Chapter Overview
Summary
Isaiah 6 is THE PROPHET'S CALL — the throne-room-vision (vv. 1–4) with the SERAPHIM'S TRISAGION ('Holy, Holy, Holy'), Isaiah's-purification-by-coal (vv. 5–7), and his commissioning (vv. 8–13). The trisagion (v. 3) is one of the most-quoted-OT verses in Christian-liturgy (Sanctus). John 12:40–41 cites vv. 9–10 explicitly applying-Isaiah's-vision to-Christ ('Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him'). Verses 9–10 are also cited in Mark 4:12, Matthew 13:14–15, Luke 8:10, Acts 28:26–27 — six NT-citations from-this-passage.
Notable Variants
6:3 SERAPHIM TRISAGION → Christian Sanctus liturgy; 6:9–10 → SIX NT CITATIONS (Mark 4:12, Matt 13:14–15, Luke 8:10, John 12:40, Acts 28:26–27) hardening-theology; 6:1 'I saw the Lord' → John 12:41 ('Isaiah saw HIS [Christ's] glory').
Structural Notes
MT Isaiah 6 = LXX Isaiah 6. 13 verses. THE PROPHET'S CALL.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the hem of his robe filled the temple.
'In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple' tracks MT. UZZIAH-DIED — c. 740 BCE. JOHN 12:41 CHRISTOLOGICAL-IDENTIFICATION: 'Isaiah said these things because he saw HIS [Christ's] glory and spoke of him.' John reads-Isaiah's throne-vision as a christophany — Isaiah saw the pre-incarnate Christ.
Seraphim stood above him, each with six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.
'Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew' tracks MT. SERAPHIM (seraphim — 'burning ones'). Six-winged angelic-beings. Revelation 4:8's four-living-creatures with six-wings each Christologically-extends.
And they called to one another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts! The whole earth is full of his glory!"
Masoretic (WLC)
וְקָרָא זֶה אֶל־זֶה וְאָמַר קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת מְלֹא כָל־הָאָרֶץ כְּבוֹדוֹ
And one called to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!
Septuagint (LXX)
καὶ ἐκέκραγον ἕτερος πρὸς τὸν ἕτερον καὶ ἔλεγον ἅγιος ἅγιος ἅγιος κύριος σαβαωθ πλήρης πᾶσα ἡ γῆ τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ
And they cried one to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!
THE TRISAGION. The three-fold 'Holy, Holy, Holy' (Hagios, Hagios, Hagios / Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus) is one of the most-quoted-OT-verses in Christian-liturgy. Standard at every Christian Eucharist worldwide for over-1500-years.
REVELATION 4:8 CITATION. The four-living-creatures around the throne sing: 'HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, IS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, who was and is and is to come!' (hagios, hagios, hagios, kyrios ho theos ho pantokratōr) — directly-citing Isa 6:3 LXX. The trisagion is the heavenly-worship-song-eternal.
TRINITARIAN READING. Patristic-tradition (e.g., Augustine, Gregory of Nazianzus) read the three-fold 'Holy' as a Trinitarian-revelation — one Holy for-each Person of the Godhead. The Sanctus also-incorporates Matthew 21:9's 'Hosanna in the highest' from-Palm-Sunday.
The foundations of the thresholds shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple filled with smoke.
'And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke' tracks MT.
Then I said, "Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips -- and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts!"
'And I said: Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!' tracks MT. WOE-IS-ME / UNCLEAN-LIPS — divine-presence-undoes the-prophet. Luke 5:8 (Peter: 'depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!') Christologically-parallels.
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding a burning coal in his hand that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
'Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar' tracks MT. BURNING-COAL — purification-by-fire. Hebrews 12:29 ('our God is a consuming fire') Christologically-extends.
He touched it to my mouth and said, "Look -- this has touched your lips. Your guilt is removed, and your sin is atoned for."
'And he touched my mouth and said: Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for' tracks MT. GUILT-TAKEN-AWAY / SIN-ATONED. Christologically — Christ's-blood the cleansing-coal.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here I am. Send me."
'And I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said: Here am I! Send me' tracks MT. HERE-AM-I-SEND-ME (hineni shelacheni) — the prophet's-volunteer commissioning. Standard-text for missions-and-vocations-discernment.
He said, "Go and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand. Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.'
Masoretic (WLC)
וַיֹּאמֶר לֵךְ וְאָמַרְתָּ לָעָם הַזֶּה שִׁמְעוּ שָׁמוֹעַ וְאַל־תָּבִינוּ וּרְאוּ רָאוֹ וְאַל־תֵּדָעוּ
And he said: Go, and say to this people: Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive
Septuagint (LXX)
καὶ εἶπεν πορεύθητι καὶ εἰπὸν τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ ἀκοῇ ἀκούσετε καὶ οὐ μὴ συνῆτε καὶ βλέποντες βλέψετε καὶ οὐ μὴ ἴδητε
And he said: Go and say to this people: You will hear with your hearing but never understand, and seeing you will see but never perceive
SIX-FOLD NT CITATION. Isaiah 6:9–10 is the OT's-most-densely-cited-verse-pair in the NT — six explicit-citations: (1) MATTHEW 13:14–15; (2) MARK 4:12; (3) LUKE 8:10; (4) JOHN 12:40; (5) ACTS 28:26–27; (6) ROMANS 11:8 (with Deut 29:4). Each engages the hardening-of-Israel theology.
MATTHEW 13:14–15 cites the LXX of Isa 6:9–10 verbatim, applied to those-who-cannot-understand the-parables. The future-tenses ('you WILL hear … you WILL not understand') match the LXX's prophetic-future, contrasted with the MT's-imperative ('keep-on-hearing'). Matthew's-use of-the-LXX preserves the prophecy-fulfilled tense-frame.
JOHN 12:40 explicitly-applies the verse to-Christ: 'Therefore they could not believe. For Isaiah said: He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn — and I would heal them.' John then-clarifies: 'Isaiah said these things because he saw his [Christ's] glory and spoke of him' (John 12:41).
ACTS 28:26–27 — Paul's final-citation in Acts, deployed against Roman-Jewish-resistance. The verse is the canonical-explanation for Israel's-non-reception of-the-gospel.
Make the heart of this people dull, make their ears heavy, and seal shut their eyes -- lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."
Masoretic (WLC)
הַשְׁמֵן לֵב־הָעָם הַזֶּה וְאָזְנָיו הַכְבֵּד וְעֵינָיו הָשַׁע פֶּן־יִרְאֶה בְעֵינָיו וּבְאָזְנָיו יִשְׁמָע וּלְבָבוֹ יָבִין וָשָׁב וְרָפָא לוֹ
Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed
Septuagint (LXX)
ἐπαχύνθη γὰρ ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν αὐτῶν βαρέως ἤκουσαν καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν ἐκάμμυσαν μήποτε ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν ἀκούσωσιν καὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ συνῶσιν καὶ ἐπιστρέψωσιν καὶ ἰάσομαι αὐτούς
For the heart of this people has grown dull, and their ears have become heavy of hearing, and they have closed their eyes — lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn back, and I would heal them
LXX-vs-MT DIVERGENCE — DECISIVE FOR NT CITATIONS. The MT puts the hardening as a divine-imperative ('MAKE the heart dull'); the LXX renders it as a passive-description ('the heart HAS GROWN DULL'). The NT-citations follow-the-LXX, attributing the hardening to-the-people's-own-condition rather than directly to-divine-causation. This significantly-softens the predestinarian-edge of-the-Hebrew.
MATTHEW 13:14–15 cites this LXX-verse in Matthew's hardening-discourse. Mark 4:12 cites the verse for the parable-secrecy theology. John 12:40 modifies: 'he has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart' (combining MT-edge with LXX-vocabulary). Acts 28:27 closes Paul's Acts-ministry with this citation. Romans 11:8 ('God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,' down to this very day) extends with-Deut 29:4.
Then I said, "How long, Lord?" And he answered: "Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants, and houses stand empty of people, and the land is utterly desolate,
'Then I said: How long, O Lord? And he said: Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste' tracks MT.
and the LORD has sent the people far away, and the forsaken places are many throughout the land."
'And the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land' tracks MT.
And though a tenth remains in it, it too will be burned again. But as a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains when it is felled -- the holy seed is its stump.
'And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump' tracks MT. HOLY-SEED IS-ITS-STUMP. Remnant-theology. Romans 11:16 ('if the root is holy, so are the branches'), 11:5 ('there is a remnant, chosen by grace') extend Christologically. The 'stump' anticipates Isaiah 11:1 (the SHOOT-FROM-THE-STUMP-OF-JESSE).