Revelation 1 · Verse 15

Revelation 1:15

And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

Revelation 1:15, King James Version

Revelation 1:15 in other translations

BSB	His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters.
WEB	His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters.
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.
YLT	and his feet like to fine brass, as in a furnace having been fired, and his voice as a sound of many waters,
DARBY	and his feet like fine brass, as burning in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters;
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	And his feet like fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

What does Revelation 1:15 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

15. fine brass--Greek, "chalcolibanus," derived by some from two Greek words, "brass" and "frankincense"; derived by Bochart from Greek, "chalcos," "brass," and Hebrew, "libbeen," "to whiten"; hence, "brass," which in the furnace has reached a white heat. Thus it answers to "burnished (flashing, or glowing) brass," Eze 1:7; Re 10:1, "His feet as pillars of fire." Translate, "Glowing brass, as if they had been made fiery (red-hot) in a furnace." The feet of the priests were bare in ministering in the sanctuary. So our great High Priest here. voice as ... many waters--(Eze 43:2); in Da 10:6, it is "like the voice of a multitude." As the Bridegroom's voice, so the bride's, Re 14:2; 19:6; Eze 1:24, the cherubim, or redeemed creation. His voice, however, is here regarded in its terribleness to His foes. Contrast So 2:8; 5:2, with which compare Re 3:20.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes

Verse 15. And his feet like unto fine brass. Compare Dan 10:6, "And his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass." See also Eze 1:7, "And they" [the feet of the living creatures] "sparkled like the colour of burnished brass." The word here used--χαλκολιβανω-- occurs in the New Testament only here and in Rev 2:18. It is not found in the Septuagint. The word properly means white brass, (probably compounded of χαλκος, brass, and λιβανος, whiteness, from the to be white.) Others regard it as from χαλκος, brass, and λιπαρον, 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 colour 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 ηλεκτρον--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, Lex., and Wetstein, in loc. The kind of metal here referred to, however, would seem to be some compound of brass--of a whitish and brilliant colour. 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. Any one 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 Eze 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 Rev 14:2, 19:6. Compare Eze 1:24 Dan 10:6.

(a) "feet" Eze 1:7 (b) "voice" Eze 43:2 (c) "sharp" Isa 49:2, Heb 4:12 (d) "sun" Rev 10:1, Acts 26:13

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 15 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 Eze 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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Revelation 1:12-20

The churches receive their light from Christ and the gospel, and hold it forth to others. They are golden candlesticks; they should be precious and pure; not only the ministers, but the members of the churches; their light should so shine before men, as to engage others to give glory to God. And the apostle saw as though of the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in the midst of the golden candlesticks. He is with his…

Read the full comment on Revelation 1:12-20 →

Revelation 1:15 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

καὶkaiandG2532

οἱhoitheG3588

πόδεςpodesfeetG4228

αὐτοῦautouof HimG846

ὅμοιοιhomoioi[are] likeG3664

χαλκολιβάνῳchalkolibanōas fine bronzeG5474

ὡςhōsasG5613

ἐνeninG1722

καμίνῳkaminōa furnaceG2575

πεπυρωμένηςpepurōmenēsrefinedG4448

καὶkaiandG2532

ἡhētheG3588

φωνὴphōnēvoiceG5456

αὐτοῦautouof HimG846

ὡςhōs[is] likeG5613

φωνὴphōnē[the] voiceG5456

ὑδάτωνhudatōnof watersG5204

πολλῶνpollōnmanyG4183

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Revelation 1:15

Ezekiel 43:2
And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.
Daniel 10:6
His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
Revelation 14:2
And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
Revelation 19:6
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Psalms 93:4
The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.
Revelation 2:18
And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;
Ezekiel 1:7
And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.
Ezekiel 40:3
And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.
Isaiah 17:13
The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

his feet.
2:18; Eze 1:7; 40:3; Da 10:6
his voice.
14:2; 19:6; Ps 93:4; Isa 17:13; Eze 43:2

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Revelation 1:14
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
Revelation 1:15
And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
Revelation 1:16
And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

Read all of Revelation 1

Revelation 1:15 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y sus pies semejantes al latón fino, ardientes como en un horno; y su voz como ruido de muchas aguas.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	et ses pieds, semblables à de l’airain brillant, comme embrasés dans une fournaise; et sa voix, comme une voix de grandes eaux;
German Elberfelder 1871	und seine Füße gleich glänzendem Kupfer, als glühten sie im Ofen, und seine Stimme wie das Rauschen vieler Wasser;
Latin Clementine Vulgate	et pedes ejus similes auricalco, sicut in camino ardenti, et vox illius tamquam vox aquarum multarum: