Texts in Conversation
Isaiah 6 has the seraphim call out holy three times in succession, in a temple where God sits on a high throne. Psalm 99 spreads the same word across three separate refrains, one closing each section, and shares that temple setting.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
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.
Psalm 99:3
Hebrew Bible
1 The Lord reigns! The nations tremble. He sits enthroned above the cherubim; the earth shakes. 2 The Lord is elevated in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations. 3 Let them praise your great and awesome name. He is holy! 4 The king is strong; he loves justice. You ensure that legal decisions will be made fairly; you promote justice and equity in Jacob. 5 Praise the Lord our God. Worship before his footstool. He is holy! 6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests; Samuel was one of those who prayed to him. They prayed to the Lord and he answered them. 7 He spoke to them from a pillar of cloud; they obeyed his regulations and the ordinance he gave them. 8 O Lord our God, you answered them. They found you to be a forgiving God, but also one who punished their sinful deeds. 9 Praise the Lord our God! Worship on his holy hill, for the Lord our God is holy.
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Notes and References
“... The composition appears to have two parts with a refrain in verses 5 and 9, calling for people to exalt the LORD and bow before him (before his holy footstool, the ark, or before his holy mountain). So the connection to sanctuary worship is clear. But there is another refrain that occurs three times in the psalm: he (or his name) is holy (vv. 3, 5, and 9). Delitzsch suggests that this threefold motif is reminiscent of the seraphic trisagion of Isaiah 6: “holy, holy, holy.” There may be even more to connect the passages, because in Isaiah 6 the LORD is exalted, high and lifted up, and he is the king over all; and yet he condescends to remove the sin of the young prophet who cries out to him. The connections may be deliberate, but they might also be due to the fact that Isaiah 6 includes the central aspects of sanctuary worship to which this psalm refers. ...”
Ross, Allen P.
A Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 3: 90-150
(p. 176) Toronto Journal of Theology, 2016
* 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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