Show Bible Commentary For A Bible Verse

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Selected Verse: Isaiah 6:3 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
Isa 6:3	King James	And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
(Rev 4:8). The Trinity is implied (on "Lord," see on Isa 6:1). God's holiness is the keynote of Isaiah's whole prophecies. whole earth--the Hebrew more emphatically, the fulness of the whole earth is His glory (Psa 24:1; Psa 72:19).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

(Rev 4:8). The Trinity is implied (on "Lord," see on Isa 6:1). God's holiness is the keynote of Isaiah's whole prophecies.

whole earth--the Hebrew more emphatically, the fulness of the whole earth is His glory (Psa 24:1; Psa 72:19).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
And one cried to another - Hebrew 'This cried to this.' That is, they cried to each other in alternate responses. One cried 'holy;' the second repeated it; then the third; and then they probably united in the grand chorus, 'Full is all the earth of his glory.' This was an ancient mode of singing or recitative among the Hebrews; see Exo 15:20-21, where Miriam is represented as going before in the dance with a timbrel, and the other females as following her, and "answering," or responding to her, Psa 136:1; compare Lowth, "on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews," Lect. xix. Holy, holy, holy - The "repetition" of a name, or of an expression, three times, was quite common among the Jews. Thus, in Jer 7:4, the Jews are represented by the prophet as saying, 'the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these. Thus, Jer 22:29 : 'O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord;' Eze 21:27 : 'I will overturn, overturn, overturn;' see also Sa1 18:23 : 'O my son Absalom! my son, my son;' see also the repetition of the form of benediction among the Jews, Num 6:24-26 : Jehovah bless thee and keep thee; Jehovah make his face to shine upon thee, And be gracious unto thee; Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee, And give thee peace. In like manner, the number "seven" is used by the Hebrews to denote a great, indefinite number; then a full or complete number; and then perfectness, completion. Thus, in Rev 1:4; Rev 3:1; Rev 4:5, the phrase, 'the seven spirits of God,' occurs as applicable to the Holy Spirit, denoting his fullness, completeness, perfection. The Hebrews usually expressed the superlative degree by the repetition of a word. Thus, Gen 14:10 : 'The vale of Siddim, pits, pits of of clay,' that is, was full of pits; see Nordheimer's "Heb. Gram." Section 822-824. The form was used, therefore, among the Jews, to denote "emphasis;" and the expression means in itself no more than 'thrice holy;' that is, supremely holy. Most commentators, however, have supposed that there is here a reference to the doctrine of the Trinity. It is not probable that the Jews so understood it; but applying to the expressions the fuller revelations of the New Testament, it cannot be doubted that the words will express that. Assuming that that doctrine is true, it cannot be doubted, think, that the seraphs laid the foundation of their praise in that doctrine. That there was a distinct reference to the second person of the Trinity, is clear from what John says, Joh 12:41. No "argument" can be drawn directly from this in favor of the doctrine of the Trinity, for the repetition of such phrases thrice in other places, is merely "emphatic," denoting the superlative degree. But when the doctrine is "proved" from other places, it may be presumed that the heavenly beings were apprized of it, and that the foundation of their ascriptions of praise was laid in that. The Chaldee has rendered this, 'Holy in the highest heavens, the house of his majesty; holy upon the earth, the work of his power; holy forever, and ever, and ever, is the Lord of hosts.' The whole expression is a most sublime ascription of praise to the living God, and should teach us in what manner to approach him. The Lord of hosts - see the note at Isa 1:9. The whole earth - Margin, 'The earth is the fulness of his glory.' All things which he has made on the earth express his glory. His wisdom and goodness, his power and holiness, are seen every where. The whole earth, with all its mountains, seas, streams, trees, animals, and people, lay the foundation of his praise. In accordance with this, the Psalmist, in a most beautiful composition, calls upon all things to praise him; see Psa 148:1-14. Praise the Lord from the earth, Ye dragons, and all deeps: Fire and hail; snow and vapors; Stormy wind fulfilling his word: Mountains, and all hills; Fruitful trees, and all cedars; Beasts, and all cattle; Creeping things, and flying fowl.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

And one cried to another - Hebrew 'This cried to this.' That is, they cried to each other in alternate responses. One cried 'holy;' the second repeated it; then the third; and then they probably united in the grand chorus, 'Full is all the earth of his glory.' This was an ancient mode of singing or recitative among the Hebrews; see Exo 15:20-21, where Miriam is represented as going before in the dance with a timbrel, and the other females as following her, and "answering," or responding to her, Psa 136:1; compare Lowth, "on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews," Lect. xix.

Holy, holy, holy - The "repetition" of a name, or of an expression, three times, was quite common among the Jews. Thus, in Jer 7:4, the Jews are represented by the prophet as saying, 'the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these. Thus, Jer 22:29 : 'O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord;' Eze 21:27 : 'I will overturn, overturn, overturn;' see also Sa1 18:23 : 'O my son Absalom! my son, my son;' see also the repetition of the form of benediction among the Jews, Num 6:24-26 :

Jehovah bless thee and keep thee;

Jehovah make his face to shine upon thee,

And be gracious unto thee;

Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee,

And give thee peace.

In like manner, the number "seven" is used by the Hebrews to denote a great, indefinite number; then a full or complete number; and then perfectness, completion. Thus, in Rev 1:4; Rev 3:1; Rev 4:5, the phrase, 'the seven spirits of God,' occurs as applicable to the Holy Spirit, denoting his fullness, completeness, perfection. The Hebrews usually expressed the superlative degree by the repetition of a word. Thus, Gen 14:10 : 'The vale of Siddim, pits, pits of of clay,' that is, was full of pits; see Nordheimer's "Heb. Gram." Section 822-824. The form was used, therefore, among the Jews, to denote "emphasis;" and the expression means in itself no more than 'thrice holy;' that is, supremely holy. Most commentators, however, have supposed that there is here a reference to the doctrine of the Trinity. It is not probable that the Jews so understood it; but applying to the expressions the fuller revelations of the New Testament, it cannot be doubted that the words will express that. Assuming that that doctrine is true, it cannot be doubted, think, that the seraphs laid the foundation of their praise in that doctrine. That there was a distinct reference to the second person of the Trinity, is clear from what John says, Joh 12:41. No "argument" can be drawn directly from this in favor of the doctrine of the Trinity, for the repetition of such phrases thrice in other places, is merely "emphatic," denoting the superlative degree. But when the doctrine is "proved" from other places, it may be presumed that the heavenly beings were apprized of it, and that the foundation of their ascriptions of praise was laid in that. The Chaldee has rendered this, 'Holy in the highest heavens, the house of his majesty; holy upon the earth, the work of his power; holy forever, and ever, and ever, is the Lord of hosts.' The whole expression is a most sublime ascription of praise to the living God, and should teach us in what manner to approach him.

The Lord of hosts - see the note at Isa 1:9.

The whole earth - Margin, 'The earth is the fulness of his glory.' All things which he has made on the earth express his glory. His wisdom and goodness, his power and holiness, are seen every where. The whole earth, with all its mountains, seas, streams, trees, animals, and people, lay the foundation of his praise. In accordance with this, the Psalmist, in a most beautiful composition, calls upon all things to praise him; see Psa 148:1-14.

Praise the Lord from the earth,

Ye dragons, and all deeps:

Fire and hail; snow and vapors;

Stormy wind fulfilling his word:

Mountains, and all hills;

Fruitful trees, and all cedars;

Beasts, and all cattle;

Creeping things, and flying fowl.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
"And one cried to the other, and said, Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts: filling the whole earth is His glory." The meaning is not that they all lifted up their voice in concert at one and the same time (just as in Psa 42:8 el is not used in this sense, viz., as equivalent to C'neged), but that there was a continuous and unbroken antiphonal song. One set commenced, and the others responded, either repeating the "Holy, holy, holy," or following with "filling the whole earth is His glory." Isaiah heard this antiphonal or "hypophonal" song of the seraphim, not merely that he might know that the uninterrupted worship of God was their blessed employment, but because it was with this doxology as with the doxologies of the Apocalypse, it had a certain historical significance in common with the whole scene. God is in Himself the Holy One (kâdōsh), i.e., the separate One, beyond or above the world, true light, spotless purity, the perfect One. His glory (Câbod) is His manifested holiness, as Oetinger and Bengel express it, just as, on the other hand, His holiness is His veiled or hidden glory. The design of all the work of God is that His holiness should become universally manifest, or, what is the same thing, that His glory should become the fulness of the whole earth (Isa 11:9; Num 14:21; Hab 2:14). This design of the work of God stands before God as eternally present; and the seraphim also have it ever before them in its ultimate completion, as the theme of their song of praise. But Isaiah was a man living in the very midst of the history that was moving on towards this goal; and the cry of the seraphim, in the precise form in which it reached him, showed him to what it would eventually come on earth, whilst the heavenly shapes that were made visible to him helped him to understand the nature of that divine glory with which the earth was to be filled. The whole of the book of Isaiah contains traces of the impression made by this ecstatic vision. The favourite name of God in the mouth of the prophet viz., "the Holy One of Israel" (kedosh Yisrael), is the echo of this seraphic sanctus; and the fact that this name already occurs with such marked preference on the part of the prophet in the addresses contained in Isaiah 1:2-4:5, supports the view that Isaiah is here describing his own first call. All the prophecies of Isaiah carry this name of God as their stamp. It occurs twenty-nine times (including Isa 10:17; Isa 43:15; Isa 49:7), viz., twelve times in chapters 1-39, and seventeen times in chapters 40-66. As Luzzatto has well observed, "the prophet, as if with a presentiment that the authenticity of the second part of his book would be disputed, has stamped both parts with this name of God, 'the Holy One of Israel,' as if with his own seal." The only other passages in which the word occurs, are three times in the Psalms (Psa 71:22; Psa 78:41; Psa 89:19), and twice in Jeremiah (Jer 50:29; Jer 51:5), and that not without an allusion to Isaiah. It forms an essential part of Isaiah's distinctive prophetic signature. And here we are standing at the source from which it sprang. But did this thrice-holy refer to the triune God? Knobel contents himself with saying that the threefold repetition of the word "holy" serves to give it the greater emphasis. No doubt men are accustomed to say three times what they wish to say in an exhaustive and satisfying manner; for three is the number of expanded unity, of satisfied and satisfying development, of the key-note extended into the chord. But why is this? The Pythagoreans said that numbers were the first principle of all things; but the Scriptures, according to which God created the world in twice three days by ten mighty words, and completed it in seven days, teach us that God is the first principle of all numbers. The fact that three is the number of developed and yet self-contained unity, has its ultimate ground in the circumstance that it is the number of the trinitarian process; and consequently the trilogy (trisagion) of the seraphim (like that of the cherubim in Rev 4:8), whether Isaiah was aware of it or no, really pointed in the distinct consciousness of the spirits themselves to the truine God.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

"And one cried to the other, and said, Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts: filling the whole earth is His glory." The meaning is not that they all lifted up their voice in concert at one and the same time (just as in Psa 42:8 el is not used in this sense, viz., as equivalent to C'neged), but that there was a continuous and unbroken antiphonal song. One set commenced, and the others responded, either repeating the "Holy, holy, holy," or following with "filling the whole earth is His glory." Isaiah heard this antiphonal or "hypophonal" song of the seraphim, not merely that he might know that the uninterrupted worship of God was their blessed employment, but because it was with this doxology as with the doxologies of the Apocalypse, it had a certain historical significance in common with the whole scene. God is in Himself the Holy One (kâdōsh), i.e., the separate One, beyond or above the world, true light, spotless purity, the perfect One. His glory (Câbod) is His manifested holiness, as Oetinger and Bengel express it, just as, on the other hand, His holiness is His veiled or hidden glory. The design of all the work of God is that His holiness should become universally manifest, or, what is the same thing, that His glory should become the fulness of the whole earth (Isa 11:9; Num 14:21; Hab 2:14). This design of the work of God stands before God as eternally present; and the seraphim also have it ever before them in its ultimate completion, as the theme of their song of praise. But Isaiah was a man living in the very midst of the history that was moving on towards this goal; and the cry of the seraphim, in the precise form in which it reached him, showed him to what it would eventually come on earth, whilst the heavenly shapes that were made visible to him helped him to understand the nature of that divine glory with which the earth was to be filled. The whole of the book of Isaiah contains traces of the impression made by this ecstatic vision. The favourite name of God in the mouth of the prophet viz., "the Holy One of Israel" (kedosh Yisrael), is the echo of this seraphic sanctus; and the fact that this name already occurs with such marked preference on the part of the prophet in the addresses contained in Isaiah 1:2-4:5, supports the view that Isaiah is here describing his own first call. All the prophecies of Isaiah carry this name of God as their stamp. It occurs twenty-nine times (including Isa 10:17; Isa 43:15; Isa 49:7), viz., twelve times in chapters 1-39, and seventeen times in chapters 40-66. As Luzzatto has well observed, "the prophet, as if with a presentiment that the authenticity of the second part of his book would be disputed, has stamped both parts with this name of God, 'the Holy One of Israel,' as if with his own seal." The only other passages in which the word occurs, are three times in the Psalms (Psa 71:22; Psa 78:41; Psa 89:19), and twice in Jeremiah (Jer 50:29; Jer 51:5), and that not without an allusion to Isaiah. It forms an essential part of Isaiah's distinctive prophetic signature. And here we are standing at the source from which it sprang. But did this thrice-holy refer to the triune God? Knobel contents himself with saying that the threefold repetition of the word "holy" serves to give it the greater emphasis. No doubt men are accustomed to say three times what they wish to say in an exhaustive and satisfying manner; for three is the number of expanded unity, of satisfied and satisfying development, of the key-note extended into the chord. But why is this? The Pythagoreans said that numbers were the first principle of all things; but the Scriptures, according to which God created the world in twice three days by ten mighty words, and completed it in seven days, teach us that God is the first principle of all numbers. The fact that three is the number of developed and yet self-contained unity, has its ultimate ground in the circumstance that it is the number of the trinitarian process; and consequently the trilogy (trisagion) of the seraphim (like that of the cherubim in Rev 4:8), whether Isaiah was aware of it or no, really pointed in the distinct consciousness of the spirits themselves to the truine God.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Cried - Singing in consort. Holy - This is repeated thrice, to intimate the Trinity of persons united in the Divine essence. Glory - Of the effects and demonstrations of his glorious holiness, as well as of his power, wisdom, and goodness.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Holy, holy, holy - This hymn performed by the seraphim, divided into two choirs, the one singing responsively to the other, which Gregory Nazian., Carm. 18, very elegantly calls Συμφωνον, αντιφωνον, αγγελων στασιν, is formed upon the practice of alternate singing, which prevailed in the Jewish Church from the time of Moses, whose ode at the Red Sea was thus performed, (see Exo 15:20, Exo 15:21), to that of Ezra, under whom the priests and Levites sung alternately, "O praise Jehovah, for he is gracious; For his mercy endureth for ever;" Ezr 3:11. See De Sac. Poes. Hebr. Prael. xix., at the beginning.

Top

¹⁹ And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.

¹ A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

¹ In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

⁸ And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

¹ Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.
² Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
³ Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
⁴ Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
⁵ Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.
⁶ He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
⁷ Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
⁸ Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
⁹ Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:
¹⁰ Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:
¹¹ Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:
¹² Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:
¹³ Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.
¹⁴ He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the LORD.

⁹ Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

⁴¹ These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.

¹⁰ And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.

⁵ And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

¹ And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

⁴ John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

²⁴ The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
²⁵ The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
²⁶ The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

²³ And Saul's servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king's son in law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?

²⁷ I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

²⁹ O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

⁴ Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.

¹ O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

²⁰ And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
²¹ And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

⁵ For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

²⁹ Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁹ Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

⁴¹ Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.

²² I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel.

⁷ Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.

¹⁵ I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.

¹⁷ And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;

¹⁴ For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

²¹ But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.

⁹ They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

⁸ Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.

¹¹ And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

²¹ And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

²⁰ And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.