[1] As those that are nearest of a king's attendants stand
behind his throne or chair of state, at his elbow.--_Day._
This is the only passage of Scripture in which the seraphim
are mentioned. According to the orthodox view, which
originated with Dionysius the Areopagite, they stand at the
head of the nine choirs of angels, the first rank
consisting of _seraphim, cherubim,_ and _throni._ And this
is not without support, if we compare the cherubim
mentioned in Ezekiel, which carried the chariot of the
divine throne; whereas here the seraphim are said to
surround the seat on which the Lord worshipped. In any
case, the seraphim and cherubim were heavenly beings of
different kinds; and there is no weight in the attempts of
Hendewerk and Stickel to prove that they are one and the
same. And certainly the name _seraphim_ does not signify
merely spirits as such, but even, if not the highest of
all, yet a distinct order from the rest; for the Scriptures
really teach that there are gradations in rank in the
hierarchy of heaven. Nor were they mere symbols or fanciful
images, as Hävernick imagines, but real spiritual beings
who visibly appeared to the prophet, and that in a form
corresponding to their own supersensuous being, and to the
design of the whole transaction. Whilst the seraphim
hovered on both sides of Him that sat upon the throne, and
therefore formed two opposite choirs, each ranged in a
semicircle, they presented antiphonal worship to Him that
sat upon the throne.--_Delitzsch._
The cherubim in the temple represented no doubt spiritual
powers and presence in the most general sense, those who
look upon God and reflect His light. If we distinguish
between them and the cherubim, as we do in our "Te Deum,"
these last would seem more especially to represent those
divine energies and affections of which the zeal, devotion,
and sympathy of man are counterparts.--_F. D. Maurice._
The name cannot possibly be connected with _sârâph,_ a
snake (Sanscrit, _sarpa,_ Latin, _Serpens_); and to trace
the word to a verb _sâraph_ in the sense of the Arabic
'sarafa ('sarufa), to tower high, to be exalted, or highly
honoured (as Gesenius, Hengetenberg, and others have done),
yields a sense that does not very strongly commend itself.
On the other hand, to follow Knobel, who reads shârâthim,
worshippers of God), and thus presents the Lexicon with a
new word, and to pronounce the word _seraphim_ a copyist's
error, would be a rash concession to the heaven-storming
omnipotence which is supposed to reside in the ink of a
German scholar. It is hardly admissible, however, to
interpret the name as signifying directly spirits of light
or fire, since the true meaning of _sâraph_ is not _urere_
(to burn), but _comburere_ (to set on fire or burn up).
Umbreig endeavours to do justice to this transitive meaning
by adopting the explanation "fiery beings," by which all
earthly corruption is opposed and destroyed. The vision
itself, however, appears to point to a much more
distinctive and special meaning in the name, which only
occurs in this passage of Isaiah. . . . If the fact that a
seraph absolved the seer by means of this fire of love
(vers. 6, 7) is to be taken as an illustrative example of
the historical calling of the seraphim, they were the
vehicles and media of the fire of divine love, just as the
cherubim in Ezekiel were the vehicles and media of the fire
of divine wrath. For just as in the case before us, a
seraph takes the fire of love from the altar; so there, in
Ezek. x. 6, 7, a cherub takes the fire of wrath from the
throne-chariot. Consequently the cherubim appear as the
vehicles and media of the wrath which destroys sinners, or
rather the divine _doxa,_ with its fiery side turned
towards the world; and the seraphim as the vehicles and
media of the love which destroys sin, or of the same divine
_doxa_ with its light side towards the world. . . .
"Seraphic love" is the expression used in the language of
the Church to denote the _ne plus ultra_ of holy love in
the creature.--_Delitzsch._
[2] Thus expressing his profound reverence and becoming modesty
in the Divine presence. We can hardly approach those who
are greatly our superiors but with downcast eyes,
intimating the consciousness we feel of their pre-eminence,
and our profound respect for the excellency and dignity. We
cannot look at the sun shining with meridian splendour, but
we are obliged to cover our eyes with our hands. Such is
the infinite glory of the eternal Jehovah, that celestial
spirits around His throne appeared to our prophet covering
their faces with their wings. Light inaccessible and full
of glory, in which God resides, was too strong for them
directly to contemplate.--_Macculloch._
[3] In Scripture language the _feet_ sometimes denote all the
lower parts of the body which decency requires to be
concealed. In eastern countries these were generally
covered by the long garments which they were accustomed to
wear: hence it may have been thought want of respect to
appear in public, on solemn occasions, with the feet
uncovered.--_Macculloch._
In a similar description of the cherubim in Ezek. i. 11, it
is said that they covered _their bodies._ In Isaiah the
expression clearly denotes, not the feet only, but the
lower extremities.--_Barnes._
How little do we know of beings whose forms from their
faces to their feet are 'covered!'--_B. W. Newton._