Revelation 19:12

Good News Translation

His eyes were like a flame of fire, and he wore many crowns on his head. He had a name written on him, but no one except himself knows what it is.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself.

King James Version (1611)
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crownes, and hee had a name written, that no man knew but he himselfe.

King James Version
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

New American Standard Bible
His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.

New Century Version
His eyes are like burning fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him, which no one but himself knows.

English Standard Version
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.

Berean Standard Bible
He has eyes like blazing fire, and many royal crowns on His head. He has a name written on Him that only He Himself knows.

Contemporary English Version
He had eyes like flames of fire, and he was wearing a lot of crowns. His name was written on him, but he was the only one who knew what the name meant.

Complete Jewish Bible
His eyes were like a fiery flame, and on his head were many royal crowns. And he had a name written which no one knew but himself.

Darby Translation
And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head many diadems, having a name written which no one knows but himself;

Easy-to-Read Version
His eyes were like burning fire. He had many crowns on his head. A name was written on him, but he was the only one who knew its meaning.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And his eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crownes: and he had a name written, that no man knewe but himselfe.

George Lamsa Translation
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had names written, and one of the names written, no man knew but he himself.

Lexham English Bible
Now his eyes were a flame of fire, and on his head were many royal headbands having a name written that no one except he himself knows.

Literal Translation
And His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head many diadems, having a name that had been written, which no one knows except Himself;

Amplified Bible
His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many royal crowns; and He has a name inscribed [on Him] which no one knows or understands except Himself.

American Standard Version
And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems; and he hath a name written which no one knoweth but he himself.

Bible in Basic English
And his eyes are a flame of fire, and crowns are on his head; and he has a name in writing, of which no man has knowledge but himself.

Hebrew Names Version
His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has names written and a name written which no one knows but he himself.

International Standard Version
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many royal crowns. He has a name written on him that nobody knows except himself.Revelation 1:14; 2:16-18; 6:2;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
But his eyes were as the flame of fire, and upon his head were many diadems, having names written; and the name which was written of him no man knoweth but himself.

Murdock Translation
His eyes [fn] like a flame of fire, and on his head [fn] many diadems; and he had names inscribed; and the name which was written on him, no one knew, except himself.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
His eyes were as a flambe of fire, and on his head were many crownes, and he had a name written, that no man knewe but he hym selfe.

English Revised Version
And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems; and he hath a name written, which no one knoweth but he himself.

World English Bible
His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has names written and a name written which no one knows but he himself.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems, and he hath a name written, which none knoweth but himself.

Weymouth's New Testament
His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many kingly crowns; and He has a name written upon Him which no one but He Himself knows.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And `the iyen of hym weren as flawme of fier, and in his heed many diademys; and he hadde a name writun, which no man knew, but he.

Update Bible Version
And his eyes [are] as a flame of fire, and on his head [are] many diadems; and he has a name written which no one knows but he himself.

Webster's Bible Translation
His eyes [were] as a flame of fire, and on his head [were] many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

New English Translation
His eyes are like a fiery flame and there are many diadem crowns on his head. He has a name written that no one knows except himself.

New King James Version
His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had [fn] a name written that no one knew except Himself.

New Living Translation
His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself.

New Life Bible
His eyes are a flame of fire. He has many crowns on His head. His name is written on Him but He is the only One Who knows what it says.

New Revised Standard
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed that no one knows but himself.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and, his eyes, are a flame of fire, and, upon his head, are many diadems, having, a name, written, which, no one, knoweth, but himself,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And his eyes were as a flame of fire: and on his head were many diadems. And he had a name written, which no man knoweth but himself.

Revised Standard Version
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
His eyes were as a flame of fyre: and on his heed were many crounes: and he had a name written yt noman knewe but him sylfe.

Young's Literal Translation
and his eyes [are] as a flame of fire, and upon his head [are] many diadems -- having a name written that no one hath known, except himself,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
His eyes were as a flame of fyre, and on his heade were many crounes: & he had a name wrytten, that noman knewe but him selfe.

Mace New Testament (1729)
his eyes were as a flame of fire, on his head were many crowns: and a name inscrib'd which no one comprehended, but himself:

Simplified Cowboy Version
His eyes were like fire and he wore many crowns. His name was written on himself, but only he knows what it means.

Contextual Overview

¹¹ Then I saw heaven open, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True; it is with justice that he judges and fights his battles. ¹² His eyes were like a flame of fire, and he wore many crowns on his head. He had a name written on him, but no one except himself knows what it is. ¹³ The robe he wore was covered with blood. His name is "The Word of God." ¹⁴ The armies of heaven followed him, riding on white horses and dressed in clean white linen. ¹⁵ Out of his mouth came a sharp sword, with which he will defeat the nations. He will rule over them with a rod of iron, and he will trample out the wine in the wine press of the furious anger of the Almighty God. ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh was written the name: "King of kings and Lord of lords." ¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing on the sun. He shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair: "Come and gather together for God's great feast! ¹⁸ Come and eat the flesh of kings, generals, and soldiers, the flesh of horses and their riders, the flesh of all people, slave and free, great and small!" ¹⁹ Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered to fight against the one who was riding the horse and against his army. ²⁰ The beast was taken prisoner, together with the false prophet who had performed miracles in his presence. (It was by those miracles that he had deceived those who had the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped the image of the beast.) The beast and the false prophet were both thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

eyes: Revelation 1:14, Revelation 2:18

on his: Revelation 6:2, Revelation 12:3, Revelation 13:1, Psalms 8:5, Song of Solomon 3:11, Isaiah 62:3, Zechariah 9:16, Matthew 21:5, Matthew 28:18, Hebrews 2:9

a name: Revelation 19:16, Revelation 2:17, Revelation 3:12, Genesis 32:29, Exodus 23:21, Judges 13:18, Isaiah 9:6, Matthew 11:27, Luke 10:22

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 11:12 - put the crown 2 Chronicles 23:11 - put upon Psalms 21:3 - settest Daniel 10:6 - his face Zechariah 6:11 - make Matthew 17:2 - his face Ephesians 1:21 - every Revelation 14:14 - a golden

Cross-References

Genesis 7:1
The Lord said to Noah, "Go into the boat with your whole family; I have found that you are the only one in all the world who does what is right.

Genesis 19:14
Then Lot went to the men that his daughters were going to marry, and said, "Hurry up and get out of here; the Lord is going to destroy this place." But they thought he was joking.

Genesis 19:17
Then one of the angels said, "Run for your lives! Don't look back and don't stop in the valley. Run to the hills, so that you won't be killed."

Genesis 19:22
Hurry! Run! I can't do anything until you get there." Because Lot called it small, the town was named Zoar.

Genesis 19:23
The sun was rising when Lot reached Zoar.

Numbers 16:26
He said to the people, "Get away from the tents of these wicked men and don't touch anything that belongs to them. Otherwise, you will be wiped out with them for all their sins."

Jeremiah 32:39
I will give them a single purpose in life: to honor me for all time, for their own good and the good of their descendants.

2 Peter 2:7
He rescued Lot, a good man, who was distressed by the immoral conduct of lawless people.

2 Peter 2:9
And so the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and how to keep the wicked under punishment for the Day of Judgment,

Revelation 18:4
Then I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out, my people! Come out from her! You must not take part in her sins; you must not share in her punishment!

Gill's Notes on the Bible

His eyes were as a flame of fire,.... Which denotes the perspicuity and penetration of them, the omniscience of Christ to look into and discover the secret machinations, schemes, and devices of his enemies against his people, and his exercise of it in favour of them, his eyes, like a flame of fire, running to and fro on their behalf; and also this may signify the fierceness of his anger against the enemies of his people, the eyes of his glory being provoked by their cruelty and wickedness; and likewise the suddenness of their destruction, and the inevitableness of it.

And on his head were many crowns; for he has not only a crown, as the Creator and Governor of the universe, in right of nature, but he has one which his Father has put upon his head, when he set him as King over his holy hill of Zion, Psalms 21:3 and there is another which his mother, the church, crowned him with in the day of his espousals, Song of Solomon 3:11 and besides these, every believer puts a crown on his head, gives him the glory of their salvation, and all of them cast their crowns at his feet: to which may be added, that the crowns of all the kings of the earth are his; they reign by him, and are accountable to him. This part of the description may be expressive of that all power in heaven and earth, given to Christ at his resurrection, and exercised by him ever since; and particularly of the extensiveness of his kingdom at the time this vision refers to, when the kingdoms of this world shall be his, Revelation 11:15 for this vision, and the seventh trumpet, are contemporary; and it may be a symbol of the many victories obtained by him, and of the last and closing one that should now be obtained by him.

And he had a name written that no man knew but he himself; which seems to be his name, the Son of God, as the unknown name of the overcomer, in Revelation 2:17 is a child of God; and the sense is, that his divine nature, in which he is the Son of God, is incomprehensible, and that the begetting or generation of him, as such, is ineffable,

Proverbs 30:4 and that without a divine revelation the name itself could not be known; or it could not be known that God had a Son, and that Christ is he, and bears that name, Matthew 11:27 or else his name Immanuel. The incarnate God may be intended, which is a secret and wonderful name, and contains in it, without controversy, a great mystery, which cannot be comprehended by finite minds; or his name,

פלא, "wonderful, secret", Isaiah 9:6. This name is said to be "written"; that is, in the Scriptures of truth, in which it is revealed that Christ is the Son of God, and Immanuel. In Revelation 19:16 the name of King of kings, c. is said to be written on his vesture, and on his thigh and the Ethiopic version makes this to be written on his crown or diadem, reading the words thus; "and upon his head a crown, and there was written in his diadem a name, and no man knew it, but he himself only"; as the high priest had "holiness to the Lord" written on his mitre. The Syriac version inserts a clause between the two last, "having names written", and then follows, "and a name written", &c. and so the Complutensian edition.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

His eyes were as a flame of fire - See the notes on Revelation 1:14.

And on his head were many crowns - Many diadems, indicative of his universal reign. It is not said how these were worn or arranged on his head - perhaps the various diadems worn by kings were in some way wreathed into one.

And he had a name written - That is, probably on the frontlet of this compound diadem. Compare the notes on Revelation 13:1; Revelation 14:1.

That no man knew but he himself - See the notes on Revelation 2:17. This cannot here mean that no one could read the name, but the idea is, that no one but himself could fully understand its import. It involved a depth of meaning, and a degree of sacredness, and a relation to the Father, which he alone could apprehend in its true import. This is true of the name here designated - “the Word of God” - the “Logos” - Λόγος Logos; and it is true of all the names which he bears. See Matthew 11:27. Compare a quotation from Dr. Buchanan in the Asiatic Researches, vol. 1, vi. p. 264, as quoted by Rosenmuller, Morgenland, in loco.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Revelation 19:12. His eyes were as a flame of fire — To denote the piercing and all-penetrating nature of his wisdom.

On his head were many crowns — To denote the multitude of his conquests, and the extent of his dominion.

A name written, that no man knew — This is a reference to what the rabbins call the shem hammephorash, or tetragrammaton, יהוה YHVH; or what we call Jehovah. This name the Jews never attempt to pronounce: when they meet with it in the Bible, they read אדני Adonai for it; but, to a man, they all declare that no man can pronounce it; and that the true pronunciation has been lost, at least since the Babylonish captivity; and that God alone knows its true interpretation and pronunciation. This, therefore, is the name which no man knew but he himself.