Limitless Word
His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters.
Revelation 1:15 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • 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.
  • KJV And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
  • NKJV His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters;
  • NASB His feet were like burnished bronze when it has been heated to a glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.
  • NLT His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves.

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

His feet gleam like refined bronze and his voice roars like many waters. It matters because Christ stands in unshakable strength and commanding authority.

Overview

Burnished bronze refined in fire suggests stability, purity, and judgment, while the voice like many waters conveys overwhelming power and majesty. The imagery again draws on Daniel and Ezekiel's visions of God's glory. Christ is presented as mighty and sovereign over his churches and the world.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Ezek 43:2and 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.
  • 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.
  • Rev 14:2And 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.
  • Rev 19:6And 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.
  • Rev 2:18To 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.
  • Ps 93:4Above the roar of many waters—the mighty breakers of the sea—the LORD on high is majestic.
  • Ezek 1:7Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, gleaming like polished bronze.
  • Ezek 40:3So 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.
  • Isa 17:13The 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.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Revelation videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Revelation 1:15YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on RevelationMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Revelation ends the story with the slain-yet-standing Lamb who is worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the returning King who makes all things new and dwells with his people forever.

How Revelation 1:15 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.