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.
Parallel translations
- 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.
- BSB Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, gleaming like polished bronze.
- 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 burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters.
- Dan 10:6his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as flaming torches, and his arms and his feet like burnished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
- Ezek 1:13As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches: the fire went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and lightning went out of the fire.
- Ps 104:4He makes his messengers winds; his servants flames of fire.
- Lev 11:3Whatever parts the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and chews the cud among the animals, that you may eat.
- Lev 11:47to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living thing that may be eaten and the living thing that may not be eaten.’”
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.