Bible Strands
Revelation 1:15
His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The vision describes the glorified Christ standing before John, extending the physical description begun in Revelation 1:14 and completed in Revelation 1:16. The scene occurs during a prophetic revelation where Christ manifests His exalted, post-resurrection state.
The words — χαλκολιβάνῳ (chalkolibanō) translates literally to "fine bronze," and ὡς (hōs) operates as a comparative marker meaning "as" or "like." These terms anchor the auditory and visual imagery in refined metal and a natural phenomenon.
The thread — The "roar of many waters" phrase appears in Ezekiel 43:2 and Revelation 14:2, while the polished bronze description parallels Daniel 10:6. These passages consistently associate the imagery with divine manifestation and heavenly authority.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to acknowledge a figure whose presence conveys both purifying judgment and sovereign command. The description demands a response of reverence to a power that refines and rules without compromise.
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 Greek words
King James Version
And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 43:2 and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory.
- 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.
- Revelation 14:2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of many waters and the loud rumbling of thunder. And the sound I heard was like harpists strumming their harps.
- Revelation 19:6 And I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude, like the rushing of many waters, and like a mighty rumbling of thunder, crying out: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
- Revelation 2:18 To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze.
- Psalms 93:4 Above the roar of many waters—the mighty breakers of the sea—the LORD on high is majestic.
- Ezekiel 1:7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, gleaming like polished bronze.
- Ezekiel 40:3 So He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze. He was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand.
- Isaiah 17:13 The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.