Ezekiel 1:4

1:4 As I watched, I noticed ¹  a windstorm ²  coming from the north – an enormous cloud, with lightning flashing, ³  such that bright light ⁴  rimmed it and came from ⁵  it like glowing amber ⁶  from the middle of a fire.

Ezekiel 1:26-27

1:26 Above the platform over their heads was something like a sapphire shaped like a throne. High above on the throne was a form that appeared to be a man. 1:27 I saw an amber glow ⁷  like a fire enclosed all around ⁸  from his waist up. From his waist down I saw something that looked like fire. There was a brilliant light around it,

Daniel 7:9-10

7:9 “While I was watching,

thrones were set up,

and the Ancient of Days ⁹  took his seat.

His attire was white like snow;

the hair of his head was like lamb’s ¹⁰  wool.

His throne was ablaze with fire

and its wheels were all aflame. ¹¹ 

7:10 A river of fire was streaming forth

and proceeding from his presence.

Many thousands were ministering to him;

Many tens of thousands stood ready to serve him. ¹² 

The court convened ¹³ 

and the books were opened.

Revelation 1:14-15

1:14 His ¹⁴  head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, ¹⁵  and his eyes were like a fiery ¹⁶  flame. 1:15 His feet were like polished bronze ¹⁷  refined ¹⁸  in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar ¹⁹  of many waters.

[1:4]  ¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[1:4]  ² sn Storms are often associated with appearances of God (see Nah 1:3; Ps 18:12). In some passages, the “storm” (סְעָרָה, sÿ’arah) may be a whirlwind (Job 38:1, 2 Kgs 2:1).

[1:4]  ³ tn Heb “fire taking hold of itself,” perhaps repeatedly. The phrase occurs elsewhere only in Exod 9:24 in association with a hailstorm. The LXX interprets the phrase as fire flashing like lightning, but it is possibly a self-sustaining blaze of divine origin. The LXX also reverses the order of the descriptors, i.e., “light went around it and fire flashed like lightning within it.”

[1:4]  ⁴ tn Or “radiance.” The term also occurs in 1:27b.

[1:4]  ⁵ tc Or “was in it”; cf. LXX ἐν τῷ μέσῳ αὐτοῦ (en tw mesw autou, “in its midst”).

[1:4]  ⁶ tn The LXX translates חַשְׁמַל (khashmal) with the word ἤλεκτρον (hlektron, “electrum”; so NAB), an alloy of silver and gold, perhaps envisioning a comparison to the glow of molten metal.

[1:27]  ⁷ tn See Ezek 1:4.

[1:27]  ⁸ tc The LXX lacks this phrase. Its absence from the LXX may be explained as a case of haplography resulting from homoioteleuton, skipping from כְּמַרְאֵה (kÿmar’eh) to מִמַּרְאֵה (mimmar’eh). On the other hand, the LXX presents a much more balanced verse structure when it is recognized that the final words of this verse belong in the next sentence.

[7:9]  ⁹ tn Or “the Ancient One” (NAB, NRSV, NLT), although the traditional expression has been retained in the present translation because it is familiar to many readers. Cf. TEV “One who had been living for ever”; CEV “the Eternal God.”

[7:9]  ¹⁰ tn Traditionally the Aramaic word נְקֵא (nÿqe’) has been rendered “pure,” but here it more likely means “of a lamb.” Cf. the Syriac neqya’ (“a sheep, ewe”). On this word see further, M. Sokoloff, “’amar neqe’, ‘Lamb’s Wool’ (Dan 7:9),” JBL 95 (1976): 277-79.

[7:9]  ¹¹ tn Aram “a flaming fire.”

[7:10]  ¹² tn Aram “were standing before him.”

[7:10]  ¹³ tn Aram “judgment sat.”

[1:14]  ¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[1:14]  ¹⁵ 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.

[1:14]  ¹⁶ tn The genitive noun πυρός (puros) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[1:15]  ¹⁷ 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.

[1:15]  ¹⁸ tn Or “that has been heated in a furnace until it glows.”

[1:15]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “sound,” but the idea is closer to the roar of a waterfall or rapids.