Revelation 17:1-8

The Judgment of the Great Prostitute Babylon

1 And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters,

2 with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who live on the earth became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality."

3 And he carried me away into the wilderness in the Spirit, and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns.

4 And the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand full of detestable things and the unclean things of her sexual immorality.

5 And on her forehead a name [was] written, a mystery: "Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth."

6 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. And {I was greatly astonished when I saw her}.

7 And the angel said to me, "Why are you astonished? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that has the seven heads and the ten horns that carries her.

8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is going to come up from the abyss, and he is going to destruction. And those who live on the earth, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be astonished [when they] see the beast that was, and is not, and will be present.

Revelation 17:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION 17

This chapter contains a vision of a beast, and a woman on it, and the interpretation of it; one of the seven angels that had the seven vials proposes to John to show him the whore of Babylon, the Jezabel before spoken of, who sits on many waters, with whom the kings and inhabitants of the earth have committed fornication, being intoxicated by her, Re 17:1,2 in order to which he carries him into the wilderness, and there he sees a woman, who is described by the beast she sat on, of a scarlet colour, full of blasphemous names, with seven heads and ten horns; by her array, in purple and scarlet, decked with gold, pearls, and precious stones; by a cup she had in her hand, full of abominable filth; by a name written on her forehead, given at large, and by the condition she was in, drunk with the blood of the saints; which sight filled John with great wonder and admiration, Re 17:3-6 wherefore, to remove his astonishment, the angel proposes to explain to him the mystery of the woman, and the beast she sat on, Re 17:7 and first the mystery of the beast is explained, by its several states, past, present, and to come; by its original and end, ascending out of the bottomless pit, and going into perdition; by the veneration it would be had in by the reprobate part of the world, Re 17:8 its seven heads are interpreted of the seven mountains on which the city of Rome, designed by the woman, stood, and of seven kings, or forms of government, five of which had ceased, and one was in being in John's time, another was to come, which should not continue long, and the beast would be an eighth, Re 17:9-11 its ten horns are explained of ten kings, described by their kingdom they had not as yet received, and which they should have one hour with the beast; by their agreement in mind and conduct; and by their war with the Lamb, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, and those that are with him, the called, chosen, and faithful, and the issue of it, Re 17:12-14 the waters on which the whore sat are interpreted of a multitude of people, nations, and tongues, Re 17:15 the hatred and destruction of her by the ten kings, and the manner of it, are declared, Re 17:16 which is owing to the will of God, who put it into their hearts to agree to give their kingdom to the beast till the prophecies and promises were fulfilled respecting this matter, and now to destroy the whore that sat upon it, Re 17:17 which woman is explained of the great city of Rome, that reigns over the kings of the earth, Re 17:18.

Footnotes

• [a] Or "in the spirit," referring to the human spirit
• [b] *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("see") which is understood as temporal