Revelation 1:14

Amplified Bible

His head and His hair were white like white wool, [glistening white] like snow; and His [all-seeing] eyes were [flashing] like a flame of fire [piercing into my being].

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The hair of his head was white as wool—white as snow—and his eyes like a fiery flame.

King James Version (1611)
His head, and his haires were white like wooll as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire,

King James Version
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

English Standard Version
The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,

New American Standard Bible
His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire.

New Century Version
His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like flames of fire.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire.

Berean Standard Bible
The hair of His head was white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like a blazing fire.

Contemporary English Version
His head and his hair were white as wool or snow, and his eyes looked like flames of fire.

Complete Jewish Bible
His head and hair were as white as snow-white wool, his eyes like a fiery flame ,

Darby Translation
his head and hair white like white wool, as snow; and his eyes as a flame of fire;

Easy-to-Read Version
His head and hair were white like wool—wool that is white as snow. His eyes were like flames of fire.

Geneva Bible (1587)
His head, & heares were white as white wooll, and as snowe, and his eyes were as a flame of fire,

George Lamsa Translation
His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

Good News Translation
His hair was white as wool, or as snow, and his eyes blazed like fire;

Lexham English Bible
and his head and hair were white like wool, white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame,

Literal Translation
And the hairs of His head were white as white wool, as snow, and His eyes as a flame of fire;

American Standard Version
And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

Bible in Basic English
And his head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

Hebrew Names Version
His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire.

International Standard Version
His head and his hair were white like wool, in fact, as white as snow. His eyes were like flames of fire,[xr]

Etheridge Translation
But his head and hair were white as wool, white as snow; and his eyes (were) as a flame of fire,

Murdock Translation
And his head and his hair were white, like white wool, like snow; and his eyes, like a flame of fire:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
His head, and his heeres were whyte as whyte wooll, and as snowe, and his eyes were as a flambe of fyre.

English Revised Version
And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

World English Bible
His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
His head and hair were white as white wool, as snow,

Weymouth's New Testament
His head and His hair were white, like white wool--as white as snow; and His eyes resembled a flame of fire.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the heed of hym and his heeris weren whijt, as whijt wolle, and as snow; and the iyen of hym as flawme of fier,

Update Bible Version
And his head and his hair were white as white wool, [white] as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

Webster's Bible Translation
His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire;

New English Translation
His head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame.

New King James Version
His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire;

New Living Translation
His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire.

New Life Bible
His head and His hair were white like white wool. They were as white as snow. His eyes were like fire.

New Revised Standard
His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And his head and hair, white, like white wool - like snow, and, his eyes, like a flame of fire,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And his head and his hairs were white as white wool and as snow. And his eyes were as a flame of fire:

Revised Standard Version
his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire,

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
His heed and his heares were whyte as whyte woll and as snowe: and his eyes were as a flame of fyre:

Young's Literal Translation
and his head and hairs white, as if white wool -- as snow, and his eyes as a flame of fire;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
His heed, and his heares were whyte, as whyte woll, & as snowe: and his eyes were as a flamme of fyre:

Mace New Testament (1729)
his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; his feet were like fine brass,

Simplified Cowboy Version
His hair was exquisitely white and his eyes blazed brighter than the sun.

Contextual Overview

⁹I, John, your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patient endurance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos, [exiled there] because of [my preaching of] the word of God [regarding eternal salvation] and the testimony of Jesus Christ. ¹⁰I was in the Spirit [in special communication with the Holy Spirit and empowered to receive and record the revelation from Jesus Christ] on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, ¹¹saying, "Write on a scroll what you see [in this revelation], and send it to the seven churches—to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea." ¹²Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And after turning I saw seven golden lampstands; ¹³and in the midst of the lampstands I saw someone like the Son of Man, dressed in a robe reaching to His feet, and with a golden sash wrapped around His chest. ¹⁴His head and His hair were white like white wool, [glistening white] like snow; and His [all-seeing] eyes were [flashing] like a flame of fire [piercing into my being]. ¹⁵His feet were like burnished [white-hot] bronze, refined in a furnace, and His voice was [powerful] like the sound of many waters. ¹⁶In His right hand He held seven stars, and from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword [of judgment]; and His face [reflecting His majesty and the Shekinah glory] was like the sun shining in [all] its power [at midday]. ¹⁷When 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], ¹⁸and the Ever-living One [living in and beyond all time and space]. I died, but see, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of [absolute control and victory over] death and of Hades (the realm of the dead).

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

and his hairs: Daniel 7:9, Matthew 28:3

and his eyes: Revelation 2:18, Revelation 19:12, Daniel 10:6

Reciprocal: Job 10:4 - seest thou Job 41:18 - the eyelids Song of Solomon 5:11 - his locks Song of Solomon 7:5 - the hair Ezekiel 1:27 - the appearance of fire Ezekiel 8:2 - I beheld

Cross-References

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God (Elohim) created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:2
The earth was formless and void or a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep [primeval ocean that covered the unformed earth]. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:3
And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.

Genesis 1:4
God saw that the light was good (pleasing, useful) and He affirmed and sustained it; and God separated the light [distinguishing it] from the darkness.

Genesis 1:6
And God said, "Let there be an expanse [of the sky] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters [below the expanse] from the waters [above the expanse]."

Genesis 1:7
And God made the expanse [of sky] and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so [just as He commanded].

Genesis 1:8
God called the expanse [of sky] heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Genesis 1:9
Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place [of standing, pooling together], and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.

Genesis 1:12
The earth sprouted and abundantly produced vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, according to their kind; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it.

Genesis 1:14
Then God said, "Let there be light-bearers (sun, moon, stars) in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be useful for signs (tokens) [of God's provident care], and for marking seasons, days, and years;

Gill's Notes on the Bible

His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow,.... In allusion to the white head and hairs of old men, said to be hoary, or like the hoar frost, and compared to an almond tree in bloom, Ecclesiastes 12:5; and here to wool and snow for whiteness; see

Ezekiel 27:18; and according to the Jews p, צמר לבן, "white wool", is the wool of a lamb just born, about which a cloth is bound, that it may not be defiled; now these metaphors are expressive of the antiquity of Christ, who is the everlasting Father, and whose goings forth were of old, even from everlasting; and of his senile gravity and prudence, for with the Ancient is wisdom; he is the wisdom of God, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid; and also of his glory and majesty, being the brightness of his Father's glory; and likewise of his true and proper deity, since this description is the same with that of the Ancient of days in Daniel 7:9; for by his head is not here meant either God the Father, who is sometimes called the head of Christ, 1 Corinthians 11:3, nor his divine nature, which is the chief and principal in him, nor his headship over the church; nor do his hairs intend his elect, which grow upon him, and are nourished by him, and are so called for their number, weakness, and purity:

and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire: see Daniel 10:6; which may design the omniscience of Christ, which reaches to all persons, and things, and is very searching and penetrating, and discovers and brings to light things the most dark and obscure; and also Christ's eyes of love upon his own people, which have both heat and light; Christ's love never waxes cold, and, being shed abroad in the hearts of his people, warms theirs; and in the light of his gracious countenance do they see light; and his love, like flames of fire, melts their souls into a true and genuine repentance for sin: or else, rather his eyes of wrath and vengeance, as set upon his enemies, are here meant: which will be fierce and furious, bring swift and sudden destruction on them, before which there is no standing, and from which there is no fleeing. It is said of Augustus Caesar, that he had fiery eyes q.

p T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 54. 1. Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Sabbat, c. 5. sect. 2. q Servius in Virgil. Aeneid. l. 8. p. 13. 55.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow - Exceedingly or perfectly white - the first suggestion to the mind of the apostle being that of wool, and then the thought occurring of its extreme whiteness resembling snow - the purest white of which the mind conceives. The comparison with wool and snow to denote anything especially white is not uncommon. See Isaiah 1:18. Prof. Stuart supposes that this means, not that his hairs were literally white, as if with age, which he says would be incongruous to one just risen from the dead, clothed with immortal youth and vigor, but that it means radiant, bright, resplendent - similar to what occurred on the transfiguration of the Saviour, Matthew 17:2. But to this it may be replied:

1. That this would not accord well with that with which his hair is compared - snow and wool, particularly the latter.
2. The usual meaning of the word is more obvious here, and not at all inappropriate.

The representation was suited to signify majesty and authority; and this would be best accomplished by the image of one who was venerable in years. Thus, in the vision that appeared to Daniel Daniel 7:9, it is said of him who is there called the “Ancient of Days,” that “his garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool.” It is not improbable that John had that representation in his eye, and that therefore he would be impressed with the conviction that this was a manifestation of a divine person. We are not necessarily to suppose that this is the form in which the Saviour always appears now in heaven, anymore than we are to suppose that God appears always in the form in which he was manifested to Isaiah Isaiah 6:1, to Daniel Daniel 7:9, or to Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu in the mount, Exodus 24:10-11. The representation is, that this form was assumed for the purpose of impressing the mind of the apostle with a sense of his majesty and glory.

And his eyes were as a flame of fire - Bright, sharp, penetrating; as if everything was light before them, or they would penetrate into the thoughts of people. Such a representation is not uncommon. We speak of a lightning glance, a fiery look, etc. In Daniel 10:6, it is said of the man who appeared to the prophet on the banks of the river Hiddekel, that his eyes were “as lamps of fire.” Numerous instances of this comparison from the Greek and Latin Classics may be seen in Wetstein, in loco.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Revelation 1:14. His head and his hairs were white like wool — This was not only an emblem of his antiquity, but it was the evidence of his glory; for the whiteness or splendour of his head and hair doubtless proceeded from the rays of light and glory which encircled his head, and darted from it in all directions. The splendour around the head was termed by the Romans nimbus, and by us a glory; and was represented round the heads of gods, deified persons, and saints. It is used in the same way through almost all the nations of the earth.

His eyes were as a flame of fire — To denote his omniscience, and the all-penetrating nature of the Divine knowledge.