Revelation 1:13-17

1:13 and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man. ¹  He was dressed in a robe extending down to his feet and he wore a wide golden belt ²  around his chest. 1:14 His ³  head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, ⁴  and his eyes were like a fiery ⁵  flame. 1:15 His feet were like polished bronze ⁶  refined ⁷  in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar ⁸  of many waters. 1:16 He held ⁹  seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His ¹⁰  face shone like the sun shining at full strength. 1:17 When ¹¹  I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but ¹²  he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last,

¹ tn This phrase constitutes an allusion to Dan 7:13. Concerning υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου (Juio" tou anqrwpou), BDAG 1026 s.v. υἱός 2.d.γ says: “ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου lit. ‘the son of the man’…‘the human being, the human one, the man’…On Israelite thought contemporary w. Jesus and alleged knowledge of a heavenly being looked upon as a ‘Son of Man’ or ‘Man’, who exercises Messianic functions such as judging the world (metaph., pictorial passages in En 46-48; 4 Esdr 13:3, 51f)…Outside the gospels: Ac 7:56…Rv 1:13; 14:14 (both after Da 7:13…).” The term “son” here in this expression is anarthrous and as such lacks specificity. Some commentators and translations take the expression as an allusion to Daniel 7:13 and not to “the son of man” found in gospel traditions (e.g., Mark 8:31; 9:12; cf. D. E. Aune, Revelation [WBC], 2:800-801; cf. also NIV). Other commentators and versions, however, take the phrase “son of man” as definite, involving allusions to Dan 7:13 and “the son of man” gospel traditions (see G. K. Beale, Revelation [NIGTC], 771-72; NRSV).

² tn Or “a wide golden sash,” but this would not be diagonal, as some modern sashes are, but horizontal. The Greek term can refer to a wide band of cloth or leather worn on the outside of one’s clothing (L&N 6.178).

³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁴ tn The clause, “even as white as snow” seems to heighten the preceding clause and is so understood in this ascensive sense (“even”) in the translation.

⁵ tn The genitive noun πυρός (puros) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

⁶ tn The precise meaning of the term translated “polished bronze” (χαλκολιβάνῳ, calkolibanw), which appears nowhere else in Greek literature outside of the book of Revelation (see 2:18), is uncertain. Without question it is some sort of metal. BDAG 1076 s.v. χαλκολίβανον suggests “fine brass/bronze.” L&N 2.57 takes the word to refer to particularly valuable or fine bronze, but notes that the emphasis here and in Rev 2:18 is more on the lustrous quality of the metal.

⁷ tn Or “that has been heated in a furnace until it glows.”

⁸ tn Grk “sound,” but the idea is closer to the roar of a waterfall or rapids.

⁹ tn Grk “and having.” In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence, but because contemporary English style employs much shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the pronoun “he.”

¹⁰ tn This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but a new sentence was started here in the translation.

¹¹ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

¹² tn Here the Greek conjunction καί (kai) has been translated as a contrastive (“but”) due to the contrast between the two clauses.