Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SERAPHIM

Heavenly beings seen by Isaiah in his inaugural vision (Isa. 6:1-7), probably so called because they shone brightly like fire (from Heb. śrp, “to burn”). Seraphim have six wings: two for covering their faces, lest they look directly at God; two for covering their “feet” (a euphemism for the genitals, which speaks of modesty and warns against the Canaanite fertility cult); and two for flying. When Isaiah complains of his unclean lips, the seraphs purify him with a coal taken from the altar.

The seraphim were most likely serpentine in shape, as suggested by the “fiery (NRSV ‘poisonous’) serpents” sent to bite the Israelites when they complained in the wilderness (Num. 21:6; Deut. 8:15); here the name may refer to their shiny skins or to the burning pain associated with their bites. Moses is instructed to fashion a bronze serpent (śārāp) and mount it on a pole (Num. 21:8-9); it was still in the temple at the time of Isaiah’s call (2 Kgs. 18:4). Isaiah twice refers to “flying fiery seraphs” or “serpents” (Isa. 14:29; 30:6), mythological creatures rather than the heavenly seraphim. Excavations have unearthed a number of scarab seals with winged serpents, some from the approximate time of Isaiah. In addition, winged serpents surround the throne of Pharaoh in Egyptian art (cf. Isa. 6, , a vision of the heavenly king on his throne).

Bibliography. K. R. Joines, Serpent Symbolism in the Old Testament (Haddonfield, N.J., 1974); A. Reifenberg, Ancient Hebrew Seals (London, 1950); W. A. Ward, “The Four-winged Serpent on Hebrew Seals,” RSO 43 (1968): 135-43.

William B. Nelson, Jr.

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SERAPHIM

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)