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Revelation 19 draws on Daniel 10 by using the image of eyes like blazing fire, first used to describe a radiant heavenly figure. In Revelation, this detail is applied to Jesus as the figure leading the final battle.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Daniel 10:6
Septuagint
4 And it happened on the twenty-fourth day of the first month that I was on the bank of the great river, which is the Tigris. 5 And I raised my eyes and looked, and look, there was a person clothed in fine linen and girded with fine linen on his loins and there was light from the middle of him. 6 And his mouth was like the sea, and his face was like an appearance of gleaming light, and his eyes were like torches of fire, and his arms and feet were like gleaming bronze, and the sound of his talking was like the sound of a roaring crowd. 7 And I, Daniel, saw this great vision, but the people who were with me did not see this vision. And great fear fell over them, and they fled in haste. 8 And I was left alone, and I saw this great vision, and there was not left in me any strength. And look, my spirit turned in me, into a state of distress, and I had no strength.
Revelation 19:12
New Testament
10 So I threw myself down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “Do not do this! I am only a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony about Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” 11 Then I saw heaven opened and here came a white horse! The one riding it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice he judges and goes to war. 12 His eyes are like a fiery flame and there are many diadem crowns on his head. He has a name written that no one knows except himself. 13 He is dressed in clothing dipped in blood, and he is called the Word of God. 14 The armies that are in heaven, dressed in white, clean, fine linen, were following him on white horses.
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Notes and References
"... 'Now his eyes were like a brilliant flame' ... The conjunction 'and, but, now,' occurs just seven times in Revelation (1:14; 2:5, 16, 24; 10:2; 9:12; 21:8). It is twice used for emphasis when the author begins a description of the appearance of the exalted Christ, here and in 1:14. In 21:8 it is used as an adversative particle to introduce the fate of various categories of sinner in contrast to those who are victorious. The phrase 'like a brilliant flame,' occurs in 1:14 and 2:18 as well as here in 19:12 and is an allusion to the Aramaic phrase from LXX / Theodotion Daniel 10:6, 'like flaming torches' where it is part of a more extensive description of a supernatural being, as in Revelation 19:12 ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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