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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev_1:12-16
12Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; 13and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. 14His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. 15His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. 16In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.
Rev_1:12 "I saw seven golden lampstands" This does not refer to the Menorah (seven-stemmed candelabrum) which was in the Tabernacle (cf. Exo_25:31-40) nor to the lampstand of Zec_4:2. These separate, single lampstands were a symbolic way of referring to the seven churches (cf. Rev_1:20; Rev_2:1).
Rev_1:13-18 In this description of Jesus much of the imagery has two possible OT backgrounds: (1) YHWH, but also (2) the angel of Daniel 10.
Rev_1:13
NASB "one like a son of man"
NKJV "One like the Son of Man"
NRSV "one like the Son of Man"
TEV "looked like a human being"
NJB "one like a Son of Man"
Notice the variety in capitalization. The reason is the ambiguity of the term. In the OT it was a descriptive phrase for a human being (cf. Psa_8:4; Eze_2:1 and many more). However, it also was used in Dan_7:13 and possibly Eze_1:26 to refer to a human Messiah, whose deity (cf. Rev_2:18, where this same personage is called "Son of God") is assumed because
1. he appears before God
2. he rides on the clouds of heaven
3. he is given the eternal kingdom.
Jesus used this term to refer to Himself because it had no rabbinical usages, no nationalistic or militaristic connotations. It combined the human and divine aspects of Jesus' person (cf. 1Jn_4:1-3; Joh_1:1-2; Joh_1:14).
Notice that the NKJV and NRSV have "the" while NASB, TEV, and JB have "a." There is no definite article in the Greek text (cf. Dan_7:13; Heb_1:2; Heb_3:6; Heb_5:8; Heb_7:28). However, the fact that it is a title makes it definite. The ambiguity may be purposeful (an aspect of John's writings). Jesus is a real human being and also the Divine Messiah.
▣ "clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash" This phrase has been understood in several ways.
1. as a reference to the High Priest (cf. Exo_28:4; Exo_29:5; Lev_16:4 and Zec_3:4)
2. as a reference to a royal, wealthy person (cf. 1Sa_18:24; 1Sa_24:12 and Eze_26:16)
3. as a vision of the glorious interpreting angel of Dan_10:5-21, which might signify Jesus as bringing God's message.
Josephus, in his book, Antiquities of the Jews III.7.2,4, said that the High Priest wore a girdle interwoven with gold. Therefore, Jesus is the High Priest (cf. Psa_110:4-7; Zechariah 3) of the heavenly sanctuary (cf. Heb_8:1-13; Psalms 110).
Rev_1:14 "His head and His hair were white like white wool" This is an allusion to the Ancient of Days in Dan_7:9. This is an example of NT authors attributing titles and descriptions of YHWH to Jesus, emphasizing Jesus' deity.
▣ "His eyes were like a flame of fire" This symbolized His penetrating knowledge (cf. Dan_10:6; Rev_2:18; Rev_19:12).
Rev_1:15
NASB "like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace"
NKJV "like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace"
NRSV "like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace"
TEV "like brass that has been refined and polished"
NJB "like burnished bronze when it has been refined in a furnace"
This word for bronze (chalkolibanon) is uncertain. Brass is the related term, chalkos (cf. Mat_10:9; 1Co_13:1; Rev_18:22). It was used in Eze_1:7 for the cherubim's feet and in Dan_10:6 for the angelic messenger. Jesus' feet are described in these same terms (cf. Rev_1:15; Rev_2:18) to show His heavenly origin or majestic character.
"NASB, NKJV,
NRSV "voice was like the sound of many waters"
TEV "voice sounded like a roaring waterfall"
NJB "voice like the sound of the ocean"
This was used of
1. YHWH in Eze_1:24; Eze_43:2
2. the wings of the cherubim of Eze_1:24
3. of the angelic messenger (possibly) in Dan_10:6
Apparently it was a symbol of a heavenly person's authoritative voice (cf. Rev_14:2; Rev_19:6).
Rev_1:16 "In His right hand He held seven stars" This phrase is repeated in Rev_1:16; Rev_1:20; Rev_2:1; Rev_3:1. This shows Jesus' personal care of His local churches.
▣ "and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword" Hromphaia refers to the large Thracian, broadsword which the Roman soldiers carried. This metaphor appears in the OT in Isa_11:4; Isa_49:2. It symbolizes both (1) war (cf. Rev_2:16; Rev_6:8) and (2) the power of the word of God, especially judgment (cf. Rev_2:12; Rev_19:15; Rev_19:21; 2Th_2:8). Heb_4:12 uses another type of sword (machaira), but the same idea — the power of the word of God.
▣ "His face was like the sun shining in its strength" A similar phrase is used to describe the angelic messenger of Dan_10:6 and Rev_10:1. In Dan_12:3 (cf. Mat_13:43) it was a symbol of the resurrected righteous ones. Jesus is described in similar terms at His transfiguration (cf. Mat_17:2).