Revelation 1:12Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

“In the midst of the seven lampstands was One like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and girded about the chest with a golden girdle. His head and hair were white like white wool, like snow.

“His eyes were like a flame of fire, and His feet like burnished bronze, as if refined in a furnace. His voice was like the sound of many waters.

“He held seven stars in His right hand, and from His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in its strength” (Rev 1:12-16).

In these words he indicates something of the glory received from the Father, as, for example, the head. He indicates something priestly, as the long robe, according to whose pattern Moses gave the high priest his garment.

He also indicates something pertaining to the end of the world, as the burnished bronze refined in a furnace. This signifies firmness of faith and constancy in prayer, because of the fiery conflagration coming at the end of the times.

The long robe is the garment of the Jewish high priests and kings, sewn from blue fabric. Burnished bronze is copper heated white-hot, possessing a blinding brilliance.

For it is said of Christ: “You shine from the eternal mountains.” It is permissible to suppose that this is said of the angelic powers. Again, with respect to the Father: “Send out Your light and Your truth” (Ps 42:3).

And again: “The light of Your face, O Lord, saved them.” Accordingly, those who partake of the divine light are mentioned now as lights, now as lampstands.

He calls the lampstands golden because of the honor and excellence of those who were counted worthy to receive the divine illumination.

In the Russian Synodal translation the phrase is “seven lamps.” According to the distinction between λυχνία and λύχνος, the word “lampstand” is used here to convey Oecumenius’s thought precisely.

Compare 2 Cor 4:4, “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” The light is intelligible, that is, perceived by the mind. Compare Phil 2:15-16.

The phrase about shining from the eternal mountains follows the Septuagint text. The Synodal translation reads: “You are glorious, more powerful than the mountains of prey” (Ps 75:5). Compare Ps 43:4.

His voice was like the sound of many waters, like an abundant river watering and filling every soul with truth and making it fruitful. By the seven stars, as is seen below, the Lord means the angels of the churches.

The sword coming from His mouth is the word of God, the spiritual sword that circumcises our inner man. His face shone with a brilliance not sensory, but spiritual.

This description clearly shows that the Lord Jesus appeared to John in His divine majesty, as the Almighty going forth to battle against all the powers of darkness and proclaiming victory.

The seven stars are in the hand of this mighty Man, and the seven lampstands are around Him. But does He guard only the seven churches named, abandoning those in Jerusalem, Rome, Corinth, and His present faithful throughout the whole world?

Certainly not. He said to the apostles, and in them to all believers: “I will not leave you. I will be with you to the end of the age” (cf. Mt 28:20).

Without any doubt, our star too is in His hand, and our lampstand is among the lampstands surrounding Him. The awareness of this is joy and consolation.

Yet one must also recognize the responsibility. Look into yourself and consider whether this Man knows you, and whether it is you whom He guards.

Thus, by His clothing, He appears as both High Priest and King. As for His outward form, His hair was white and indicated in Him the Ancient of Days, the eternity of Christ.

His eyes burned like those of a young man and showed by their brilliance that their possessor is not a feeble, weak man, and that He sees all things.

Christ’s feet were like molten, flowing bronze, chalcolibanus, which indicated the purity and brilliance of Christ’s walk, or manner of action.

His voice was like the sound produced by immense masses of water in their flow, and therefore testified to His might.

In His hand He held seven stars, or, as explained below, the angels of the seven churches. By this He showed that the churches are under His protection.

From His mouth came a two-edged sword, an image of the word of God; compare Eph 6:17. His face was like the sun when it shines in full brilliance, unobscured by mist and clouds.

By this, of course, the highest holiness and the life-giving power of Jesus Christ were indicated.