Revelation & Repentance | Isaiah 6:5-7

Recognizing who we are in the face of grandeur.

Welcome to Gateways, where you experience the Nevi’im—the Prophets—through the teachings of Don Yitzchak Abarbanel, distilled into easy-to-follow lessons.

In this lesson, we’ll cover the fifth question Abarbanel addresses in this prophecy. If you’ve been keeping track, you’ll have noticed that we’re skipping the fourth question. It addresses the number of wings that Isaiah sees (six), in contrast to the number of wings Ezekiel sees (four). If you’re thinking, “Wow, that’s probably really complicated and esoteric and should probably be addressed in person and not on Substack,” I totally agree.

I’ve included a brief overview, the verses, Abarbanel’s questions and his answers. I’ll conclude with a short takeaway.

Jeff

Overview

This lesson focuses on Isaiah’s response to seeing the vision of God sitting on a high, raised throne. In the lesson The Lord Sitting on His Throne | Isaiah 6:1–4 Abarbanel explained that God revealed to Isaiah that Uzziah had sinned in believing that God didn’t see what each individual does.

Photo by Bri Schneiter

Verses

5. And I said, “This ache—I am condemned. My mouth has been defiled, one man among a people with their mouths defiled, and my eyes see the King, the Lord of Hosts.”

6. One of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a coal, taken with tongs from the altar top.

7. With this he touched my lips and said, “When this has touched your lips, your iniquity is gone, and all your sin forgiven.”

Question

The fifth question concerns Isaiah’s statement, “This ache—I am condemned. My mouth has been defiled,” and so on. Why does the prophet lament over himself? After all, in what he saw there was no apparent sin that he had committed which would justify such a reaction.

Moreover, Ezekiel, when he experienced a vision similar to this one, did not speak this way.

And even the angel who responds to Isaiah—saying, “Your iniquity is gone, and your sin is forgiven”—does not explain what Isaiah’s wrongdoing was, or what specific sin required atonement on his behalf.

Answers

Because of this, having seen that God is in charge of everything and that Uzziah had sinned as mentioned in an earlier lesson, the prophet was compelled to admit his failure. He had spoken wrongly and had misjudged the matter of Uzziah, effectively justifying or softening what God had done to him. That realization caused him deep anguish, and this is what he expresses when he says, “This ache—I am condemned.”

The phrase “And I said” signals a moment of reconsideration and regret. It shows that Isaiah is correcting himself.

It is as though he is saying: Now I understand—this pain is on me, because I was mistaken. In the case of Uzziah, he had followed imagination and surface impressions rather than truth. He had not known what was in the king’s heart or the hidden intentions behind his actions.

That is why he describes himself as someone whose mouth has been defiled. His failing was not merely emotional—it was expressed in speech. And he recognizes that this problem was widespread: he was one man among a people with their mouths defiled…

…He places the weight of blame on himself more than on the rest of the people. Although many spoke wrongly, his responsibility was greater. “My eyes see the King, the Lord of Hosts.” He was a prophet who had encountered God’s majesty directly. Because of that closeness, his error was more serious and more blameworthy than that of ordinary people.

For this reason, the correction comes through purification of speech. One of the seraphim approaches him with a coal taken from the altar, and touches his lips—the very place where the failure occurred. The angel then declares the result: “When this has touched your lips, your iniquity is gone, and all your sin forgiven.” The sin is not left vague; it is precisely addressed, cleansed, and removed.

This reading follows the straightforward flow of the verses and explains why Isaiah reacts so strongly, why the purification focuses on his lips, and why forgiveness is explicitly announced.

In this way, the fifth question is fully resolved.

Takeaway

Obviously, these verses illustrate a well-known point: pain is used to purify sin. The Rambam states in Hilchot Teshuva that there are some sins that require only repentance. Yet there are others that require repentance and suffering to achieve full atonement.

If a person violated sins punishable by karet or by execution, and repented, repentance and Yom Kippur suspend the punishment, and the sufferings that come upon him complete the atonement, as it is said: “I will punish their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with afflictions” (Psalms 89:33).

Rambam, Hilchot Teshuva 1:4.

But perhaps there is another lesson here. One of the great religious experiences comes from internalizing the grandeur of the world. In those moments, we feel small as we contemplate God’s greatness. We don’t have visions of God like Isaiah did. But as we stand by a mountain, see a sunset, or watch the light dance across a lake, we understand just how magnificent God is and how we should forever strive to be worthy to be part of it.

Along these lines, Rav Hayyim Sabato writes the following in his introduction to the Koren Siddur:

Included in the things that awaken a person is prayer in a synagogue. But not one that is closed, but one that has windows, so you can be astonished by the world and desire to influence the world. You should pray at sunrise and sunset—the times that a person is awake to the wonders of creation and its beauty.