Isaiah 6:7
in Isaiah 6And with it he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and he touched my mouth with it, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin forgiven.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Isaiah 6
Commentary
11 notes on this verseTell me, then, whoever you are who deny the divinity of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit could not be liable to sin, who rather forgives sin. Does an angel forgive? Does an archangel? Certainly not, but the Father alone, the Son alone and the Holy Spirit alone [can forgive sins]. Now one is obviously able to avoid that which he has power to forgive.But perhaps someone will say that the seraph said to Isaiah, "Behold, this has touched your lips and shall take away your iniquities and purge away your sins."
This site's exposition
Then one of the seraphim flew
on Isaiah 6:6-7
A seraph answers the confession before Isaiah asks. Atonement is pictured as fire from the altar applied to the very lips Isaiah had just confessed unclean. The word spoken over the act names removal and cleansing together, "your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for."
This site's exposition
your iniquity is removed
The coal touches the lips called unclean in 6:5. Barnes takes the touch as a sign that Isaiah was cleansed and his iniquity removed. The coal came from the altar, and the pardon comes before the LORD asks whom He shall send.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
But let us at this time feel remorse with all the affection of our hearts. Let us admit that we are wretched in this misery of the flesh. Let us weep with holy groans because we, too, have unclean lips. Let us do all this …
We read also in Isaiah that the prophet is purified with fire by "one of the seraphim which was sent to him, when he took with a pair of tongs one coal from those which were upon the altar; and he touched the lips of the prophet and said, Behold, I have taken away your iniquities." These appear to me to be mystical and to indicate that the coals are put on the members of each in proportion to his sins, if he is worthy to be purified. For since the prophet says here, "I have unclean lips; also I dwell in the midst of a people who have unclean lips." For this reason, "a coal taken up with a pair of tongs" by the seraphim cleanses his lips.… The cleansing of his lips indicates that Isaiah's sin continually would be found only in words, but he would not have sinned in any act or deed. Otherwise, he would have said since I have an unclean body or I have unclean eyes, if he had sinned in desiring what belongs to something other than his lips. He would have said I have unclean hands, if he had polluted these with unjust deeds. But now since possibly he was aware of his transgression in word alone, about which the Lord says, "Likewise, you will give an account for every useless word on the day of judgment"; because it is difficult even for the perfect to escape the fault of the word, the prophet was likewise in need only of a purification of his lips.
The Medieval Church2 voices
But Dionysius the Areopagite, that ancient and venerable Father, is said to declare that from the lesser hosts of angels some are sent forth to fulfill their ministry either visibly or invisibly, namely because angels or archangels come for human consolation. For those higher hosts never withdraw from the inner places, since those who are preeminent have no function of external ministry. This seems to be contradicted by what Isaiah says: "And one of the Seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar, and he touched my mouth." But in this statement of the prophet, he wants it understood that the spirits who are sent receive the name of those whose office they perform. For the angel who carries a coal from the altar to burn up the sins of speech is called a Seraphim, which means burning.
222 [cont.]. Third, the manner of cleansing: and he touched my mouth, and said, just as in the sacraments there is an action and a form of words; behold this has touched your lips, he expresses the act, and your iniquities, against men, shall be …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Laid it - So as only to touch my lips, and not to burn them; which God could easily effect. Lo - This is a sign that I have pardoned and purged the uncleanness of thy lips.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It must be a coal from his altar that must put life into us and be our peace; it will not be done with strange fire. An explication of this sign: " Lo, this has touched thy lips, to assure thee of this, that thy iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged. The guilt of thy sin is removed by pardoning mercy, the guilt of thy tongue-sins.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
And he laid it upon my mouth,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And he laid it upon my mouth - Margin, ‘And he caused it to touch my mouth.’ This is the more correct rendering. It was a slight, momentary touch, sufficient merely to be a “sign or token” that he was cleansed. Thine iniquity is taken away - That is, whatever obstacle there existed to your communicating the message of God to this people, arising from your own consciousness of unworthiness, is taken away. You are commissioned to bear that message, and your own consciousness of guilt should not be a hinderance.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּגַּ֣ע | vaiyaga' | and he made [it] touch | H5060 → | 150 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | <on> | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פִּ֔י | pi | mouth my | H6310 → | 498 times |
| וַיֹּ֕אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הִנֵּ֛ה | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| נָגַ֥ע | naga' | it has touched | H5060 → | 150 times |
| זֶ֖ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | <on> | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שְׂפָתֶ֑יךָ | sefateikha | lips your | H8193 → | 176 times |
| וְסָ֣ר | vesar | and it will be removed | H5493 → | 299 times |
| עֲוֹנֶ֔ךָ | ʾavonekha | iniquity your | H5771 → | 233 times |
| וְחַטָּאתְךָ֖ | vechatatekha | and sin your | H2403 → | 295 times |
| תְּכֻפָּֽר׃ | tekhupar | it will be atoned for | H3722 → | 102 times |
וַיַּגַּ֣עand he made [it] touch
vaiyaga'H5060 →150 times
עַל־<on>
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פִּ֔יmouth my
piH6310 →498 times
וַיֹּ֕אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
הִנֵּ֛הhere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
נָגַ֥עit has touched
naga'H5060 →150 times
זֶ֖הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
עַל־<on>
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
שְׂפָתֶ֑יךָlips your
sefateikhaH8193 →176 times
וְסָ֣רand it will be removed
vesarH5493 →299 times
עֲוֹנֶ֔ךָiniquity your
ʾavonekhaH5771 →233 times
וְחַטָּאתְךָ֖and sin your
vechatatekhaH2403 →295 times
תְּכֻפָּֽר׃it will be atoned for
tekhuparH3722 →102 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 43:25I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
it leads to
- Hebrews 8:12
For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
- Micah 7:18–19
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
- Hebrews 10:17
Then He adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
- Jeremiah 31:34
No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I…
- Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
- Hebrews 8:12
Through
Isaiah 53:5But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:24–25
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
- 1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
- Matthew 20:28
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
- 1 Peter 2:24–25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies16
On this verse
On this chapter
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit 1.10.112; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 34; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 9:7.2; Peter Chrysologus, SERMON 57 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.