Isaiah Chapter 6 verse 6 Holy Bible
Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
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Then a winged one came to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from off the altar with the fire-spoon.
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And one of the seraphim flew unto me, and he had in his hand a glowing coal, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar;
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Then 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:
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read chapter 6 in WBT
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.
read chapter 6 in WEB
And flee unto me doth one of the seraphs, and in his hand a burning coal, (with tongs he hath taken `it' from off the altar,)
read chapter 6 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 6. - A live coal; or, a glowing stone, as Gesenius, Rosenmüller, Knobel, and Mr. Cheyne understand (comp. 1 Kings 19:6, where a cognate word is used). The tongs... the altar. The presence of an altar in the heavenly dwelling, with the usual appurtenances, is assumed (comp. Revelation 6:9; Revelation 8:3). The altar is, no doubt, an altar of incense, and of gold, not of stone; but the incense is burnt upon stones heated to a glow, and it is one of these stones which the angel takes with the golden tongs of the sanctuary (Exodus 25:38).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(6) Then flew one of the seraphims.--In presenting the vision to our mind's eye we have to think of the bright seraph form, glowing as with fire, and with wings like the lightning-flash, leaving his station above the throne, and coming to where the prophet stood in speechless terror. The altar from which he took the "live coal "--literally, stone, and interpreted by some critics of the stones of which the altar was constructed--is commonly thought of as belonging, like that of Revelation 8:5; Revelation 9:13, to the heavenly Temple which was opened to the prophet's view. There seems, however, a deeper meaning in the symbolism if we think of the seraph as descending from the height above the throne to the altar of incense, near which Isaiah actually stood. It was from that altar that the glowing charcoal was taken. What had seemed part of the material of a formal worship became quickened with a living power. The symbol became sacramental. So in Psalm 51:7, the prayer of the penitent is "Purge me with hyssop"--i.e., make the symbol a reality. Fire, it need hardly be said, is throughout the Bible the symbol at once of the wrath and the love of God, destroying the evil and purifying the good (Numbers 31:23; Malachi 3:2; Matthew 3:11; 1Corinthians 3:15; Hebrews 12:29; 1Peter 1:7). Isaiah passed, as it were, through the purgatory of an instantaneous agony. . . .
