am a guilty man to reprove, and I dwell in the midst of a people polluted with sin: for mine eyes have seen the glory of the Shekinah of the King of the worlds, the Lord of hosts.
Date: 200-300 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The targumic development of Isaiah 6:3, Holy in the highest heavens... holy upon earth... holy for endless ages, certainly is to be related, directly or indirectly, to Luke 2:14. If David Flusser's conclusions are exact, the tripartite form would have to be restored to the Gloria, by reading with a large number of witnesses: ... and among men divine benevolence — en anthropos eudokia, instead of eudokias ..."
Le Déaut, Roger
Targumic Literature and New Testament Interpretation
(p. 248) Biblical Theology Bulletin, 1974
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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