Isaiah 6:6-7 Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:… A stone kept in all ancient Oriental households as a means of applying heat to household purposes. In order to bake cakes (1 Kings 19:6, "cake baked on the hot stones"), or to roast flesh, the stone was first heated in the fire, and the wet dough or the flesh spread out upon it, the stones as they grew cold being exchanged for hot ones fresh from the fire. To boil milk, the hot stone was plunged into it when contained in the leathern skin that served alike as cauldron and pitcher. In short, the heated stone was a primitive means of applying fire wherever fire was needed. The prophet, carrying the similitude of an earthly household into the heavenly palace, assumes the presence of such an utensil on the hearth, which here, of course, must be conceived as an altar on the model of God's earthly dwelling place. (P. Thomson, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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: |
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