And there came one of the seven angels, saying, Come hither — This relation concerning the great whore, and that concerning the wife of the Lamb, Revelation 21:9, have the same introduction, in token of the exact opposition between them. I will show thee the judgment of the great whore — Which is no... [ Continue Reading ]
With whom the kings of the earth — Both ancient and modern, for many ages. Have committed fornication — By partaking of her idolatry and various wickedness. And the inhabitants of the earth — The common people. Have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication — No wine can more thoroughly intox... [ Continue Reading ]
And he carried me away — In the vision. Into a wilderness — The campagna di Roma, the country round about Rome, is now a wilderness, compared to what it was once. And I saw a woman — Both the scripture and other writers frequently represent a city under this emblem. Sitting upon a scarlet wild beast... [ Continue Reading ]
And the woman was arrayed — With the utmost pomp and magnificence. In purple and scarlet — These were the colours of the imperial habit: the purple, in times of peace; and the scarlet, in times of war. Having in her hand a golden cup — Like the ancient Babylon, Jeremiah 51:7. Full of abominations —... [ Continue Reading ]
And on her forehead a name written — Whereas the saints have the name of God and the Lamb on their foreheads. Mystery — This very word was inscribed on the front of the Pope's mitre, till some of the Reformers took public notice of it. Babylon the great — Benedict XIII., in his proclamation of the j... [ Continue Reading ]
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints — So that Rome may well be called, "The slaughter — house of the martyrs." She hath shed much Christian blood in every age; but at length she is even drunk with it, at the time to which this vision refers. The witnesses of Jesus — The preachers... [ Continue Reading ]
I will tell thee the mystery — The hidden meaning of this.... [ Continue Reading ]
The beast which thou sawest (namely, Revelation 17:3) was, &c. — This is a very observable and punctual description of the beast, Revelation 17:8, Revelation 17:10. His whole duration is here divided into three periods, which are expressed in a fourfold manner. He, 1. Was; 2 And is not; 3. And will... [ Continue Reading ]
Here is the mind that hath wisdom — Only those who are wise will understand this. The seven heads are seven hills.... [ Continue Reading ]
And they are seven kings — Anciently there were royal palaces on all the seven Roman bills. These were the Palatine, Capitoline, Coelian, Exquiline, Viminal, Quirinal, Aventine hills. But the prophecy respects the seven hills at the time of the beast, when the Palatine was deserted and the Vatican i... [ Continue Reading ]