15 And [86]his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and [87]his voice as the sound of many waters.
15. _And his feet like unto fine brass._ Comp. Da. x. 6, “And his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass.” See also Eze. i. 7, “and they” [the feet of the living creatures] “sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.” The word here used――χαλκολιβάνῳ――occurs in the New Testament only here and in ch. ii. 18. It is not found in the Septuagint. The word properly means _white brass_ (probably compounded of χαλκός, _brass_, and λιβανός, _whiteness_, from the Hebrew לָבָן, _white_). Others regard it as from χαλκός, _brass_, and λιπαρόν, _clear_. The _metal_ referred to was undoubtedly a species of brass distinguished for its clearness or whiteness. Brass is a compound metal, composed of copper and zinc. The colour varies much according to the different proportions of the various ingredients. The Vulgate here renders the word _aurichalcum_, a mixture of gold and of brass――perhaps the same as the ἤλεκτρον――the _electrum_ of the ancients, composed of gold and of silver, usually in the proportion of four parts gold and one part silver, and distinguished for its brilliancy. See Robinson, _Lex._, and Wetstein, _in loco_. The kind of metal here referred to, however, would seem to be some compound of brass――of a whitish and brilliant colour. The exact proportion of the ingredients in the metal here referred to cannot now be determined. ¶ _As if they burned in a furnace._ That is, his feet were so bright that they seemed to be like a beautiful metal glowing intensely in the midst of a furnace. Anyone who has looked upon the dazzling and almost insupportable brilliancy of metal in a furnace, can form an idea of the image here presented. ¶ _And his voice as the sound of many waters._ As the roar of the ocean, or of a cataract. Nothing could be a more sublime description of majesty and authority than to compare the voice of a speaker with the roar of the ocean. This comparison often occurs in the Scriptures. See Eze. xliii. 2, “And behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the east: and his voice was like the sound of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.” So Re. xiv. 2; xix. 6. Comp. Eze. i. 24; Da. x. 6.