And one of the seraphims flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar.

“With eyes, lips and faces turned toward it, let us receive the divine burning coal, so that the fire of the coal may be added to the desire within us to consume our sins and enlighten our hearts, and so that by this communion with the divine fire we may be set afire and deified. Isaiah saw a live coal, and this coal was not plain wood but wood joined with fire. Thus also, the bread of communion is not plain bread but bread joined with the Godhead. And the body joined with the Godhead is not one nature. On the contrary, that of the body is one, whereas that of the Godhead joined with it is another—so that both together are not one nature but two.”

“a glowing coal Heb. רִצְפָּה, a coal, and similarly, (I Kings 19:6) “a cake baked on hot coals (עֻגַּת רְצָפִים),” like עֻגַּת רְשָׁפִים. In regards to Isaiah and Elijah, however, it is written with a ‘zadi,’ רִצְפָּה, because they spoke ill of Israel. This one [Isaiah] called them a people of unclean lips, and this one [Elijah] said, (ibid. 10) “For...have forsaken Your covenant.” Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to the angel, “Break the mouth (רְצוֹץ פֶּה) that spoke ill of My children.” with tongs Heb. (בְּמֶלְקֳחַיִם) with tongs. he had taken it from upon the altar that was in the forecourt.”

“ויעׇף Then flew. As written here, with a short kamez under ע, it is derived from עוף to fly; but ויעַף (Jud. 4:21), where the ע has a pathah, is derived from עיף to be weary. רצפה A live coal. Comp. רצפים coals (1 Kings 19:6). With tongs. As men use to do. From off the altar. Where the fire is holy, where there is no strange fire.”

“In the year that the king died. After he reproved the fault in the two tribes, adding the corrective punishment, here he threatens the punishment that finally condemns, namely the punishment of hardening; and therefore this punishment is foretold in the manner of a sentence, and with the solemnity of judgment. This chapter is therefore divided into three parts. In the first, the author of the sentence is described, namely the judge; in the second, the herald of the sentence, the minister of the judge, at the place, "And I said: Woe is me"; in the third, the sentence itself is set down, at the place, "Hear, you that hear." Concerning the first, two things are set down. First, the time of the vision; second, the vision itself, at the place, "I saw the Lord sitting." As to the first, he says: in the year that Ozias died, who in 4 Kings 15 is called Azarias, struck with leprosy by the Lord because he wished to usurp the priestly office, as is said in 2 Paralipomenon 26. But after he was struck, his son Joatham governed the king's house and the kingdom until his death; yet he is not said to have reigned then, but rather to have carried on his father's role; but he first reigned when his father died. Hence this vision was shown while Joatham was reigning, and the preceding matters while Ozias was reigning. I saw the Lord sitting. Here the vision is set down: and first he describes the throne of the judge; second, the ministry of those attending, at the place "Seraphim." Now this vision is said by some to have been imaginary, by others intellectual. And a figure is taken up by the prophet himself from something similar, as Dionysius says in the epistle to Titus, that to the prophets, to the things which they see plainly without figures, figures are put around for the leading-by-hand of the hearers, who through sensible figures can more easily grasp them. However this may be, two things must be seen here. First, the imagining of the figure, whether seen by the prophet, or composed by him; and second, the signification of that figure itself: for in order to signify something spiritually, sensible figures of spiritual things are introduced in sacred Scripture, as Dionysius says: and that will be the literal sense; just as also in metaphorical speech it is not that which is signified by the words, but what the speaker through the words wishes to signify. Concerning the first, then, it must be known that the temple built by Solomon had a height of a hundred and twenty cubits, as is said in 2 Paralipomenon 3, and its height was divided into three houses; of which the highest had sixty cubits, and each of the two lower ones thirty. And of these it is said in 3 Kings 6: by a winding stair they went up into the middle chamber, and from the middle into the third. He saw, then, the throne of the Lord in the highest chamber; on account of which it is said, "high," that is, lofty, as also "lifted up," above all the chambers: and from the brightness of his countenance the middle chamber shone: on account of which it is said: "the house was full of majesty," that is, of his glory; and the things that were under him, that is, the ornaments of his throne, or even the splendor of his garments, or the ranks of his subjects, filled the lowest chamber, into which the priests entered: on account of which he says, "temple." Others say otherwise, that he saw the lofty throne in the middle chamber, which is called the house, which was full of the middle members and arms of the Lord; below, which is called the temple, of the feet and shins; but the head and neck stood forth into the third story. 3 Kings, last chapter: I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him, on his right hand and on his left. Proverbs 20: the king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters all evil round about him. Concerning the second, it must be known that the signification of this vision is assigned in three ways by different people. For some say that by the sitting on the throne is signified the future oppression of captivity: by the filling of the house with majesty is signified that the enemies who were under his disposition would fill the temple: and the histories touch on this. Jerome, however, expounds otherwise, and better, that by the seat is signified the majesty of the Son of God, on account of which it is said in John 12: these things said Isaias, when he saw his glory, and spoke of him. By the throne are signified the Angels, in whom God sits. Psalm 79: who sittest upon the Cherubim. By the house, the Church triumphant, which is full of his glory. By the temple, the Church militant, which is full of miracles, or of the ranks of Angels, as if guardians. Dionysius expounds otherwise in the 13th chapter of the Celestial Hierarchy, and better, as it seems. By the throne is signified the eminence of the divine nature, and it is called "lofty" on account of its nobility, "lifted up" as if raised above other things, inasmuch as it exceeds all things infinitely; in which he is said to sit on account of immobility. Hence he says in the 9th chapter On the Divine Names: what indeed is to be said of the divine standing, except that it remains fixed singularly in itself in immovable identity? And the whole creature is called the house, which is full of majesty, inasmuch as it is filled with a participation of his goodness according to its capacity. And by the temple he seems to understand the higher creatures themselves, which are filled with the things that are under him, inasmuch as the goodnesses received in them fall short of the goodness of God, which nevertheless they seem to approach. But against this it is objected. Exodus 33: for man shall not see me, and live, that is, living in this mortal flesh. 1 John 4: no man hath seen God at any time. Therefore neither did Isaias. To which it must be said that neither interior nor exterior sight can see unless it be moved by the visible thing; and according as it is more perfectly changed by the visible thing, the better it sees. And then it sees most perfectly when it receives the action of the visible thing according to its whole power. And hence it is that the same thing is seen in different ways by different people, both interiorly and exteriorly; by some better, and by some worse. This visible object, therefore, which is God, nothing comprehends perfectly except that which grasps the whole of him, and therefore he alone sees himself in this way. Hence the heavenly secret (says Chrysostom) is seen by some in its own essence without a medium for this, according to the perfection which those attaining to it have from the divine light received, as by the blessed in their homeland, and by those who are lifted up by rapture to that manner of vision. But by those having a less perfect sight, it is seen according to certain likenesses of his goodness, whether in sensible things, or in images, or in intelligible species. And of this kind is the vision by which the prophets saw through the light of prophecy, and by which we see through faith, and by which he is seen through the light of reason, even by philosophers, who also knew God, as is said in Romans 1. But then there remains the question, whether the prophets received such a vision immediately from God, or through the mediation of Angels. And it seems that it was immediate, from the very manner of speaking: because he says, I saw the Lord, and not, I saw an Angel. Likewise concerning Moses, Exodus 33: the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man is wont to speak to his friend. Likewise they saw in the mirror of eternity, as is commonly said: therefore some saw God. To which it must be said, according to Dionysius, 4th chapter On the Celestial Hierarchy, that no mere man, neither among the fathers of the New nor of the Old Testament, received any revelation from God except through the mediation of Angels. And he says that this is an inviolable law, that through the first mediating things they are led back into the divine; and he proves this by an argument from the greater, because even Moses received the law through the mediation of Angels, who nevertheless saw most excellently; which is proved by that which is found in Galatians 3: what then is the law? It was set because of transgression, until the seed should come to whom God had promised, ordained by Angels in the hand of a mediator. Acts 7: who have received the law by the disposition of Angels, and have not kept it. To the first, then, it must be said that this reasoning can hold both on the part of the end of the vision, and on the part of the principle. On the part of the end, because the Angel revealing intends to lead man into the knowledge of God, and not into the knowledge of himself; and therefore he forms the vision about God, so that from those things which are seen figuratively, something about God may be known. But on the part of the principle, because the whole power of the angelic light for manifesting anything is from God the author, who is the fount of light; just as in demonstrative matters the whole power of the light or manifestation is from the first principles. Hence Gregory says in the Gloss on the third chapter of Exodus: the Angel who is described as having appeared to Moses is announced now as the Lord, now as an Angel. An Angel, because he serves by speaking outwardly; the Lord, because presiding inwardly he grants the efficacy of speaking. For since the one speaking is ruled from within, he is called both Angel through his service, and Lord through his inspiration. To the second it must be said that this is said on account of the most eminent manner of clear vision, by which Moses saw beyond the other prophets, as is said in Numbers 12. To the third it must be said that the mirror of eternity is not said to be God himself, but the very species which are in the soul of the prophet; and they are called a mirror inasmuch as the disposition of eternal wisdom is reflected in them. Seraphim stood. Here he sets down the office of the ministers: and first he describes the order of the ministers; second, their praise, at "And they cried: Holy." Concerning the first he sets down three things. First he sets down the rank of the ministers, saying: the Seraphim stood beneath it, namely the temple, because this order is supreme among all, as Dionysius says in the Gloss here. Also note, that "Seraphim" written with an m is of the plural number and masculine gender, and signifies several of that order; but written with an n it is of the plural number and neuter gender, and signifies the whole host of that order; but "Seraphin" is of the singular number and masculine gender, and signifies only one of that order. Below, 62: upon thy walls, Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen: all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. And he says, "stood," upright through contemplation, as if attending. Second he sets down the adornment of the ministers in the sixfold number of wings. Six wings. Third, the use of the wings: with two they covered his face. In the Hebrew it is said ambiguously; and it can be expounded that they covered the face of God; and thus Jerome takes it: or that they covered their own face; and thus Dionysius takes it, according to whom the sense is that the head was covered, and the feet, and the middle of the body. With two they flew, namely the middle ones. Ezechiel 1: each one with two others covered its body. And below in the same place: and I heard the sound of the wings, like the sound of many waters. The signification of this vision is taken in three ways. The Hebrew says that by the twelve wings are understood the twelve kings who ruled over the people from Ozias, under whom the vision began, and thereafter; of whom only four were just, namely Ozias, Joatham, Ezechias, and Josias: and therefore they flew with four wings. But the others were ashamed before the sight of God, and therefore covered their face: of whom four possessed the kingdom freely, namely Achaz, Manasses, Amon, and Joathan, who were made kings by the people; and these are signified by the wings that were at the head. But the other four possessed the kingdom under the servitude of others. Hence they were made kings by others, and not by the people, as Joachim by Pharaoh, Jechonias and Sedecias and Godolias: of whom it is said in Jeremiah 41, that Ismael and ten men who were with him killed Godolias, whom the king of Babylon had set over the land. For the aforesaid last three were appointed by Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon. Jerome says that they are called winged, either because they dwell above, or on account of the swiftness of their ministry: and he understands by the twelve wings the ministry of perfection, which is commended in the number twelve, as the twelve gems in the diadem of the priest, and so of the others. And with two they fly, et cetera. Because the things that were before the world or after the world, they conceal from us, and they show what happens in the six ages of the world: or because past and future things are unknown to us, but present things we know; so that this is referred to the act of ministry; and that which he said, "stood," to this, that they attend upon God. Dionysius expounds otherwise, in the 13th chapter of the Celestial Hierarchy and the 4th chapter of the Ecclesiastical; and he says that they are called winged, because after the likeness of one flying, they have a lofty and free contemplation. Now a threefold pair of wings is described; because the Seraphim see the things that pertain to themselves, who are of the first hierarchy, and the things that pertain to the other two more eminently than those; so that by one wing is understood the capacity of nature, and by the other the light participated from God, because by these two they are raised up. But the things that pertain to the hierarchies are from God as from a principle, and are ordered to God as to an end; and in both ways they cannot be perfectly understood by the Angels; which the covering signifies. And there are also, in the Angels themselves, as it were middle things between the beginning and the end; and thus they have perfect and free knowledge of these, and therefore with the two middle wings they flew, and cried. Here he sets down their praise: and concerning this he does three things. First he sets down the manner of praising as to devotion, because they cried out from greatness of affection; as to concord, because "each" cried; and as to order, because "to the other." For one receives from the other, as Dionysius holds. Job 38: where wast thou when the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody? Second he sets down the song of praise, at "holy, holy, holy." And they praise three things. The Trinity of Persons: "holy, holy, holy." The majesty of the Unity: "the Lord God of hosts," who is over all. Apocalypse 4: holy, holy, holy, the Lord God almighty, who is, and who was, and who is to come. The liberality of providence: "all the earth is full of his glory": because even to the last creatures, which are understood by "the earth," he extends the diffusion of his goodness. Jeremiah 23: do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord? And this according to Dionysius, 7th chapter of the Celestial Hierarchy. Jerome: "all the earth is full," through the knowledge of faith. Ecclesiasticus 42: his work is full of the glory of the Lord. Hath not the Lord made the saints to declare all his wonderful works, which the Lord almighty hath confirmed to be established for his glory? Third, at "and the lintels were moved," he sets down the effect of the praise, namely the punishment of sinners. Below, 65: behold my servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry; behold my servants shall drink, and you shall be thirsty; behold my servants shall praise for joyfulness of heart, and you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for grief of spirit. And the destruction of the temple is signified. The lintels of the hinges were moved. Amos 9: strike the hinge, and let the lintels be moved. And its burning is signified. And the house was filled with smoke, of the burning by the Romans after the faith of Christ was known. Or by the smoke, the unbelief of the Jews; by the moving of the hinges, the removal of the legal observances, or ceremonies, which were as it were shadows closing off the approach to the truth. And I said. Here the herald of the sentence is set down: and first his humility is shown; second his purity, at "and he flew"; third, authority, at "and I heard." Humility, in the confession of sin. Now he confesses a threefold sin. The first, in speech, of omission: "woe," because "I held my peace," by not reproving King Ozias; and thus he laments the fault; "I held my peace" from the praise of God, and thus he laments the loss. Below, 56: his watchmen are all blind, they are all ignorant, dumb dogs not able to bark, seeing vain things, sleeping and loving dreams. Ecclesiasticus 15: praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner. Of commission: because I am a man of polluted lips. Ecclesiasticus 23: let not thy mouth be accustomed to undisciplined speech, for therein is the word of sin. Second, of the company of evil people: "and in the midst of a people." 1 Corinthians 15: for evil communications corrupt good manners. Third, the sin of presumption: "and the king, the Lord of hosts"; as if he were to say: he who is impure cannot enter his temple, how much less can he see him himself; Judges 13: we shall die the death, because we have seen the Lord. And this was out of reverence. But Jacob said, Genesis 32: I have seen the Lord face to face, and my soul has been saved. And this is out of confidence. Jerome: happy the conscience which sinned only in speech, having polluted lips not by its own fault, but that of the people. And he flew to me. Here purity is shown from the purgation of sins: and concerning this three things are set down. The minister of the purgation: "he flew to me"; the instrument of the purgation: "and in his hand a coal from the altar of holocausts." The altar within was of earth, as is said in Exodus 20: you shall make me an altar of earth. But all around it was of stones, where the fires of sacrifice were gathered; and from these he took the coal with tongs, an instrument having two arms, by which the receptive power can be signified; and by the altar, the divine light or goodness itself; and by the coal, the gift received for the office of purgation. Or by the fire, tribulation; by the Seraph, Christ; by the tongs, the two testaments; by the coal, charity, which is in the hand, that is, in his operation. Third, the manner of purging: "and he touched my mouth, and said"; just as in the sacraments there is an action and a form of words; behold, "he touched," expresses the act; and "iniquity shall be taken away," toward men, "sin," toward God. And he does not say, "I will take away," because it belongs to God alone to remit sin. Below, 43: I am, I am he that blot out thy iniquities for my own sake, and I will not remember thy sins. Concerning all these, Daniel 9: behold the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, flying swiftly, touched me at the time of the evening sacrifice, and he instructed me, and spoke to me. But against this it is objected that Dionysius says that those of the higher orders are not sent into ministry; but it is established that the Seraphim are the highest: therefore it does not seem true that they come for the purgation of the prophet. To which it must be said that Gregory touches on this question in a certain homily on the hundred sheep, and leaves it in doubt. But Dionysius expressly holds that only the lower orders are sent to us: and he says that this is by the order of the divine law, that lower things are led back through intermediaries. But as to what is said here, he resolves it in two ways. In one way, that this Angel who purges is called "Seraphim" equivocally, not from the order, but from the act which he then exercised, because he purged with fire, and "Seraphin" means a burning. In the other way, he resolves it by saying that it is properly said of him who is of that order; and he is said to purge, not because he himself immediately purges, but because by his authority, or by an illumination received from him, a lower Angel purged. And he gives an example. Just as a bishop is said to absolve when another absolves by his authority. And therefore, out of reverence, the lower Angel, who formed the vision, refers it back to God first, and to the Seraph second; as if he were to say: I purge you through the light received from God, by the mediation of the Seraph. The Septuagint have "carbuncles," on account of the likeness to fire. For it has a flaming color.”

“Then flew one of the seraphim unto me,.... When the prophet had confessed his sin; for upon that follows the application of pardon; and when the seraph, or minister of the Gospel, had an order from the Lord to publish the doctrine of it: it is God's act alone to forgive sin; it is the work of his ministers to preach forgiveness of sin, and that to sensible sinners; who when they are made sensible of sin, and distressed with it, the Lord takes notice of them, and sends messengers to them, to comfort them, by acquainting them that their iniquity is forgiven; who go on such an errand cheerfully and swiftly; and though they do not know the particular person, yet the Lord directs their ministration to him, and makes it effectual. Having a live coal in his hand: by which is meant the word of God, comparable to fire, and to a burning coal of fire, Jer 23:29 for the light and heat which it gives both to saints and sinners, and for its purity and purifying nature: which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar; of burnt offering, where the fire was always burning; which was a type of Christ, and his sacrifice; and this shows what particular doctrine of the word it was the seraph or Gospel minister took, and delivered in this visionary way; it was the doctrine of pardon, founded upon the sacrifice and satisfaction of Christ. To this sense of the words the Targum agrees, which paraphrases them thus, "and there flew to me one of the ministers, and in his mouth a word which he received from his Shechinah, upon the throne of glory, in the highest heavens, above the altar,'' See Rev 14:6.”

“unto me--The seraph had been in the temple, Isaiah outside of it. live coal--literally, "a hot stone," used, as in some countries in our days, to roast meat with, for example, the meat of the sacrifices. Fire was a symbol of purification, as it takes the dross out of metals (Mal 3:2-3). the altar--of burnt offering, in the court of the priests before the temple. The fire on it was at first kindled by God (Lev 9:24), and was kept continually burning.”

“This confession was followed by the forgiveness of his sins, of which he received an attestation through a heavenly sacrament, and which was conveyed to him through the medium of a seraphic absolution. "And one of the seraphim flew to me with a red-hot coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said, Behold, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away; and so thy sin is expiated." One of the beings hovering round the Lord (there were, therefore, a large and indefinite number) flew to the altar of incense - the heavenly original of the altar of incense in the earthly temple, which was reckoned as belonging to the Most Holy Place - and took from this altar a ritzpâh, i.e., either a red-hot stone (Vulg. Calculum, Ar. radfe or radafe), or, according to the prevailing tradition, a red-hot coal (vid., râtzēph -râshaph, to scatter sparks, sparkle, or glow: syn. gacheleth), and that with a pair of tongs, because even a seraph's hand cannot touch the vessels consecrated to God, or the sacrifices that belong to Him. With this red-hot coal he flew to Isaiah, and having touched his mouth with it, i.e., that member of his body of whose uncleanness he had more especially complained (cf., Jer 1:9, where the prophet's mouth is touched by Jehovah's hand, and made eloquent in consequence), he assured him of the forgiveness of his sins, which coincided with the application of this sacramental sign. The Vav connects together what is affirmed by nâga‛ (hath touched) and sâr (a taker away) as being simultaneous; the zeh (this) points as a neuter to the red-hot coal. The future tecuppâr is a future consec., separated by Vav conversive for the purpose of bringing the subject into greater prominence; as it is practically impossible that the removal of guilt should be thought of as immediate and momentary, and the expiation as occurring gradually. The fact that the guilt was taken away was the very proof that the expiation was complete. Cipper, with the "sin" in the accusative, or governed by על, signifies to cover it up, extinguish, or destroy it (for the primary meaning, vid., Isa 28:18), so that it has no existence in relation to the penal justice of God. All sinful uncleanness was burned away from the prophet's mouth. The seraph, therefore, did here what his name denotes: he burned up or burned away (Comburit). He did this, however, not by virtue of his own fiery nature, but by means of the divine fire which he had taken from the heavenly altar. As the smoke which filled the house came from the altar, and arose in consequence of the adoration offered to the Lord by the seraphim, not only must the incense-offering upon the altar and this adoration be closely connected; but the fire, which revealed itself in the smoke and consumed the incense-offering, and which must necessarily have been divine because of its expiatory power, was an effect of the love of God with which He reciprocated the offerings of the seraphim. A fiery look from God, and that a fiery look of pure love as the seraphim were sinless, had kindled the sacrifice. Now, if the fact that a seraph absolved the seer by means of this fire of love 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 are 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 Eze 10:6-7, 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 of 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. (Note: Seraphic love is the expression used in the language of the church to denote the ne plus ultra of holy love in the creature. The Syriac fathers regarded the burning coal as the symbol of the incarnate Son of God, who is often designated in poetry as the "live or burning coal" (Kemurto denuro): DMZ. 1860, pp. 679, 681.)”