Revelation 1:15
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And his feet like to fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And his feet like to fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
American Standard Version (ASV)
and his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
And his feet like polished brass, as if it had been burned in a fire; and his voice was as the sound of great waters.
Webster's Revision
And his feet like fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
World English Bible
His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters.
English Revised Version (ERV)
and his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters.
Clarke's Revelation 1:15 Bible Commentary
His feet like unto fine brass - An emblem of his stability and permanence, brass being considered the most durable of all metallic substances or compounds.
The original word, χαλκολιβανον, means the famous aurichalcum, or factitious metal, which, according to Suidas, was ειδος ηλεκτρου, τιμιωτερον χρυσου, "a kind of amber, more precious than gold." It seems to have been a composition of gold, silver, and brass, and the same with the Corinthian brass, so highly famed and valued; for when Lucius Mummius took and burnt the city of Corinth, many statues of these three metals, being melted, had run together, and formed the composition already mentioned, and which was held in as high estimation as gold. See Pliny, Hist. Nat., lib. 34, c. 2; Florus, lib. 2, c. 16. It may however mean no more than copper melted with lapis calaminaris, which converts it into brass; and the flame that proceeds from the metal during this operation is one of the most intensely and unsufferably vivid that can be imagined. I have often seen several furnaces employed in this operation, and the flames bursting up through the earth (for these furnaces are under ground) always called to remembrance this description given by St. John: His feet of fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; the propriety and accuracy of which none could doubt, and every one must feel who has viewed this most dazzling operation.
His voice as the sound of many waters - The same description we find in Ezekiel 43:2 : The glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east; and his voice was like the noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.
Barnes's Revelation 1:15 Bible Commentary
And his feet like unto fine brass - Compare Daniel 10:6, "And his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass." See also Ezekiel 1:7, "and they" (the feet of the living creatures) "sparkled like the color of burnished brass." The word used here - χαλκολιβάνω chalkolibanō - occurs in the New Testament only here and in Revelation 2:18. It is not found in the Septuagint. The word properly means "white brass" (probably compounded of χαλκός chalkos, brass, and λίβανος libanos, whiteness, from the Hebrew לבן laban, white). Others regard it as from χαλκός chalkos, brass, and λιπαρόν liparon, clear. The metal referred to was undoubtedly a species of brass distinguished for its clearness or whiteness. Brass is a compound metal, composed of copper and zinc. The color varies much according to the different proportions of the various ingredients. The Vulgate here renders the word "aurichalcum," a mixture of gold and of brass - perhaps the same as the ἠλεκτρον ēlektron - the electrum of the ancients, composed of gold and of silver, usually in the proportion of four parts gold and one part silver, and distinguished for its brilliancy. See Robinson, Lexicon, and Wetstein, in loco. The kind of metal here referred to, however, would seem to be some compound of brass - of a whitish and brilliant color. The exact proportion of the ingredients in the metal here referred to cannot now be determined.
As if they burned in a furnace - That is, his feet were so bright that they seemed to be like a beautiful metal glowing intensely in the midst of a furnace. Anyone who has looked upon the dazzling and almost insupportable brilliancy of metal in a furnace, can form an idea of the image here presented.
And his voice as the sound of many waters - As the roar of the ocean, or of a cataract. Nothing could be a more sublime description of majesty and authority than to compare the voice of a speaker with the roar of the ocean. This comparison often occurs in the Scriptures. See Ezekiel 43:2, "And behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the east: and his voice was like the sound of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory." So Revelation 14:2; Revelation 19:6. Compare Ezekiel 1:24; Daniel 10:6.
Wesley's Revelation 1:15 Bible Commentary
1:15 And his feet like fine brass - Denoting his stability and strength. As if they burned in a furnace - As if having been melted and refined, they were still red hot. And his voice - To the comfort of his friends, and the terror of his enemies. As the voice of many waters - Roaring aloud, and bearing down all before them.