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Revelation 17

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The Judgment of the Great Harlot 1–6

1
And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; ​
2
with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication. ​
3
And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. ​
4
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication,
5
and upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. ​
6
And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder. ​

The Mystery of the Beast and the Woman 7–14

7
And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns.
8
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, they whose name hath not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is not, and shall come. ​
9
Here is the mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth: ​
10
and they are seven kings; the five are fallen, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a little while. ​
11
And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goeth into perdition. ​
12
And the ten horns that thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour. ​
13
These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto the beast.
14
These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they also shall overcome that are with him, called and chosen and faithful. ​

The Destruction of Babylon Foretold 15–18

15
And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. ​
16
And the ten horns which thou sawest, and the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire. ​
17
For God did put in their hearts to do his mind, and to come to one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished.
18
And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Revelation 17

Verse 1

the great whore that sitteth upon many waters — The guide is 'one of the seven angels which had the seven vials' (ch. 16). The same words introduce the other vision: 'Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife' (21:9). 'Many waters' echoes Jer 51:13, 'O thou that dwellest upon many waters', and is explained in v.15.

Verse 2

the wine of her fornication — The kings 'committed fornication' (porneuo) and the inhabitants were 'made drunk' (methuo). The cup is Babylon's in Jeremiah, 'a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken' (Jer 51:7); the wine returns in 14:8 and 18:3, where the merchants grow rich.

Verse 3

carried me away in the spirit — Apophero, to carry off. In Revelation it occurs only here and in 21:10, where John is carried to see 'the holy Jerusalem'. These are two visions and two cities, each introduced by an angel of the vials. The beast has the seven heads and ten horns of the dragon (12:3) and of the sea-beast (13:1).

Verse 5

MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT — Musterion is a secret now disclosed, and the angel promises to 'tell thee the mystery of the woman' (v.7). The name is on her 'forehead' (metopon), as the Father's name is on the foreheads of those with the Lamb (14:1). 'Babylon the great' is the name in the cry of 14:8 and 18:2.

Verse 6

drunken with the blood of the saints — The verb is that of v.2, where the earth is drunk on her wine, and here she is drunk on blood. 'Martyrs' is martus, witness, the word for Christ himself, 'the faithful witness' (1:5), and for Antipas, 'my faithful martyr' (2:13). 'Great admiration' is thauma, wonder, answered by the angel's 'Wherefore didst thou marvel?' (v.7).

Verse 8

was, and is not — This reverses the title of God, 'which is, and which was, and which is to come' (1:4). The beast rises 'out of the bottomless pit' (abyssos), where the beast of 11:7 also has its origin, and goes to 'perdition' (apoleia). Those who wonder are the ones whose names are not in the book of life, as 'all the world wondered after the beast' (13:3).

Verse 9

the mind which hath wisdom — The call repeats 13:18, 'Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding…'. The text calls the seven heads 'seven mountains' (oros) and, in v.10, kings. Scripture also calls Babylon a mountain, 'O destroying mountain… which destroyest all the earth' (Jer 51:25). Christian readers differ: many take the seven hills to be Rome, others read them as kingdoms.

Verse 10

seven kings: five are fallen, and one is — The count is given from a fixed standpoint: five 'fallen' (pipto), one 'is', one 'not yet come'. 'Must' (dei) is the necessity of 1:1, 'things which must shortly come to pass'. The chapter names none of the kings, and Christian readers have reckoned them differently.

Verse 11

the eighth, and is of the seven — Ogdoos, 'eighth', appears in Revelation only here and in 21:20. The beast is counted an eighth yet belongs to the seven, and it 'goeth into perdition' (apoleia), the word for Judas, 'the son of perdition' (John 17:12), and for 'that man of sin' (2 Thess 2:3).

Verse 12

the ten horns… ten kings — Daniel's vision of the fourth kingdom has the same: 'the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise' (Dan 7:24). They have no kingdom yet, and their power with the beast lasts 'one hour' (hora), the word of 18:10: 'in one hour is thy judgment come'.

Verse 14

Lord of lords, and King of kings — The Lamb 'shall overcome' (nikao), the verb of his own word, 'even as I also overcame' (3:21). The titles appear on his vesture in 19:16 and in 1 Tim 6:15. 'Called, and chosen, and faithful' (kletos, eklektos, pistos) are those 'with him', the called of Rom 8:30.

Verse 15

peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues — The angel interprets the 'many waters' of v.1 with four words (laos, ochlos, ethnos, glossa), the same kinds of people out of whom the Lamb redeemed his own, 'out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation' (5:9). The woman sits over them, as Babylon did in Jer 51:13.

Verse 16

make her desolate and naked — 'Desolate' is eremoo, built on eremos, the 'wilderness' of v.3; the verb is rendered 'come to nought' in 18:17 and 'made desolate' in 18:19. The penalty matches the law for a priest's daughter who plays the whore, 'burnt with fire' (Lev 21:9), and Ezekiel's, 'discover thy nakedness… burn thine houses with fire' (Ezek 16:37, 41).

Verse 18

that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth — Literally 'which hath a kingdom over' (echo, basileia), in the present tense. The 'kings of the earth' are those of v.2. The city is called Babylon in 16:19 and 18:10; the book's other city is 'the holy Jerusalem' (21:10).