Seraphim.

Seraphim. celestial beings on either side of the throne of Jehovah, seen in prophetic vision by Isaiah, and by him alone (vi. 2-6). They have each six wings, two of which cover their faces in awe of the divine glory, and two cover their feet—an oriental sign of reverence—as the cherubim do their bodies (Ezek. i. 2), while the two remaining outspread wings support them. They hover above on both sides of the throne like two semicircular choirs, worshipping Him that sits on the throne in an uninterrupted antiphonal song. The tradition of the church, which took its rise from Dionysius the Areopagite, represents them as at the head of the nine choirs of angels, the first rank being formed by the seraphim, cherubim, and throni. The cherubim of Ezekiel are three-fourths in animal form, and the writer of the Apocalypse gives animal forms to three of the four Ἱῶα ('beasts;' R.V., 'living creatures'), which are six-winged like the seraphim of Isaiah (Rev. iv. 7, 8); the seraphim thus appear, apart from what was human-shaped in them, necessarily to be represented as winged dragons; for the serpent lifted up by Moses is called Sārāph (Num. xxi. 8), as is the flying dragon in xiv. 29. The name thus involves the idea of burning, and it is worth noting at least that Driver and Riehm see in the cherub of the original extra-Israelite representation the personified thunder-cloud, and in the seraph the personified serpent-like lightning.