Revelation 17:18

18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."

Revelation 17:18 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 17:18

And the woman which thou sawest
( Revelation 17:3 ) as there described,

is that great city,
often mentioned in this book; great Babylon, the city of Rome, ( Revelation 11:8 ) ( 14:8 ) ( 16:19 ) which reigneth over the kings of the earth; which then reigned in John's time over the kings of the earth; and this clearly points out the city of Rome, for there was no other city then, but that, which reigned over the kings of the earth; that was then the metropolis of the Roman empire, to which the whole world was subject; and therefore it is called all the world, ( Luke 2:1 ) and since, all the kings of the empire have been under the jurisdiction of Rome Papal. It was formerly called Urbs Regum, a "city of kings" F26, either for the reason in the text, or because its inhabitants looked like kings.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 Justin. l. 18. c. 2.

Revelation 17:18 In-Context

16 The ten horns and the beast you saw will hate the prostitute. They will take everything she has and leave her naked. They will eat her body and burn her with fire.
17 God made the ten horns want to carry out his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until what God has said comes about.
18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.