What Does Revelation 1:15 Mean in the King James?

And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

Revelation 1:15 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The “sound” of many waters is the same Greek word as his “voice”: what English separates, the verse makes one.

THE MEANING

His feet are like fine brass glowing in a furnace, and his voice is as vast as many waters. The image holds solidity and overwhelming sound together: the waters are not background to the voice but its very likeness.

THE ROOT

φωνή

phōnē

GROWS FROM

φων-

phon-

voice, sound

“voice / sound” in this verse is phōnē. The KJV renders the first ⁨φωνή⁩ as “voice” and repeats it as “sound,” but the Greek uses the same noun twice: literally, “his voice like the voice of many waters.” The verse makes the gathered roar of the waters the shape of his voice.

ALSO GROWS

phoneō: to sound, speak, or call aloud

φωνέω

This related verb carries voice into the act of sounding or calling; the verse’s force is already present in the word for voice.

aphōnos: voiceless, mute

ἄφωνος

This branch names the absence of voice, while the verse presents voice at overwhelming fullness.

THE PATTERN

The divine voice is pictured through waters and thunder, heard as a sound larger than a single speaker.

The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters.

Psalm 29:3 · KJVThe voice of the LORD sounds over many waters and is heard as thunder.

And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.

Ezekiel 43:2 · KJVThe voice is likened directly to the noise of many waters, as it is here.

And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

Revelation 19:6 · KJVMany waters and mighty thunderings again give the divine voice its scale.

THE THREAD

And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:

Revelation 14:2 · KJV

The same Greek word, ⁨φωνή⁩ (phōnē, “voice” or “sound”), repeats through the verse, including in “the voice of many waters.” Here that sound also opens into the music of harps, extending the image beyond a single voice.

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