Editing Seraph (section)

{{short description|Type of angel in Abrahamic religions}}
{{Other uses}}

[[File:Bas Relief, Jerusalem YMCA (5503056704).jpg|thumb|upright=1|Bas relief of a seraph [[Isaiah 6|carrying a hot coal]] on the walls of the [[Jerusalem International YMCA]].]]

A '''seraph''' ({{langx|he|שָׂרָף|translit=saraf}} {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɛr|ə|f}}; pl.: {{langx|he|שְׂרָפִים|translit=seraphim}} {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɛr|ə|f|ɪ|m}}){{efn|In the [[King James Version]] also plural ''seraphims''. From [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: {{lang|he|שָׂרָף}} ({{lang|he-Latn|śārāf}} {{IPA|he|saːraːf|}}), plural {{lang|he|שְׂרָפִים}} ({{lang|he-Latn|śərāfîm}} {{IPA|he|səraːfim|}}); [[Latin]]: {{lang|la|seraphim}}, plural {{lang|la|seraphin}} (also {{lang|la|seraphus}} (-i, m.));<ref>G.&nbsp;H.&nbsp;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."</ref> [[Greek language|Greek]]: {{lang|el|σεραφείμ}} ({{lang|el-Latn|serapheím}}); cf. [[Arabic]]: {{lang|ar|مشرفين}} ({{lang|ar-Latn|musharifin}}).<ref>Jerrold Seigel. ''Between Cultures: Europe and Its Others in Five Exemplary Lives''. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015. {{ISBN|978-0-812-29193-3}}.</ref> The singular "seraph" is a [[back-formation]] from the Hebrew plural-form {{lang|he-Latn|'seraphim'}}, whereas in Hebrew the singular is {{lang|he-Latn|'saraph'}}.<ref> ''[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]]''.</ref>}} is a [[Angelic being|celestial]] or [[heavenly being]] originating in [[Ancient Judaism]]. The term plays a role in subsequent [[Judaism]], [[Islam]] and [[Christianity]].

Tradition places seraphim in the highest rank in [[Christian angelology]] and in the fifth rank of ten in the [[angels in Judaism|Jewish angelic hierarchy]]. A seminal passage in the [[Book of Isaiah]] ({{bibleverse|Isaiah|6:1–8|KJV}}) used the term to describe six-winged beings that fly around the [[Throne of God]] crying "[[Trisagion|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 [[Bible canon|canonical]] [[Book of Revelation]].