A seraph (Hebrew שרף, SRF; in the plural seraphim, שרפים, SRFYM) is one of a class of celestial beings mentioned once in the Old Testament (Tanakh), in Isaiah. Later Jewish imagery perceived them as having human form, and in that way they passed into the ranks of Christian angels.

Seraphim in Isaiah

Isaiah (6:1-3) records the prophet's vision of the Seraphim:

".. I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and His train filled the temple. Above Him stood



the Seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew."

In the vision the seraphim cry continually to each other, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory" (vi.3). The "foundations of the thresholds" of the Temple were moved by the sound of their voices.

This is the sole occurrence of the word "seraphim" in the canonic Hebrew Bible as heavenly beings. The name is unparalleled, but heavenly beings with multiple wings are often represented in art of Israel's neighboring cultures in the Ancient Near East.

The 2nd-century BCE Book of Enoch also mentions the Seraphim, but the term used is the Greek drakones (δράκονες meaning "serpents"). Enoch was never accepted in the

Seraphim in the Book of Revelation

While there is no explicit references to seraphim in the New Testament, in the Book of Revelation (4:8) is a description clearly drawn from Isaiah:

"And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to sing 'Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come!".

Like the seraphim of Isaiah, these angels sing the Trisagion and bear six wings. If the first hearers of Revelation were intended to bring the Seraphim to mind in this description, then they are again identified with animals.*

However, this citation could refer to the Ophanim, or Thrones, as there are indeed apparantly 4 Ophanim, each of which is covered with eyes.