Saturday, January 26, 2019

What are the seraphim and their kin?

DR. RICHARD LEDERMAN: The Seraphim (TheTorah.com).
The image of YHWH accompanied by a heavenly retinue (צבאות) is ubiquitous in the Prophets and the Writings. Uniquely, in Isaiah’s call narrative, YHWH appears before the prophet accompanied by six-winged seraphim. What are these heavenly beings?
This essay is much broader than the title and abstract imply. It also deals with what I like to call the "throne vision oracles" in the Hebrew Bible by the prophets Isaiah, Micaiah, and Ezekiel (but Daniel 7 is missing). It covers not just seraphim, but also the title YHWH of Hosts, the four living creatures (chayot, hayyot), and the cherubim. And some related matters.

I noted Dr. Lederman's 2017 essay on the the flying serpent here. The forthcoming essay hinted at there seems to be this new one.

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