Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, gleaming like polished bronze.
Parallel translations
- WEB Their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like burnished brass.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves’ feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze.
- NASB Their legs were straight and their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they sparkled like polished bronze.
- NLT Their legs were straight, and their feet had hooves like those of a calf and shone like burnished bronze.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The creatures' legs are straight, their feet like a calf's, gleaming like burnished bronze. The details convey stability, strength, and radiant purity.
Overview
The straight, sturdy legs and bronze-like sheen picture creatures fixed and unwavering in God's service. Burnished bronze recalls the temple furnishings and conveys glory and durability. Such precise description invites reverent wonder rather than literal reconstruction. The whole portrait magnifies the majesty of the God whom these beings attend.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Rev 1:15His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters.
- Dan 10:6His 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.
- Ezek 1:13In 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.
- Ps 104:4He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants.
- Lev 11:3You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.
- Lev 11:47You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.’”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 1:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.