Seraphim and Cherubim

Biblical Occurrences

The seraphim appear as heavenly beings only in Isaiah 6. In the vision that the prophet Isaiah saw in the temple, seraphim stand above the Lord's throne. Each has six wings: with two it covers its face, with two it covers its feet, and with two it flies. They cry one to another, "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts" (Isaiah 6:3). One of them takes a live coal from the altar, lays it upon Isaiah's lips, and declares that his sin is purged (Isaiah 6:6-7).

The cherubim appear in many passages.

• Genesis 3:24: After Adam and Eve are driven out, cherubim guard the way to the tree of life.
• Exodus 25:18-22: Two cherubim of gold cover the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant with their wings. Cherubim were also embroidered on the curtains and veil of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:1, 31).
• 1 Kings 6:23-28: Solomon set up two large cherubim of olive wood in the Most Holy Place of the temple.
• Ezekiel 1 and 10: They are described as living creatures with four faces and four wings. Ezekiel 10:20 identifies these creatures as cherubim.
• Psalm 80:1, 99:1, and elsewhere: God is addressed as the one who dwells "between the cherubims."

Terminology and Background

The word seraph is related to a Hebrew verb meaning "to burn." The same word is used for the "fiery serpents" of Numbers 21:6. Cherub comes from the Hebrew kerub, whose etymology is uncertain. Scholars commonly compare the cherubim with the winged guardian figures that stood watch over temples and palaces in the ancient Near East.

Significance Across Scripture

Both kinds of beings serve to reveal and guard God's holiness and presence. In the New Testament, Hebrews 9:5 mentions the "cherubims of glory" shadowing the mercy seat. The four living creatures of Revelation 4:6-8 bear the likenesses of a lion, a calf, a man, and an eagle, like Ezekiel's cherubim, and, like Isaiah's seraphim, have six wings and cry "Holy" three times.

Interpretations and Debates

• The Celestial Hierarchy, a fifth- or sixth-century work by Pseudo-Dionysius, divides the angels into nine orders and places the seraphim and cherubim in the highest rank. This classification influenced Catholic and Orthodox tradition. Protestants generally hold that Scripture does not teach such a hierarchy.
• The early church fathers and many church traditions read the threefold repetition in Isaiah 6:3 as an intimation of the Trinity. Other interpreters see it solely as a Hebrew idiom expressing the superlative degree of holiness.
• Some interpret the "anointed cherub that covereth" in Ezekiel 28:14 as a reference to the fall of Satan. Others regard it solely as a figurative judgment against the king of Tyre.
• The Western artistic convention of depicting cherubs as plump winged infants derives from the artistic tradition of the Renaissance and later. It differs from the descriptions in the biblical text.