His feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace: this describes the appearance of the figure’s feet; it does not say or imply that his feet were made of metal. The exact metal indicated by the Greek word translated burnished bronze is in doubt; the Greek word occurs only here and in 2.18, and nowhere else in Greek literature. The Arndt and Gingrich Lexicon has this entry: “Name of a metal or alloy, the exact nature of which is unknown.” Swete says it was a mixed metal of great brilliance. Most translations have “bronze” or “brass”; Translator’s New Testament has “precious metal.” The precise word burnished may be too high level for the average reader (it means “polished”).
Refined as in a furnace: the process of refining metal ore involves a furnace, where the heat consumes the impurities and the liquid metal flows into a mold. Once the bronze artifact has been made, then it is polished so as to shine. A translation should not give the impression that the bronze was first polished and then refined in a furnace, as Revised English Bible, for example, may imply: “like burnished bronze refined in a furnace.” New International Version‘s “like bronze glowing in a furnace” is not a satisfactory translation, nor is “as the finest bronze glows in a furnace” (Phillips). Translators in many languages will need to make all of this information explicit and say, for example, “shone like bronze that has been refined (or, melted down to get rid of impurities) and then polished.”
His voice was like the sound of many waters: see Ezek 43.2. The many waters may be a waterfall or the roaring sea. New American Bible, Revised has “the sound of rushing water,” Bible en français courant “giant waterfalls” (also Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje), Revised English Bible “a mighty torrent.” The figure, of course, indicates the volume of sound, not its quality. One may also say “his voice was loud like….”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .