1:15a

His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace: There are two ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as refined :

(1) The bronze, a kind of metal, was no longer hot, so the Greek word means “refined.” It indicates that the bronze was heated until melted. The impurities then floated to the top and were removed. The bronze was allowed to cool, and it returned to solid form again. The bronze was then pure and shiny. It was without impurities. For example:

His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace (Berean Standard Bible, New Living Translation (2004))

(2) The bronze was still hot, so the word means “glowing.” Metals glow red when they are very hot. For example:

His feet were glowing like bronze being heated in a furnace (Contemporary English Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because if the metal glowed red-hot, John could not have seen what kind of metal it was. Other ways to translate this word following interpretation (1) are:

His feet were like bronze purified in a furnace
-or-
His feet were like bronze made pure in a furnace

His feet were like polished bronze: This clause indicates that His feet were similar in color to polished bronze. The clause may also imply strength or moral purity. The clause does not indicate that his feet were hard or unbending like metal.

bronze: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as bronze refers to a metal that is a mixture of copper and another metal, either tin (which makes bronze) or zinc (which makes brass). Bronze, as pictured below, is a brown metal color.

In some languages people are not familiar with bronze or brass. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Explain the word in your translation. For example:

⌊shiny brown/tan metal called⌋ bronze

• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:

shiny brown/tan metal

• Use the major language word. If people are not familiar with this word, you may want to explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:

Bronze is a metal that is a mixture of copper and tin. It is a brown metal color.

furnace: This word refers to a kind of oven that can be heated so hot that it melts metal. Other ways to translate this word are:

oven
-or-

⌊metal-⌋ refinery

1:15b

His voice was like the roar of many waters: This clause probably indicates that his voice was loud and powerful. Other ways to translate this clause are:

his voice was like the roar of many waters (NET Bible)
-or-
his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves (New Living Translation (2004))

the roar of many waters: Here this phrase refers to a lot of water and to the sound that water makes when it is moving fast. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

raging waters (God’s Word)
-or-
the roar of ⌊many⌋ waterfalls
-or-
flooding water (New Century Version)

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