Isaiah 6:2-12

2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had ¹six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

3 And one called to another and said: ²"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; ³the whole earth is full of his glory!"^[a]

4 And ⁴the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and ⁵the house was filled with smoke.

5 And I said: "Woe is me! ⁶For I am lost; ⁷for 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 ⁸King, the LORD of hosts!"

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

7 And he ⁹touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for."

Isaiah's Commission from the Lord

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for ¹⁰us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."

9 And he said, "Go, and say to this people: ¹¹"'Keep on hearing,^[b] but do not understand; keep on seeing,^[c] but do not perceive.'

10 ¹²Make the heart of this people ¹³dull,^[d] and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; ¹⁴lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."

11 Then I said, ¹⁵"How long, O Lord?" And he said: "Until ¹⁶cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste,

12 and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

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Isaiah 6:2-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 6

This chapter contains a vision of the glory and majesty of Christ, the mission and commission of the prophet, and the destruction of the Jews. In the vision may be observed the time of it, and the object seen; who is described by the throne on which he sat, Isa 6:1 and by his ministers about him; and these, by their name, by their situation, by their wings and the use of them, and by their employment, Isa 6:2,3 and by the effects their crying to one another had upon the place where they were, Isa 6:4 and next follows the effect the whole vision had on the prophet, which threw him into great distress of mind; and the relief he had by one of the seraphim, and the manner of it, Isa 6:6,7 upon which a question being put, concerning sending some person, the prophet makes answer, expressing his readiness to go, Isa 6:8 when a commission is given him, and the message he is sent with is declared, Isa 6:9,10 whereupon he asks how long it would be the case of the Jews mentioned in the message he was sent with; and he is told it would continue until the utter destruction of them, Isa 6:11,12 and yet, for the comfort of him and other saints, it is intimated that there would be a remnant among them, according to the election of grace, Isa 6:13.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 16

1. Revelation 4:8
2. [See ver. 2 above]
3. Psalms 72:19
4. Amos 9:1
5. 1 Kings 8:10, 11; Revelation 15:8; [Exodus 19:18]
6. [Judges 13:22]
7. [Luke 5:8]
8. Isaiah 33:17; Jeremiah 10:10; [1 Samuel 12:12]
9. Jeremiah 1:9; Daniel 10:16
10. See Genesis 1:26
11. Cited Matthew 13:14, 15; Acts 28:26, 27; [Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; Romans 11:8]
12. Cited John 12:40
13. Psalms 119:70
14. [Jeremiah 5:21]
15. Psalms 79:5; Psalms 89:46
16. [Isaiah 1:7; Isaiah 27:10]

Footnotes 4

[a]. Or may his glory fill the whole earth
[b]. Or Hear indeed
[c]. Or see indeed
[d]. Hebrew fat

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.