Isaiah 6:1
in Isaiah 6In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Isaiah 6
Commentary
18 notes on this verseWe have talked about standing; we have talked about walking; let us talk about sitting. Whenever God is represented as seated, the portrayal takes one of two forms: either he appears as the ruler or as the judge. If he is like a king, one sees him as Isaiah does: "I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne." There he is presented as the sovereign king.
This site's exposition
In the year that King Uzziah
The vision is dated to the year King Uzziah died, a king whose presumption in burning incense had left him a leper. John 12:41 reads the vision as Isaiah seeing the glory of Christ. Delitzsch and Barnes note that the vision stands after five chapters of oracles.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
The prophet had seen Christ and the glory of Christ in the vision in which he said, "I saw the Lord of hosts sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up," and what follows.
By speaking of Uzziah's death, the prophet informs us that it was Uzziah's sin that had brought an end to prophetic activity. At the beginning of his reign Uzziah had God's favor and was victorious over the Allophyles [foreigners]and other neighboring enemies. But he became …
Isaiah has revealed the Father's existence but not his essence (WHICH CANNOT BE SEEN). In other places God reveals himself in ways that also demonstrate that no one has seen his essence. Abraham saw him in one way, Moses in another, Micah saw him in …
(Chapter 6, Verse 1) In the year when King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne. Isaiah prophesied under the reign of four kings over Judah and Jerusalem, as indicated in the introduction to the first vision: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. After Uzziah died, under whom all the things we have mentioned above were spoken, his son Jotham succeeded him. Jotham reigned for sixteen years and did what was right in the sight of the Lord. He also built a high gate for the temple. When he saw this, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne, to show the appearance of a ruler. And those things which were under him, filled the Temple, whether as Theodotius and Symmachus carried it over: And those things which were under his feet, filled the Temple. For which reason the Seventy interpreted. And the house was full of his glory. About thirty years ago, when I was in Constantinople, with the most eloquent man Gregory Nazianzen, then bishop of the same city, I recall having dictated a brief and sudden treatise on this vision, in order to test my little talent and to obey my friends' advice. Therefore, I send this little book to the reader, and pray that he may be satisfied with a brief explanation of this time. It tells the sacred story of Aziah, who claimed for himself an illicit priesthood and was struck with leprosy; and when he died, the Lord appeared in the Temple that he had defiled (2 Chronicles 26). From this, we understand that while we have a leprous king ruling within us, we cannot see the Lord reigning in His majesty, nor understand the mysteries of the Holy Trinity. And in Exodus, after Pharaoh, who oppressed Israel with mud and bricks, and later with straw, died, the people cried out to the Lord, who they could not cry out to while he was still alive. […]
No one can deny that the prophet saw the Son in the glory of God the Father, as John said: "Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke of him [Christ]." Look and see the great honor that is due to God, and see the authority he has over all creation. God is high and lifted up on a throne, crowned with the splendor of his reign.… In my view we should not think of the throne of God as lifted up in a physical way. That would be foolish and absurd. Rather, that the throne is said to be lifted up means that the reign of God transcends all things. That God is sitting refers to his immovability and that his blessings are everlasting and unchanging.
11 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers2 voices
It is obvious from the very words of Isaiah that he saw God because of God's condescension. He said, "I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne." But God is not sitting down. Beings with bodies sit. Isaiah also said, "on a throne." But God is not encompassed by a throne, because divinity cannot be contained within boundaries. That said, the seraphim could not endure the condescension of God although they were nearby.… He said, "And the seraphim stood around him," because he wanted to make it clear that although the seraphim are closer to the essence of God than human beings are, they cannot look upon his essence simply because they are closer to it. He is not referring to place in a localized sense. When he speaks of nearness, he is demonstrating that the seraphim are closer to God than we human beings are.
Why does God appear to be sitting on a throne with seraphim, when God does not sit? He is accommodating himself to the ways of human beings.
The Medieval Church3 voices
204. In the year that king Ozias died. After he denounces the fault of the two tribes, adding the corrective punishment, here he threatens the punishment of final condemnation, namely, the punishment of hardness of heart; and therefore that punishment is foretold in the manner …
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 8 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
There is a twofold dimension to the firmament: one concerned with the highest, the other with the lowest; one which makes known the eternal God, the other which reveals God made man. Of these two aspects, Isaiah says, in chapter six, in a vision which …
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 14 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
In the mystery of prophetical revelation, Christ is symbolized through prophetical visions, and this in different ways: for one saw Christ as "a branch of the watching-tree," another saw Him "seated on a high and lofty throne," while yet another saw Him "dressed."
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
From the mortality of great and good men we should take occasion to look up with an eye of faith to the King eternal, immortal. King Uzziah died under a cloud, for he was shut up as a leper till the day of his death. As the lives of princes have their periods, so their glory is often eclipsed; but, as God is everliving, so his glory is everlasting.
), but, in the latter days, the earth shall be full of it. Observe the marks and tokens of terror with which the temple was filled, upon this vision of the divine glory,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
In the year that King Uzziah died,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
In the year - This naturally denotes a period after the death of Uzziah, though in the same year. The mention of the time was evidently made when the prophecy was composed, and it is to be presumed that the death of Uzziah had occurred at the time when the prophet saw this vision. If so, it is clear that this was not the first of his prophecies, for he saw his visions ‘in the days of Uzziah;’ Isa 1:
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
This is not the first beginning of Isaiah's prophecies, but his inauguration to a higher degree of the prophetic office: Isa 6:9, &c., implies the tone of one who had already experience of the people's obstinacy. Lord--here Adonai, Jehovah in Isa 6:5; Jesus Christ is meant as speaking in Isa 6:10, according to Joh 12:41.
The Lord - Fifty-one MSS. of Kennicott’s, and fifty-four of De Rossi’s, and one edition; in the 8th verse, (Isa 6:8); forty-four MSS. of Kennicott’s, and forty-six of De Rossi’s, and one edition; and in the 11th verse (Isa 6:11); thirty-three MSS. of Kennicott’s, and many of De Rossi’s, and one edition, for אדני Adonai, “the Lord” read יהוה “Jehovah,” which is probably the true reading; (compare Isa 6:6); as in many other places, in which the superstition of the Jews has substituted אדני Adonai for יהוה Yehovah. One of my own MSS., a very ancient and large folio, to which the points and the masora have been added by a later hand, has יהוה Yehovah in the 1st and 8th verses, in the teeth of the masora, which orders it in both places to be read אדני Adonai.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
In the year of the death i.e., when he was smitten with zaraath.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בִּשְׁנַת־ | bishnat- | in [the] year of | H8141 → | 877 times |
| מוֹת֙ | mot | [the] death of | H4194 → | 156 times |
| הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| עֻזִּיָּ֔הוּ | ʾuziyahu | Uzziah | H5818 → | 27 times |
| וָאֶרְאֶ֧ה | vaereh | and I saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֛י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יֹשֵׁ֥ב | yoshev | sitting | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כִּסֵּ֖א | kise' | a throne | H3678 → | 135 times |
| רָ֣ם | ram | high | H7311 → | 190 times |
| וְנִשָּׂ֑א | venisa' | and lifted up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| וְשׁוּלָ֖יו | veshulav | and [the] skirts of robe his | H7757 → | |
| מְלֵאִ֥ים | meleim | [were] filling | H4390 → | 249 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַהֵיכָֽל׃ | haheikhal | the temple | H1964 → | 80 times |
בִּשְׁנַת־in [the] year of
bishnat-H8141 →877 times
מוֹת֙[the] death of
motH4194 →156 times
הַמֶּ֣לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
עֻזִּיָּ֔הוּUzziah
ʾuziyahuH5818 →27 times
וָאֶרְאֶ֧הand I saw
vaerehH7200 →1300 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֲדֹנָ֛י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יֹשֵׁ֥בsitting
yoshevH3427 →1079 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כִּסֵּ֖אa throne
kise'H3678 →135 times
רָ֣םhigh
ramH7311 →190 times
וְנִשָּׂ֑אand lifted up
venisa'H5375 →656 times
וְשׁוּלָ֖יוand [the] skirts of robe his
veshulavH7757 →
מְלֵאִ֥ים[were] filling
meleimH4390 →249 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַהֵיכָֽל׃the temple
haheikhalH1964 →80 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
Daniel 7:9As I continued to watch, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool.…
it leads to
- Revelation 1:14
The hair of His head was white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like a blazing fire.
- Mark 9:3
His clothes became radiantly white, brighter than any launderer on earth could bleach them.
- Daniel 7:13
In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led…
- Matthew 17:2
There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.
- Micah 5:2
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days…
- Revelation 1:14
Through
John 12:41Isaiah said these things because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about Him.
it leads to
- Isaiah 6:1–5
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple.
- Isaiah 6:1–5
Through
Revelation 15:8And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
it leads to
- Isaiah 6:4
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.
- Isaiah 6:4
Through
Psalms 113:5Who is like the LORD our God, the One enthroned on high?
it leads to
- Jeremiah 10:6
There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power.
- Jeremiah 10:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies16
On this verse
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 17 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 8; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 14; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 1:4; Eusebius of Caesarea, PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 9:16; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 14 (PSALM 81); Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Chrysostom, AGAINST THE ANOMOEANS 3:16; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 6:1.78-81; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 6:1 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.