Creature of the Week: Seraphim
Name: Seraphim, Seraph, etymologically a griffin according to Stanley A. Cook.
You may know it from: K-Pop, Supernatural
Dear Reader,
I’m honestly a bit surprised by how long it took me to write about a biblical monster (besides the Jabberwock, which totally appears in the Bible, trust me). The Seraphim appear twice in the bible. First, in the Book of Numbers, YHWH sends them to chase the Israelites and remotivate their escape. For something sent by YHWH, they are somewhat mundane. Seraph, (which means fiery) likely refers to the fiery red swelling caused by their poisonous bite. Moses is able to ward them off with a massive copper statue of a snake. Later on, in the Book of Deuteronomy, YHWH describes the desert as a “wilderness with its seraph serpents and scorpions.” It's possible that the seraphs were compelled by YHWH and not created entirely for this purpose. Their other appearance in the Book of Isaiah. In this book, they are once again depicted as servants of YHWH; they are described as having “six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his legs, with two he could fly.” Sadly, most snakes don’t have legs. Many people began to think of the Seraph as humanoid, as reflected in the Hagia Sophia. However, the same book challenges the idea of the Seraph being humanoid, stating “from the stock of a snake there sprouts an asp, a flying seraph branches out from it.” The debate over their true form is still up in the air, but it does skew towards the serpentine side. My theory, as an armchair theologian, is that they are similar to the Eden serpent before its limbs were cut off, as it was described as a serpent beforehand. This would also explain why they appear as close to YHWH and as such miraculous creatures. But there’s so much of the Old Testament I haven’t read. If this is blasphemous, I will accept my disembowelment, come Renn Fayre.
Supporting the snake interpretation of their form is the Seraph’s predecessor: the Uraues. The Uraeus were associated with royalty; Uraeus’ appeared on many pieces of royal jewelry, most famously the headdress. Winged Uraeus’ appear in the tombs of Tutankhamun, Ramesses VI, and Seti I. The connection to royalty was fundamental to the Uraeus; it represented Wadjet, a deity who protected pharaohs. Later on, they were associated with Ra-Horakhty, another extremely important deity. They are described as coming from his head; he is often draped with them, and they row him through the underworld and protect him as he leaves during the night. Some are depicted with appendages, like faces or arms, which could potentially explain their appearance in Isaiah. The number of wings they have is between two or four. In the latter case, it is symbolic of the imperialist mission to spread across the four corners of the earth. This idea is potentially why the winged Uraeus found itself in Palestine around the time of Isaiah, specifically in the form of scarabs. Scarabs were a status symbol, often worn by royals, so the Uraeus semiotically suited the scarab, and thus became embedded in the royal imagery of Palestine.
With this context, the differing depictions of Seraphs across the Old Testament begin to make sense. In Numbers, they were more symbolic of Egypt as a land and the Israelites desire to escape Egyptian rule. Their appearance in Isaiah takes more from the Seraph as a symbol of royalty, they show the divine rule of YHWH, that even the Seraphs as a sign of religious authority are weak compared to their holiness.