Revelation 17:7

7 And the angell sayde vnto me: wherfore mervayllyst thou? I wyll shewe the ye mistery of the woman and of the best that berith her which hath seven heddes and ten hornes.

Revelation 17:7 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 17:7

And the angel said unto me
The same as in ( Revelation 17:1 )

wherefore didst thou marvel?
which is not said by way of reproof, as questions of this kind sometimes are, ( Acts 3:12 ) for John did not wonder at her with a sinful admiration, so as to have her in great veneration, and to do homage and worship to her, as the inhabitants of the world wondered after the beast, ( Revelation 13:3 ) ( 17:8 ) but his admiration was an amazement, or stupefaction of mind, joined with indignation at her; and this is said by the angel to lead on to what he had to declare unto him.

I will tell thee the mystery of the woman;
that is, what is mysteriously or mystically designed by her; for till it was made known to John by the angel, it was a mystery to him; and when it was revealed, the interpretation is given in such an obscure manner, that it is only understood by the mind that has spiritual wisdom; and still remains a mystery to carnal men, just as the Gospel itself does. The hidden meaning of this woman, or the mystery of her, is told by the angel in ( Revelation 17:18 ) .

And of the beast that carried her, which hath the seven heads, and
ten horns;
the mystical sense of the beast, its heads and horns, and which is also delivered in a mysterious manner, is given in ( Revelation 17:8-12 ) .

Revelation 17:7 In-Context

5 And in her forhed was a name wrytten a mistery gret Babylon the mother of whordome and abominacions of the erth.

6 And I sawe the wyfe dronke with the bloud of saynctes and with the bloud of the witnesses of Iesu. And when I sawe her I wondred with grett mervayle.

7 And the angell sayde vnto me: wherfore mervayllyst thou? I wyll shewe the ye mistery of the woman and of the best that berith her which hath seven heddes and ten hornes.

8 The best that thou seest was and is not and shall ascende out of the bottomlesse pytt and shall goo into perdicion and they that dwell on the erth shall wondre (whose names are not wrytten in the boke of lyfe from ye begynnynge of the worlde) when they beholde the best that was and ys nott.

9 And here ys a mynde that hath wisdome. The seven heddes are seven mountaynes on which the woman sytteth: