Revelation 17:1

And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

Ver. 1. And there came] This and the following Chapter s are set for the explanation of the dark and difficult passages in the former, in the three last vials especially.

One of the seven] Probably the seventh.

And talked with me] ελαλησε λαλια, familiarly as the Samaritess with her countrymen, John 4:42, or as the master with his scholar.

I will show unto thee] Thou shalt not only be an ear but an eye witness.

" Segnius irritant animos demissa per aures,

Quam quae sunt oculis commissa fidelibus. "

Horat.

The judgment] The damnation of her; the destruction is reserved to the next chapter.

Of the great whore] The whore of Babylon, more infamous and notorious than any Thais, Lais, Phryne, Messalina, Orestilla (cuius praeter formam nihil unquam bonus laudavit, Sallust), or Pope Joan, of whom Funccius the chronologer speaketh thus; Ego Funccius non dubito quin divinitus ita sit permissum ut femina fieret Pontifex eadem meretrix, &c.; I doubt not but that God therefore permitted a notorious harlot to be advanced to the popedom (and this about the very time when the popes were most busy in subjecting the kings of the earth, and making them their vassals), that he might point out to men this whore here mentioned, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication.