the Week of Proper 16 / Ordinary 21
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Read the Bible
THE MESSAGE
Revelation 1:14
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalDevotionals:
- EveryParallel Translations
The hair of his head was white as wool—white as snow—and his eyes like a fiery flame.
His head, and his haires were white like wooll as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire,
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,
His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire.
His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like flames of fire.
His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire.
The hair of His head was white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like a blazing fire.
His head and his hair were white as wool or snow, and his eyes looked like flames of fire.
His head and hair were as white as snow-white wool, his eyes like a fiery flame ,
his head and hair white like white wool, as snow; and his eyes as a flame of fire;
His head and hair were white like wool—wool that is white as snow. His eyes were like flames of fire.
His head, & heares were white as white wooll, and as snowe, and his eyes were as a flame of fire,
His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
His hair was white as wool, or as snow, and his eyes blazed like fire;
and his head and hair were white like wool, white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame,
And the hairs of His head were white as white wool, as snow, and His eyes as a flame of fire;
His head and His hair were white like white wool, [glistening white] like snow; and His [all-seeing] eyes were [flashing] like a flame of fire [piercing into my being].
And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
And his head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire.
His head and his hair were white like wool, in fact, as white as snow. His eyes were like flames of fire,[xr]
But his head and hair were white as wool, white as snow; and his eyes (were) as a flame of fire,
And his head and his hair were white, like white wool, like snow; and his eyes, like a flame of fire:
His head, and his heeres were whyte as whyte wooll, and as snowe, and his eyes were as a flambe of fyre.
And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire.
His head and hair were white as white wool, as snow,
His head and His hair were white, like white wool--as white as snow; and His eyes resembled a flame of fire.
And the heed of hym and his heeris weren whijt, as whijt wolle, and as snow; and the iyen of hym as flawme of fier,
And his head and his hair were white as white wool, [white] as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire;
His head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame.
His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire;
His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire.
His head and His hair were white like white wool. They were as white as snow. His eyes were like fire.
His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire,
And his head and hair, white, like white wool - like snow, and, his eyes, like a flame of fire,
And his head and his hairs were white as white wool and as snow. And his eyes were as a flame of fire:
his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire,
His heed and his heares were whyte as whyte woll and as snowe: and his eyes were as a flame of fyre:
and his head and hairs white, as if white wool -- as snow, and his eyes as a flame of fire;
His heed, and his heares were whyte, as whyte woll, & as snowe: and his eyes were as a flamme of fyre:
his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; his feet were like fine brass,
His hair was exquisitely white and his eyes blazed brighter than the sun.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
and his hairs: Daniel 7:9, Matthew 28:3
and his eyes: Revelation 2:18, Revelation 19:12, Daniel 10:6
Reciprocal: Job 10:4 - seest thou Job 41:18 - the eyelids Song of Solomon 5:11 - his locks Song of Solomon 7:5 - the hair Ezekiel 1:27 - the appearance of fire Ezekiel 8:2 - I beheld
Cross-References
First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.
God spoke: "Light!" And light appeared. God saw that light was good and separated light from dark. God named the light Day, he named the dark Night. It was evening, it was morning— Day One.
God spoke: "Sky! In the middle of the waters; separate water from water!" God made sky. He separated the water under sky from the water above sky. And there it was: he named sky the Heavens; It was evening, it was morning— Day Two.
God spoke: "Separate! Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place; Land, appear!" And there it was. God named the land Earth. He named the pooled water Ocean. God saw that it was good.
God spoke: "Lights! Come out! Shine in Heaven's sky! Separate Day from Night. Mark seasons and days and years, Lights in Heaven's sky to give light to Earth." And there it was.
God made two big lights, the larger to take charge of Day, The smaller to be in charge of Night; and he made the stars. God placed them in the heavenly sky to light up Earth And oversee Day and Night, to separate light and dark. God saw that it was good. It was evening, it was morning— Day Four.
God spoke: "Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life! Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!" God created the huge whales, all the swarm of life in the waters, And every kind and species of flying birds. God saw that it was good. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean! Birds, reproduce on Earth!" It was evening, it was morning— Day Five.
God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth." God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God's nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth."
God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning— Day Six.
For as long as Earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, day and night will never stop."
Gill's Notes on the Bible
His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow,.... In allusion to the white head and hairs of old men, said to be hoary, or like the hoar frost, and compared to an almond tree in bloom, Ecclesiastes 12:5; and here to wool and snow for whiteness; see
Ezekiel 27:18; and according to the Jews p, צמר לבן, "white wool", is the wool of a lamb just born, about which a cloth is bound, that it may not be defiled; now these metaphors are expressive of the antiquity of Christ, who is the everlasting Father, and whose goings forth were of old, even from everlasting; and of his senile gravity and prudence, for with the Ancient is wisdom; he is the wisdom of God, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid; and also of his glory and majesty, being the brightness of his Father's glory; and likewise of his true and proper deity, since this description is the same with that of the Ancient of days in Daniel 7:9; for by his head is not here meant either God the Father, who is sometimes called the head of Christ, 1 Corinthians 11:3, nor his divine nature, which is the chief and principal in him, nor his headship over the church; nor do his hairs intend his elect, which grow upon him, and are nourished by him, and are so called for their number, weakness, and purity:
and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire: see Daniel 10:6; which may design the omniscience of Christ, which reaches to all persons, and things, and is very searching and penetrating, and discovers and brings to light things the most dark and obscure; and also Christ's eyes of love upon his own people, which have both heat and light; Christ's love never waxes cold, and, being shed abroad in the hearts of his people, warms theirs; and in the light of his gracious countenance do they see light; and his love, like flames of fire, melts their souls into a true and genuine repentance for sin: or else, rather his eyes of wrath and vengeance, as set upon his enemies, are here meant: which will be fierce and furious, bring swift and sudden destruction on them, before which there is no standing, and from which there is no fleeing. It is said of Augustus Caesar, that he had fiery eyes q.
p T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 54. 1. Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Sabbat, c. 5. sect. 2. q Servius in Virgil. Aeneid. l. 8. p. 13. 55.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow - Exceedingly or perfectly white - the first suggestion to the mind of the apostle being that of wool, and then the thought occurring of its extreme whiteness resembling snow - the purest white of which the mind conceives. The comparison with wool and snow to denote anything especially white is not uncommon. See Isaiah 1:18. Prof. Stuart supposes that this means, not that his hairs were literally white, as if with age, which he says would be incongruous to one just risen from the dead, clothed with immortal youth and vigor, but that it means radiant, bright, resplendent - similar to what occurred on the transfiguration of the Saviour, Matthew 17:2. But to this it may be replied:
- That this would not accord well with that with which his hair is compared - snow and wool, particularly the latter.
- The usual meaning of the word is more obvious here, and not at all inappropriate.
The representation was suited to signify majesty and authority; and this would be best accomplished by the image of one who was venerable in years. Thus, in the vision that appeared to Daniel Daniel 7:9, it is said of him who is there called the “Ancient of Days,” that “his garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool.” It is not improbable that John had that representation in his eye, and that therefore he would be impressed with the conviction that this was a manifestation of a divine person. We are not necessarily to suppose that this is the form in which the Saviour always appears now in heaven, anymore than we are to suppose that God appears always in the form in which he was manifested to Isaiah Isaiah 6:1, to Daniel Daniel 7:9, or to Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu in the mount, Exodus 24:10-11. The representation is, that this form was assumed for the purpose of impressing the mind of the apostle with a sense of his majesty and glory.
And his eyes were as a flame of fire - Bright, sharp, penetrating; as if everything was light before them, or they would penetrate into the thoughts of people. Such a representation is not uncommon. We speak of a lightning glance, a fiery look, etc. In Daniel 10:6, it is said of the man who appeared to the prophet on the banks of the river Hiddekel, that his eyes were “as lamps of fire.” Numerous instances of this comparison from the Greek and Latin Classics may be seen in Wetstein, in loco.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Revelation 1:14. His head and his hairs were white like wool — This was not only an emblem of his antiquity, but it was the evidence of his glory; for the whiteness or splendour of his head and hair doubtless proceeded from the rays of light and glory which encircled his head, and darted from it in all directions. The splendour around the head was termed by the Romans nimbus, and by us a glory; and was represented round the heads of gods, deified persons, and saints. It is used in the same way through almost all the nations of the earth.
His eyes were as a flame of fire — To denote his omniscience, and the all-penetrating nature of the Divine knowledge.
