Revelation 17:1-11

Context

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

17:1 Then¹ one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke to me.² “Come,” he said, “I will show you the condemnation and punishment³ of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, 17:2 with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality and the earth’s inhabitants got drunk with the wine of her immorality.”⁴ 17:3 So⁵ he carried me away in the Spirit⁶ to a wilderness,⁷ and there⁸ I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 17:4 Now⁹ the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet clothing,¹⁰ and adorned with gold,¹¹ precious stones, and pearls. She held¹² in her hand a golden cup filled with detestable things and unclean things from her sexual immorality.¹³ 17:5 On¹⁴ her forehead was written a name, a mystery:¹⁵ “Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.” 17:6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of those who testified to Jesus.¹⁶ I¹⁷ was greatly astounded¹⁸ when I saw her. 17:7 But¹⁹ the angel said to me, “Why are you astounded? I will interpret²⁰ for you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with the seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 17:8 The beast you saw was, and is not, but is about to come up from the abyss²¹ and then go to destruction. The²² inhabitants of the earth – all those whose names have not been written in the book of life since the foundation of the world – will be astounded when they see that²³ the beast was, and is not, but is to come. 17:9 (This requires²⁴ a mind that has wisdom.) The seven heads are seven mountains²⁵ the woman sits on. They are also seven kings: 17:10 five have fallen; one is,²⁶ and the other has not yet come, but whenever he does come, he must remain for only a brief time. 17:11 The²⁷ beast that was, and is not, is himself an eighth king and yet is one of the seven, and is going to destruction.

[17:1] ¹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[17:1] ²tn Grk “with me.” The translation “with me” implies that John was engaged in a dialogue with the one speaking to him (e.g., Jesus or an angel) when in reality it was a one-sided conversation, with John doing all the listening. For this reason, μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ (met’ emou, “with me”) was translated as “to me.”

[17:1] ³tn Here one Greek term, κρίμα (krima), has been translated by the two English terms “condemnation” and “punishment.” See BDAG 567 s.v. 4.b, “mostly in an unfavorable sense, of the condemnatory verdict and sometimes the subsequent punishment itself 2 Pt 2:3; Jd 4…τὸ κ. τῆς πόρνης the condemnation and punishment of the prostitute Rv 17:1.”

[17:2] ⁴tn This is the same word translated “sexual immorality” earlier in the verse, but here the qualifier “sexual” has not been repeated for stylistic reasons.

[17:3] ⁵tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s invitation to witness the fate of the prostitute.

[17:3] ⁶tn Or “in the spirit.” “Spirit” could refer either to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit, but in either case John was in “a state of spiritual exaltation best described as a trance” (R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 75).

[17:3] ⁷tn Or “desert.”

[17:3] ⁸tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[17:4] ⁹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the detailed description of the woman, which is somewhat parenthetical in nature.

[17:4] ¹⁰tn The word “clothing” is supplied to clarify that the words “purple” and “scarlet” refer to cloth or garments rather than colors.

[17:4] ¹¹tn Grk “gilded with gold” (an instance of semantic reinforcement, see L&N 49.29).

[17:4] ¹²tn Grk “pearls, having in her hand.” Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[17:4] ¹³tc Several mss (including 1611 1854 2053 Ï^K pc) read “sexual immorality on/of the earth” (πορνείας τῆς γῆς, porneia" th" gh") instead of “her sexual immorality.” Other mss (א sy^h** [co]) read “her sexual immorality and the earth’s” (πορνείας αὐτῆς καὶ τῆς γῆς, porneia" aujth" kai th" gh"). The translation is a rendering of πορνείας αὐτῆς, found in {A 1006 2344 al}. It seems that the first reading “sexuality immorality on/of the earth” was a scribal mistake in which letters may have been confused (auths would have been read as thsghs), or was perhaps influenced by the presence of “of the world” (τῆς γῆς) at the end of v. 5. The original wording seems to be “her sexual immorality”; codex א has conflated the two readings.

[17:5] ¹⁴tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:5] ¹⁵tn Some translations consider the word μυστήριον (musthrion, “mystery”) a part of the name written (“Mystery Babylon the Great,” so KJV, NIV), but the gender of both ὄνομα (onoma, “name”) and μυστήριον are neuter, while the gender of “Babylon” is feminine. This strongly suggests that μυστήριον should be understood as an appositive to ὄνομα (“a name, i.e., a mystery”).

[17:6] ¹⁶tn Or “of the witnesses to Jesus.” Here the genitive ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou) is taken as an objective genitive; Jesus is the object of their testimony.

[17:6] ¹⁷tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:6] ¹⁸tn Grk “I marveled a great marvel” (an idiom for great astonishment).

[17:7] ¹⁹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[17:7] ²⁰tn Grk “I will tell you,” but since what follows is the angel’s interpretation of the vision, “interpret for you” is the preferred translation here.

[17:8] ²¹tn On this term BDAG 2 s.v. ἄβυσσος 2 states, “netherworld, abyss, esp. the abode of the dead Ro 10:7 (Ps 106:26) and of demons Lk 8:31; dungeon where the devil is kept Rv 20:3; abode of the θηρίον, the Antichrist 11:7; 17:8; of ᾿Αβαδδών (q.v.), the angel of the underworld 9:11…φρέαρ τῆς ἀ. 9:1f; capable of being sealed 9:1; 20:1, 3.”

[17:8] ²²tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:8] ²³tn Some translations take the ὅτι (Joti) here as causal: “because he was, and is not, but is to come” (so NIV, NRSV), but it is much more likely that the subject of the ὅτι clause has been assimilated into the main clause: “when they see the beast, that he was…” = “when they see that the beast was” (so BDAG 732 s.v. ὅτι 1.f, where Rev 17:8 is listed).

[17:9] ²⁴tn Grk “Here is the mind that has wisdom.”

[17:9] ²⁵tn It is important to note that the height of “mountains” versus “hills” or other topographical terms is somewhat relative. In terms of Palestinian topography, Mount Tabor (traditionally regarded as the mount of transfiguration) is some 1,800 ft (550 m) above sea level, while the Mount of Olives is only some 100 ft (30 m) higher than Jerusalem.

[17:10] ²⁶tn That is, one currently reigns.

[17:11] ²⁷tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.