Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Isaiah
Chapter 6: Holy, Holy, Holy
In the year King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up on a throne, the temple filled with His glory, while burning seraphim cried out, 'Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts.' Undone by the sight of God's holiness and his own unclean lips, Isaiah is cleansed by a live coal from the altar. Then he hears the Lord asking, 'Whom shall I send?' and answers, 'Here am I; send me.' It is one of the great chapters of Scripture: a vision of God's holiness that exposes our sin, a cleansing that fits us for His service, and a call to go.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Isaiah chapter 6. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. The chapter records Isaiah's vision of the Lord in glory, the cleansing of his lips by a live coal, and his answer to God's call. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
High and Lifted Up
Isaiah sees the Lord enthroned in glory, the temple filled with His presence.
Holy, Holy, Holy
The seraphim cry the holiness of the LORD, whose glory fills the whole earth.
The Live Coal
Undone by his sin, Isaiah is cleansed by a burning coal from the altar.
Here Am I; Send Me
Hearing the Lord ask whom He shall send, Isaiah offers himself to go.
Holy, Holy, Holy (Isaiah 6:1-4)
Isaiah sees the Lord enthroned in glory, high and lifted up, while the seraphim cry out the threefold holiness of the LORD of hosts.
The Whole Earth Is Full of His Glory
"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. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke."
Hebrew Study
"holy," qadosh (קָדוֹשׁ), threefold. To say a thing once in Hebrew is to state it; to say it twice is to stress it; to say it three times is to raise it to the highest degree. "Holy, holy, holy" lifts God's holiness above all comparison, utterly set apart, pure, and exalted. Of no other attribute does Scripture make such a threefold cry.
Explanation
"In the year that king Uzziah died," when an earthly throne fell empty, Isaiah "saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple." Above Him stood the seraphim, burning ones, each with six wings, covering their faces before His holiness, covering their feet in reverence, and flying to serve. And they cried to one another, "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound the doorposts shook and the house filled with smoke. Isaiah was given a glimpse into the throne room of heaven and the unveiled holiness of God.
Gospel Focus
This vision of the enthroned Lord is one of the clearest windows into who Jesus is. Isaiah says he "saw... the Lord sitting upon a throne," and the apostle John, quoting this very chapter, tells us plainly whose glory it was: "These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him" (John 12:41), and John's whole passage is about Jesus. The glorious Lord Isaiah saw high and lifted up was the Lord Jesus Christ; there is one God, and it is His glory that fills heaven and earth. The same threefold cry still rises before the throne, where the living creatures "rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty" (Revelation 4:8). Above every attribute, God is holy, set apart in purity and majesty beyond all comparison. And "the whole earth is full of his glory," for the God enthroned in heaven is not distant but fills His creation. To see the Lord high and lifted up, as Isaiah did, is to see the glory of Jesus, before whom heaven bows and cries, "Holy, holy, holy."
Woe Is Me, and the Live Coal (Isaiah 6:5-7)
The sight of God's holiness undoes Isaiah, exposing his unclean lips, until a live coal from the altar touches him and his sin is purged.
Woe Is Me, for I Am Undone
"Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 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: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged."
Hebrew Study
Before the throne, Isaiah's first cry is not praise but ruin: "Woe is me! for I am undone" — damah, to be cut off, destroyed — "because I am a man of unclean lips" (tame', the exact term Leviticus uses for ritual defilement, the state that barred a man from the altar and from the camp of Israel). The vision of God's holiness exposes his own uncleanness -- Isaiah feels his sin as a priest would feel disqualification, standing where he has no right to stand. Then a seraph brings "a live coal" from the altar, touches his lips, and declares, "thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." Cleansing comes from the altar — the place of sacrifice — and it comes before the commission. God purges the messenger before He sends him.
Explanation
The vision does not fill Isaiah with pride at being chosen, but with dread at his own sin: "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips." In the light of God's holiness he sees himself as never before, unclean and undone, and his people with him. Then grace moves toward him: a seraph takes a live coal from the altar with tongs, flies to him, and lays it on his mouth, saying, "this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." The very lips he confessed as unclean are the ones God cleanses, touching his sin at the exact point of his need.
Gospel Focus
True encounters with the holiness of God always expose our sin. Isaiah, a prophet, did not feel worthy in God's presence; he felt undone. This is the right response to God's holiness, and it is the beginning of grace, for those who see their uncleanness are the ones God cleanses. Notice the order: first Isaiah confesses, "I am a man of unclean lips," and then the coal touches him and his sin is purged. God does not cleanse those who think themselves clean, but those who cry "woe is me." The same promise is ours: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). The live coal came from the altar, the place of sacrifice, for cleansing always flows from the atonement, ultimately from the blood of Christ. Do not run from the holiness that exposes your sin; let it drive you to confession, and God will touch your very point of need with His cleansing. The undone are the ones He makes clean.
Here Am I; Send Me (Isaiah 6:8-13)
Cleansed and standing before the Lord, Isaiah hears the call for a messenger and freely offers himself to go.
Whom Shall I Send?
"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof."
Hebrew Study
Now cleansed, Isaiah hears the LORD ask, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" and answers, "Here am I; send me." But the commission is heartbreaking: preach until "the heart of this people" grows fat (dull), their ears heavy, their eyes shut — a hardening the New Testament quotes more than any other Old Testament text to explain unbelief. Yet the chapter ends in hope: though the tree be felled, "the holy seed shall be the substance thereof" — a living stump, the faithful remnant, remains.
Explanation
Only now, cleansed, does Isaiah hear the call: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" The God who is one speaks of Himself here in the language of majesty, as the King enthroned amid His heavenly court. And Isaiah, no longer undone but forgiven, answers at once, "Here am I; send me." God then gives him a hard commission: to preach to a people whose hearts were hardened, who would hear but not understand, until the cities lay waste, yet with a promise at the end, "a tenth" and a "holy seed" that would remain like the living stump of a felled tree. The call was costly, but Isaiah had already given himself to go.
Gospel Focus
Notice the order of this chapter, for it is the pattern of every true servant of God: first a vision of the Lord's holiness, then a sense of our own sin, then cleansing, and only then the call to go. Isaiah could say "Here am I; send me" only because his lips had been touched by the coal; a cleansed messenger, not a proud volunteer, is what God sends. And his answer is the model of glad availability, not "here are my excuses" but "here am I." God is still asking, "Whom shall I send?" and He still cleanses and sends those who will answer. The New Testament joins the sending to the gospel: "how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace" (Romans 10:15). The commission may be costly and the response of hearers discouraging, as it was for Isaiah, but the servant's part is to go faithfully and leave the results to God. Have you seen the Lord, felt your need, received His cleansing? Then hear His call, and answer, "Here am I; send me."
Chapter 6 in Review
Isaiah 6 records the prophet's vision of the Lord enthroned in glory, high and lifted up, while the seraphim cried, "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts." Undone by God's holiness and his own unclean lips, Isaiah was cleansed by a live coal from the altar, his sin purged. Then he heard the Lord ask, "Whom shall I send?" and answered, "Here am I; send me," receiving a hard commission with a promise of a holy seed preserved at the end.
For the Apostolic reader, this chapter is rich in Christ and in the pattern of true service. The glorious Lord Isaiah saw was the Lord Jesus, whose glory John says Isaiah beheld; there is one God, holy above all, whose glory fills the earth. The vision that exposes our sin, the cleansing coal from the altar of sacrifice, and the call to go trace the shape of every servant God prepares. See the Lord in His holiness, confess your uncleanness, receive the cleansing that flows from the altar, and answer the call to go with Isaiah's own words: "Here am I; send me."
- Isaiah saw the Lord enthroned in glory; John says it was the glory of Christ (6:1; John 12:41).
- "Holy, holy, holy" lifts God's holiness above all; the same cry rises before the throne (6:3; Revelation 4:8).
- A true sight of God's holiness exposes our sin: "Woe is me! for I am undone" (6:5).
- God cleanses the one who confesses, touching the very point of need (6:6-7; 1 John 1:9).
- Cleansed, we answer the call: "Here am I; send me" (6:8; Romans 10:15).
Questions for Reflection
- Has a sight of God's holiness ever undone you and exposed your sin?
- Have you confessed your uncleanness and received the cleansing that comes from the altar?
- When God asks, "Whom shall I send?" is your answer, "Here am I; send me"?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The vision of the holy Lord, whose glory is Christ's: Isaiah 6:1-4; John 12:41; Revelation 4:8.
- Undone and cleansed by the coal from the altar: Isaiah 6:5-7; 1 John 1:9.
- The call and the answer, Here am I: Isaiah 6:8-13; Romans 10:15.