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Isaiah

About this book
Chapter 6

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.” 6 But then one of the seraphs flew toward me. In his hand was a hot coal he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Look, this coal has touched your lips. Your evil is removed; your sin is forgiven.” 8 I heard the voice of the Lord say, “Whom will I send? Who will go on our behalf?”⁠ I answered, “Here I am, send me!” 9 He said, “Go and tell these people:⁠ “‘Listen continually, but don’t understand. Look continually, but don’t perceive.’⁠ 10 Make the hearts of these people calloused; make their ears deaf and their eyes blind.⁠ Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, their hearts might understand and they might repent and be healed.”⁠ 11 I replied, “How long, Lord?” He said, “Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated, and houses are uninhabited, and the land is ruined and devastated, 12 and the Lord has sent the people off to a distant place, and the very heart of the land is completely abandoned. 13 Even if only a tenth of the people remain in the land, it will again be destroyed, like one of the large sacred trees or an Asherah pole, when a sacred pillar on a high place is thrown down. That sacred pillar symbolizes the special chosen family.”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 6:3 and 3 Enoch 35:4

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In Isaiah, the seraphim declare God's holiness to one another in heavenly liturgy. In 3 Enoch, separate groups of angels sing that praise and its response, describing this heavenly worship as an exchange between choirs.

Passages

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.”
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

3 Enoch 35:4

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Hebrew Book of Enoch
4 And some of them utter the "Holy" and others utter the "Blessed", some of them run as messengers, others are standing in attendance, according as it is written (Dan. vii. 10): "Thousand thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set and the books were opened". 5 And in the hour, when the time draws near to say the "Holy", (then) first there goes forth a whirlwind from before the Holy One, blessed be He, and bursts upon the camp of Shekina and there arises a great commotion among them, as it is written (Jer. xxx. 23): "Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goes forth with fury, a continuing commotion".
400–600 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 3 Enoch

References

“... This interpretation of the Qedushah as a call and response finds support in 3 Enoch chapters 34.2 and 35.4, where angels are grouped into “those who say ‘Holy’” and “those who say ‘Blessed’”. Similarly in 3 Enoch 39 the ministering angels recite the “Holy”, and many other groups of named angels fall prostrate and respond “Blessed be the name of his glorious kingdom for ever and ever.” This is a liturgical response which in present-day synagogue liturgy answers the reciting of the Shema. Ezek 3.12 is given in the parallel passage 3 Enoch 48B 2, and also in 3 Enoch 1.12: And when I opened my mouth and sang praises before the throne of glory the holy crea- tures below the throne of glory and above the throne responded after me, saying, Holy, holy, holy, and, Blessed be the glory of the Lord in his dwelling place. Note that here too the context is that of a responsorial liturgy. ...”
R. M. M. Tuschling, Angels and Orthodoxy: A Study in Their Development in Syria and Palestine from the Qumran Texts to Ephrem the Syrian (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007), 180.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Isaiah 6:3 and 3 Enoch 35:4

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