Ezekiel 1:7

Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, gleaming like polished bronze.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Ezekiel records a vision of four living creatures, following the description of their four faces and wings in Ezekiel 1:6 and preceding the description of their hands in Ezekiel 1:8. The narrator details their physical structure as part of a prophetic revelation received by the exiles.

The words — The Hebrew יְשָׁרָה (ye.sharah) literally means "straight," describing the rigid alignment of the creatures' legs. The phrase כַּכַּף רֶגֶל עֵגֶל (ka.kaf regel egel) translates to "like the sole of a calf's foot," emphasizing structural uniformity and durability.

The thread — Similar imagery of feet resembling polished bronze appears in Revelation 1:15 and Daniel 10:6, linking the creatures to divine authority and heavenly messengers. The motif of refined metal extremities recurs in apocalyptic visions to signify unshakeable function.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition of the creatures' rigid, unyielding form as a marker of divine order rather than biological adaptation. Readers must note the precise physical description before assigning symbolic meaning to the vision.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְרַגְלֵיהֶ֖םve./rag.lei./Hemand/ feet/ their רֶ֣גֶלRe.gel[was] a foot יְשָׁרָ֑הye.sha.Rahstraight וְכַ֣ףve./Khafand/ [the] sole of רַגְלֵיהֶ֗םrag.lei./Hemfeet/ their כְּכַף֙ke./Khaf[was] like/ [the] sole of רֶ֣גֶלRe.gel[the] foot of עֵ֔גֶל'E.gela calf וְנֹ֣צְצִ֔יםve./No.tze.Tzimand/ [they were] gleaming כְּעֵ֖יןke./'Einlike/ [the] appearance of נְחֹ֥שֶׁתne.Cho.shetbronze קָלָֽל׃ka.Lalburnished

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Revelation 1:15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters.
Daniel 10:6 His body was like beryl, his face like the brilliance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of polished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.
Psalms 104:4 He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants.
Ezekiel 1:13 In the midst of the living creatures was the appearance of glowing coals of fire, or of torches. Fire moved back and forth between the living creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it.
Leviticus 11:3 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.
Leviticus 11:47 You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.’”