Revelation 1:17

New Living Translation

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last.

Parallel Translations

New American Standard Bible (1995)
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,

Simplified Cowboy Version
When my eyes fell on him, I dropped to the ground at his feet like a dead man. He reached down with his right hand and said, "Do not fear. I am the first and the last.

Bible in Basic English
And when I saw him, I went down on my face at his feet as one dead. And he put his right hand on me, saying, Have no fear; I am the first and the last and the Living one;

Darby Translation
And when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead; and he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; *I* am the first and the last,

World English Bible
When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, "Don't be afraid. I am the first and the last,

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead: and he laid his right-hand upon me, saying, Fear not, I am the First and the Last,

Weymouth's New Testament
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if I were dead. But He laid His right hand upon me and said, "Do not be afraid: I am the First and the Last, and the ever-living One.

King James Version (1611)
And when I sawe him, I fell at his feete as dead: and hee laid his right hand vpon me, saying vnto mee, Feare not, I am the first, and the last.

Literal Translation
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet, as dead. And He put His right hand on me, saying to me, Do not fear. I am the First and the Last,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And when I sawe him, I fell at his fete, euen as deed. And he layde his right honde vpon me, sayenge vnto me: feare not. I am the fyrst, and the laste,

Mace New Testament (1729)
as soon as I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead: but he laid his right hand upon me, and said, "Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Amplified Bible
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. And He placed His right hand on me and said, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last [absolute Deity, the Son of God],

American Standard Version
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last,

Revised Standard Version
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand upon me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last,

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And when I sawe him I fell at his fete even as deed. And he layde hys ryght honde apon me sayinge vnto me: feare not. I am the fyrst and the laste

Update Bible Version
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand on me, saying, Don't be afraid; I am the first and the last,

Webster's Bible Translation
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying to me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Young's Literal Translation
And when I saw him, I did fall at his feet as dead, and he placed his right hand upon me, saying to me, `Be not afraid; I am the First and the Last,

New Century Version
When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He put his right hand on me and said, "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.

New English Translation
When I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last,

Berean Standard Bible
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,

Contemporary English Version
When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead person. But he put his right hand on me and said: Don't be afraid! I am the first, the last,

Complete Jewish Bible
When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand upon me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last,

English Standard Version
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last,

Geneva Bible (1587)
And when I saw him, I fell at his feete as dead: then he laid his right hand vpon me, saying vnto me, Feare not: I am that first and that last,

George Lamsa Translation
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Christian Standard Bible®
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. He laid His right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last,

Hebrew Names Version
When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, "Don't be afraid. I am the first and the last,

International Standard Version
When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. But he placed his right hand on me and said, "Stop being afraid! I am the first and the last,[xr]

Etheridge Translation
And when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid upon me his right hand, saying, Fear not: I am the First and the Last;

Murdock Translation
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, and said, Fear not: I am the First and the Last;

New King James Version
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, [fn] "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.

New Life Bible
When I saw Him, I fell down at His feet like a dead man. He laid His right hand on me and said, "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.

English Revised Version
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last,

New Revised Standard
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me, saying - Do not fear! I, am the First, and the Last,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when I had seen him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying: Fear not. I am the First and the Last,

King James Version
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Lexham English Bible
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead person, and he placed his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And when I sawe hym, I fell at his feete euen as dead: And he layde his ryght hande vpon me, saying vnto me, feare not, I am the first and the last,

Easy-to-Read Version
When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He put his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last.

New American Standard Bible
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,

Good News Translation
When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the first and the last.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And whanne Y hadde seyn hym, Y felde doun at hise feet, as deed. And he puttide his riyt hond on me, and seide, Nyle thou drede; Y am the firste and the laste; and Y am alyue, and Y was deed;

Contextual Overview

⁹ I, John, am your brother and your partner in suffering and in God's Kingdom and in the patient endurance to which Jesus calls us. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and for my testimony about Jesus. ¹⁰ It was the Lord's Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast. ¹¹ It said, "Write in a book everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea." ¹² When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. ¹³ And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. ¹⁴ His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. ¹⁵ His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. ¹⁶ He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance. ¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I fell: Ezekiel 1:28, Daniel 8:18, Daniel 10:8, Daniel 10:9, Daniel 10:17-19, Habakkuk 3:16, Matthew 17:2-6, John 13:23, John 21:20

And he: Daniel 8:18, Daniel 10:10

Fear not: Genesis 15:1, Exodus 14:13, Exodus 20:20, Isaiah 41:10, Daniel 10:12, Matthew 28:4, Mark 16:5, Mark 16:6, Luke 24:37-39

I am: Revelation 1:8, Revelation 1:11, Revelation 2:8, Revelation 22:13, Isaiah 41:4, Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 48:12

Reciprocal: Genesis 17:3 - General Genesis 26:24 - fear Genesis 28:17 - he was Exodus 3:6 - hid Exodus 3:14 - I AM hath Exodus 33:20 - Thou canst not Numbers 24:4 - falling Deuteronomy 32:39 - I kill Judges 13:6 - terrible 1 Chronicles 21:30 - he was afraid 2 Chronicles 9:4 - there was Job 4:14 - Fear Psalms 93:2 - thou Psalms 102:12 - thou Psalms 102:27 - thou art Psalms 119:120 - My flesh Psalms 139:5 - and laid Isaiah 6:5 - said I Isaiah 43:11 - General Lamentations 3:57 - thou saidst Lamentations 5:19 - remainest Ezekiel 3:23 - and I fell Ezekiel 44:4 - and I fell Daniel 8:17 - I was Daniel 10:19 - fear not Amos 9:1 - I saw Haggai 2:5 - fear Zechariah 13:7 - the man Matthew 14:26 - they were Matthew 14:27 - it Matthew 17:7 - touched Matthew 28:5 - Fear Mark 9:6 - General Luke 1:12 - he Luke 2:10 - Fear not Luke 5:8 - he Luke 9:34 - and they John 1:15 - he was John 6:20 - It is John 8:18 - one John 8:58 - Before John 13:19 - that I John 14:28 - Father Acts 7:32 - Then Acts 27:24 - Fear not Romans 16:26 - everlasting 2 Corinthians 1:19 - was not 2 Corinthians 4:10 - that 2 Corinthians 13:4 - yet Ephesians 1:20 - and set Philippians 2:6 - thought Colossians 1:17 - he 1 Timothy 3:16 - God 1 Timothy 6:16 - only Hebrews 1:11 - thou Hebrews 7:26 - made Hebrews 12:2 - the author Hebrews 12:21 - Moses Hebrews 13:8 - General 1 John 1:1 - That which Revelation 21:6 - I am

Cross-References

Genesis 9:13
I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth.

Job 38:12
"Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east?

Psalms 8:1

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.

O Lord , our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.

Psalms 8:3
When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place—

Acts 13:47
For the Lord gave us this command when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.'"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And when I saw him,.... The glorious person here described, who was just behind him, and of whom he had a full view, being so near him:

I fell at his feet as dead; through consternation and fear, the sight was so amazing and terrible; the appearance of a divine person in any degree of majesty and glory, has had some considerable effect upon men, even upon the best of men; but John seems to be more affected with it than any, as the vision was the more grand and illustrious: Manoah was afraid he should die, but did not fall down as dead; Ezekiel fell upon his face, but had his senses; Daniel's comeliness turned into corruption, and he retained no strength, he fainted, and fell into a deep sleep; see Judges 13:22; but John fell down at once, as dead. This panic which good men were seized with, at any more than ordinary appearance of God, or apprehension of his presence, arose from a notion that present death ensues a sight of him; hence Jacob wonders, and is thankful, that he had seen God face to face, and yet his life was preserved,

Genesis 32:30; and such an effect as here, upon the body, any uncommon discovery of the divine Being has, partly through the weakness of human nature, which in its present circumstances is not able to bear the rays and glories of a divine person; hence the resurrection of the body in power, glory, and immortality, incorruption and spirituality, is necessary to the enjoyment of God and Christ in a state of bliss and happiness to all eternity; and partly through a consciousness of sin, which ever since the fall of Adam has occasioned fear and perturbation of mind, even in the best of saints, when they have had any sense of the divine Majesty being near, in an unusual form of glory:

and he laid his right hand upon me; even the same in which he had, and held the seven stars; and which showed what an affection he had for him, in what esteem he had him, what care he took of him, and what power he would exert in lifting up, strengthening, and supporting him; for he laid not his hand on him in wrath and angers, but in love; and in order to raise him up and revive his spirits, and remove his fears; hence the Ethiopic version renders it, "and he took hold on me with his right hand, and lifted me up"; as he does all who in a spiritual sense fall at his feet; it is always safe and comfortable falling there:

saying unto me, fear not; language which John had heard from him in the days of his flesh, and might therefore be chose now on purpose that he might the sooner know who he was and be comforted; see

Matthew 14:27.

I am the first and the last; a way of speaking used by God when he is about to comfort his people, and remove their fears; see

Isaiah 41:4; and is used by Christ for the same purpose here; and so is a proof of his true and proper deity, and is expressive of his eternity, and also of his dignity and excellency: he is the first and last in divine predestination, in the covenant of grace, in creation, in the business of salvation, and in his church, by whom, and for whom, are all things in it; he is the head of the body, the Son over his own house, and the firstborn among many brethren; and so the Alexandrian copy read, here, "the firstborn and the last". ראשון, "the first", is a name of the Messiah with the Jews t; Isaiah 41:4- :.

t T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 5. 1. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 63. fol. 55. 2. Vajikra Rabba, sect. 30. fol. 171. 2. & Tzeror Hammor, fol. 71. 4.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead - As if I were dead; deprived of sense and consciousness. He was overwhelmed with the suddenness of the vision; he saw that this was a divine being; but he did not as yet know that it was the Saviour. It is not probable that in this vision he would immediately recognize any of the familiar features of the Lord Jesus as he had been accustomed to see him some sixty years before; and if he did, the effect would have been quite as overpowering as is here described. But the subsequent revelations of this divine personage would rather seem to imply that John did not at once recognize him as the Lord Jesus. The effect here described is one that often occurred to those who had a vision of God. See Daniel 8:18, “Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright”; Daniel 8:27, “And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business.” Compare Exodus 33:20; Isaiah 6:5; Ezekiel 1:28; Ezekiel 43:3; Daniel 10:7-9, Daniel 10:17.

And he laid his right hand upon me - For the purpose of raising him up. Compare Daniel 8:18, “He touched me and set me upright.” We usually stretch out the right hand to raise up one who has fallen.

Saying unto me, Fear not - Compare Matthew 14:27, “It is I; be not afraid.” The fact that it was the Saviour, though he appeared in this form of overpowering majesty, was a reason why John should not be afraid. Why that was a reason, he immediately adds - that he was the first and the last; that though he had been dead he was now alive, and would continue ever to live, and that he had the keys of hell and of death. It is evident that John was overpowered with that awful emotion which the human mind must feel at the evidence of the presence of God. Thus, people feel when God seems to come near them by the impressive symbols of his majesty - as in the thunder, the earthquake, and the tempest. Compare Habakkuk 3:16; Luke 9:34. Yet, amidst the most awful manifestations of divine power, the simple assurance that our Redeemer is near us is enough to allay our fears, and diffuse calmness through the soul.

I am the first and the last - See the notes at Revelation 1:8. This is stated to be one of the reasons why he should not fear - that he was eternal: “I always live - have lived through all the past, and will live through all which is to come - and therefore I can accomplish all my promises, and execute all my purposes.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Revelation 1:17. I fell at his feet as dead. — The appearance of the glory of the Lord had then same effect upon Ezekiel, Ezekiel 1:28: and the appearance of Gabriel had the same effect on Daniel, Daniel 8:17. The terrible splendour of such majesty was more than the apostle could bear, and he fell down deprived of his senses, but was soon enabled to behold the vision by a communication of strength from our Lord's right hand.