Revelation 17:3

in the spirit Cf. Revelation 1:10; Revelation 4:2; Revelation 21:10.

into the wilderness In Isaiah 21:1 the situation of the ancient Babylon is apparently conceived as in a desert: and in fact Babylonia has been reduced to one, despite its unsurpassed natural fertility. It maybe relevant to compare the present desolation of the once populous Campagna of Rome.

a scarlet coloured beast Undoubtedly the same as the Beast of Revelation 13:1-8, though there his colour was not mentioned. It is symbolic (compare that of the dragon, Revelation 12:3), as being the colour of blood: perhaps also suggestive of the imperial purple.

full of names of blasphemy So Revelation 13:1, but here the blasphemies are even more all-pervading. The construction in the Greek, according to the best text, is irregular and peculiar, but cannot alter the sense.