Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
Upon her forehead a name written (epi to metwpon authv onoma gegrammenon). Roman harlots wore a label with their names on their brows (Seneca, Rhet. I. 2. 7; Juvenal VI. 122f.), and so here. In Revelation 19:16 Christ has a name on his garments and on his thigh, while in Revelation 14:1; Revelation 22:4 the redeemed have the name of God on their foreheads. There is undoubtedly a contrast between this woman here and the woman in chapter Rev. 12.
Mystery (musthrion). Either in apposition with onoma or as part of the inscription on her forehead. In either case the meaning is the same, that the name Babylon is to be interpreted mystically or spiritually (cf. pneumatikwv Revelation 11:8) for Rome.
The Mother of the Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth (h Mhthr twn Pornwn kai twn Bdelugmatwn thv Ghv). The Metropolis of the Empire is the mother of harlotry and of the world's idolatries. Charles quotes Tacitus (Ann. XV. 44) about Rome as the city "quo cuncta undique atrocia aut pudenda confluunt celebranturque}."
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Revelation 17:5:
Revelation 3:12
Revelation 7:3
Revelation 11:8
Revelation 14:8
Revelation 19:12
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