Bible Strands
Isaiah 6:7
And with it he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — A seraph touches Isaiah's mouth with a coal taken from the altar and declares the removal of his iniquity and the atonement of his sin. This occurs immediately after Isaiah's confession of uncleanness and just before the Lord calls for a volunteer to go and speak.
The words — The Hebrew verb נָגַע (na.Ga') means "it has touched" or "made touch," and the phrase עַל־פִּי ('al-pi) literally means "on my mouth." These terms describe the physical contact of the coal with Isaiah's lips as the declared mechanism for the removal of sin.
The thread — The motif of divine touch on the mouth appears in Jeremiah 1:9 where the Lord touches the prophet's mouth to put His words there. The theme of sin removal and atonement through divine action echoes in Isaiah 43:25 and is referenced in 1 John 1:7.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that cleansing precedes commissioning, requiring the reader to accept that sin removal is initiated by divine action rather than human effort. It calls for immediate readiness to respond to God's call once that cleansing is acknowledged.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 1:9 Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
- 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
- Isaiah 43:25 I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
- Daniel 10:16 And suddenly one with the likeness of a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and said to the one standing before me, “My lord, because of the vision, I am overcome with anguish, and I have no strength.
- Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
- Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
- Matthew 9:2 Just then some men brought to Him a paralytic lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”
- Hebrews 9:13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean,
- 1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.