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Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
Isaiah 6:2 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew.
  • BSB Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
  • NKJV Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
  • NASB Seraphim were standing above Him, each having six wings: with two each covered his face, and with two each covered his feet, and with two each flew.
  • NLT Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Seraphim with six wings attend the Lord, covering their faces and feet and using two wings to fly. It shows that even the holy angels veil themselves before God's surpassing holiness.

Overview

The seraphim, whose name means 'burning ones,' cover their faces in reverence and their feet in humility before the Holy One. Their posture teaches that the highest creatures cannot gaze directly upon God's glory. This heavenly worship frames the holiness that will overwhelm Isaiah and convict him of sin.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 33

  • Rev 4:8And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
  • Ezek 1:11Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.
  • Ps 104:4Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:
  • Ps 103:20Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
  • 1 Kgs 6:24And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.
  • Zech 3:4And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
  • Isa 6:6Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
  • Ps 18:10And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
  • Rev 14:6And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
  • Rev 7:11And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
  • 1 Kgs 6:27And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.
  • Ezek 10:21Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
  • Exod 25:20And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
  • Ezek 1:9Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
  • Ezek 1:24And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.
  • Job 15:15Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
  • 1 Kgs 8:7For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
  • Rev 8:13And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!
  • Dan 7:10A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
  • Ezek 1:6And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.
  • 1 Kgs 22:19And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.
  • Job 1:6Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
  • Exod 37:9And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.
  • Dan 9:21Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
  • Job 4:18Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
  • Ps 89:7God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.
  • Gen 17:3And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
  • 1 Kgs 19:13And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
  • Exod 3:6Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
  • Luke 1:10And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.
  • Heb 1:7And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
  • Ezek 10:16And when the cherubims went, the wheels went by them: and when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them.
  • Ezek 1:4And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 6:2YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 6:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.