And one called to another and said: This means the seraphs sang responsively, that is, in turns. Isaiah uses the way people sang in the Temple as a model for describing the way the seraphs praised God. However, most versions do not use the verb “sing” here. They prefer the verb “call [out]” (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New International Version) or “shout” (Contemporary English Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant).
Since the words of the seraphs are a hymn, they may be formatted as poetry to distinguish them from the surrounding narrative (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation).
Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts means the LORD is most holy. The threefold repetition of holy is emphatic. It is not a reference to the Trinity, as some Christian commentators have suggested. The adjective holy describes Yahweh as separate and distinctive (see 1.4). It is one of the most significant aspects of God’s character. This context focuses on his distinctiveness in justice and lack of sin, contrasting with the sinfulness of the world (see verse 5). It is this experience that dominates Isaiah’s understanding of the character of Yahweh, his God. So he refers to Yahweh as “the Holy One of Israel,” a title that rarely occurs outside of this book (see 1.4; 5.19). It is recommended that translators use the threefold repetition of holy, but if it is awkward in the receptor language, they may say “most holy.” Good News Translation also provides a possible model. It uses “holy” four times, but in a grammatical construction that may be suitable in other languages. For the LORD of hosts, see the comments on 1.9.
The whole earth is full of his glory: The key verb “fill” appears here again. Just as Yahweh’s robe fills the Temple, so his glory fills the earth. The whole earth refers to the whole universe or the whole of creation. Like holy, glory is another rather abstract quality. The Hebrew word for glory is related to “power” and to “greatness” through its root sense of “be heavy” (see 2.10; 3.8). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “presence.” If no single word for glory is easily available, other possible renderings are “powerful presence” and “glorious presence” (Bible en français courant [1997]). In some languages it may be difficult to say that Yahweh’s glory fills the world. If so, an alternative model for this line is “he is present with his power everywhere in the whole earth.” Such a rendering may appear to be a paraphrase, but it is acceptable if a translation that stays closer to the Hebrew will be difficult to understand. Another possible model is “his glorious presence is seen throughout the world.”
Several translation examples for this verse are:
• Each of the seraphs sang in turn:
“Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh of hosts;
his powerful presence fills the world.”
• The seraphs shouted to each other:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole world reflects his glorious presence.”
• The seraphs called out to one another:
“Yahweh of hosts is most holy;
his glorious power is seen throughout the world.”
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .