XVII. This chapter and the following give the more minute account of great Babylon. We have had mention of her before in general terms (Revelation 14:8; Revelation 16:9) as the metropolis of the wild beast’s empire, the great city hostile to Jerusalem, the city of the saints. The Evangelist is now... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE CAME... — One of the vial-bearing angels summons the seer, saying, _Hither I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters_ (or, _the many waters_ — comp. Revelation 17:15). _The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and they who inhabit th... [ Continue Reading ]
SO HE CARRIED.... — Better, _And he carried me away into a wilderness in spirit: and I saw a woman sitting upon a wild beast of scarlet colour, teeming with names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns._ We recognise the wild beast as that described in Revelation 13. Now the wild beast carri... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE WOMAN WAS ARRAYED... — Better, _arrayed_ (or, _clad_)_ in purple_ (the colour of the robe which was in mockery put on our Lord — John 19:2) _and scarlet, gilded_ (not “decked”) _with gold,_ &c. Her appearance is one of imperial splendour. (Comp. the description of Tyre in Ezekiel 28:13.) HAV... [ Continue Reading ]
AND UPON HER FOREHEAD... — It was usual with harlots to wear their name on the forehead; but the name here is more than a name. Like the name impressed upon the foreheads of the saints, it is “the expression of her nature” — “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINAT... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HERE IS THE MIND... — Better, _Here_ (omit “and”) _is the mind,_ &c. Attention is asked to the fuller explanation which follows. It needs true wisdom to behold many incidents of the world’s history and not find stumbling-blocks in them (Psalms 73:2; Psalms 119:165). _The seven heads are seven mo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE ARE SEVEN KINGS.... — Better. _They are seven kings: five_ (not “are fallen,” but _fell, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he shall come, he must continue a short time._ It has been debated whether these kings are individual sovereigns, or forms of government, or kingdoms The... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE BEAST... — Better, _And the wild beast which was, and is not, even he himself is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into destruction._ The wild beast himself, forming as it were an eighth, has to be reckoned with. There are seven heads; when these fall no eighth head will rise, but t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE TEN HORNS... — The explanation of the ten horns. They are the kings, not necessarily, as we have seen, personal kings, but rather kingdoms or nationalities, who received not a kingdom as yet; as they are on the seventh head, the hour of their power is not yet, but comes at the fall of the si... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID UNTO ME... — Better, _And he_ (_i.e.,_ the angel mentioned in Revelation 17:1) _saith, &c._ The waters on which the harlot sits are explained as “multitudes.” We have thus a key to the imagery employed here and elsewhere (Revelation 13:1). The wild beast and the harlot both draw much of... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE TEN HORNS... — Translate, _And the ten horns which thou sawest_ (not, as in English version, “on the beast,” but), _and the wild beast, these shall hate the harlot._ The harlot was seen in splendid apparel riding on the wild beast; now the wild beast, in the day of the seventh head, turns wi... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR GOD HATH PUT... — Better, _For God gave it into their hearts to do his mind, and_ (_to do_)_ one mind, and to give their kingdom, &c._ The kings give their kingdom to the wild beast; their authority and might is used for him, whether in making war upon the Lamb (Revelation 17:14) or in casting d... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE WOMAN WHICH THOU SAWEST... — Read, _And the woman whom thou sawest is_ (not “that,” but) _the great city, which has a kingdom over the kings of the earth._ With these words the angel’s explanation of “the mystery of the woman” (see Revelation 17:7) ends. The harlot is a city; the Babylon of... [ Continue Reading ]