Seraph

A “seraph” (singular) is a heavenly being of some kind. It many contexts, it’s the technical word for “angel,” but in different Abrahamic religions, it might take on other meanings. In general, it means some supernatural, religious being.

Most people are more familiar with the plural form: “seraphim.”

From Isaiah 6:2:

Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

The etymology is vague. “Saraph” is Hebrew for “burning.” So, how do we get from there to “angel”?

From The Etymology Dictionary:

Seraphs were traditionally regarded as burning or flaming angels, though the word seems to have some etymological sense of “flying,” perhaps from confusion with the root of Arabic sharafa “be lofty.”

Why I Looked It Up

I have this in my notes, seemingly from a news article or memoir about someone’s childhood in Africa:

For me it is all captured in the earliest memories of my youth: statues of Mohamed Siad Barre, our dictator, sprung up across Mogadishu, flanked by a trio of dark seraphim: Marx, Lenin, and Engels.