Seraph

A seraph (/ˈsɛrəf/, "snake, from burning one, meaning a venomous snake “; pl.: seraphim /ˈsɛrəfɪm/)^[a] is a celestial or heavenly being originating in Ancient Judaism. The term plays a role in subsequent Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Tradition places seraphim in the highest rank in Christian angelology and in the fifth rank of ten in the Jewish angelic hierarchy. A seminal passage in the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1–8) used the term to describe six-winged beings that fly around the Throne of God crying "holy, holy, holy". This throne scene, with its triple invocation of holiness, profoundly influenced subsequent theology, literature and art. Its influence is frequently seen in works depicting angels, heaven and apotheosis. Seraphim are mentioned as celestial beings in the semi-canonical Book of Enoch and the canonical Book of Revelation.

^ G. H. Lünemann: Imm. Joh. Gerh. Schellers lateinisch-deutsches und deutsch-lateinisches Handlexicon vornehmlich für Schulen. Zweyter oder deutsch-lateinischer Teil. Vierte verbesserte und vermehrte Auflage., Leipzig, 1820, p. 722: "Seraph, Seraphus, i, m."
^ Jerrold Seigel. Between Cultures: Europe and Its Others in Five Exemplary Lives. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0-812-29193-3.
^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

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[1] G. H. Lünemann: Imm. Joh. Gerh. Schellers lateinisch-deutsches und deutsch-lateinisches Handlexicon vornehmlich für Schulen. Zweyter oder deutsch-lateinischer Teil. Vierte verbesserte und vermehrte Auflage., Leipzig, 1820, p. 722: "Seraph, Seraphus, i, m."

[2] Jerrold Seigel. Between Cultures: Europe and Its Others in Five Exemplary Lives. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0-812-29193-3.

[3] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

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