BibleTools
Revelation 17:9
Compare all

The Meaning of the Woman and the Beast

7 But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the1 mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.  
8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and awill ascend out of the bottomless pit and bgo to perdition. And those who cdwell on the earth dwill marvel, ewhose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and2 yet is.  
9 a“Here is the mind which has wisdom: bThe seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.  
10 There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must acontinue a short time.  
11 The abeast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to1 perdition.  
12 a“The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast.  
13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.
14 aThese will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will bovercome them, cfor He is Lord of lords and King of kings; dand those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”  
15 Then he said to me, a“The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, bare peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.  
16 And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, athese will hate the harlot, make her bdesolate cand naked, eat her flesh and dburn her with fire.  
Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
<< Revelation 17:8   Revelation 17:10 >>


Revelation 17:9

Compare Revelation 13:18; Daniel 12:10, where similarly spiritual discernment is put forward as needed in order to understand the symbolical prophecy.

seven heads and seven mountains—The connection between mountains and kings must be deeper than the mere outward fact to which incidental allusion is made, that Rome (the then world city) is on seven hills (whence heathen Rome had a national festival called Septimontium, the feast of the seven-hilled city [PLUTARCH]; and on the imperial coins, just as here, she is represented as a woman seated on seven hills. Coin of Vespasian, described by CAPTAIN SMYTH [Roman Coins, p. 310; ACKERMAN, 1, p. 87]). The seven heads can hardly be at once seven kings or kingdoms (Revelation 17:10), and seven geographical mountains. The true connection is, as the head is the prominent part of the body, so the mountain is prominent in the land. Like "sea" and "earth"and "waters . . . peoples" (Revelation 17:15), so "mountains" have a symbolical meaning, namely, prominent seats of power. Especially such as are prominent hindrances to the cause of God (Psalms 68:16-17; Isaiah 40:4; Isaiah 41:15; Isaiah 49:11; Ezekiel 35:2); especially Babylon (which geographically was in a plain, but spiritually is called a destroying mountain, Jeremiah 51:25), in majestic contrast to which stands Mount Zion, "the mountain of the Lord's house" (Isaiah 2:2), and the heavenly mount; Revelation 21:10, "a great and high mountain . . . and that great city, the holy Jerusalem." So in Daniel 2:35, the stone becomes a mountain—Messiah's universal kingdom supplanting the previous world kingdoms. As nature shadows forth the great realities of the spiritual world, so seven-hilled Rome is a representative of the seven-headed world power of which the dragon has been, and is the prince. The "seven kings" are hereby distinguished from the "ten kings" (Revelation 17:12): the former are what the latter are not, "mountains," great seats of the world power. The seven universal God-opposed monarchies are Egypt (the first world power which came into collision with God's people,) Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Medo-Persia, Rome, the Germanic-Slavonic empire (the clay of the fourth kingdom mixed with its iron in Nebuchadnezzar's image, a fifth material, Daniel 2:33-34, Daniel 2:42-43, symbolizing this last head). These seven might seem not to accord with the seven heads in Daniel 7:4-7, one head on the first beast (Babylon), one on the second (Medo-Persia), four on the third (Greece; namely, Egypt, Syria, Thrace with Bithynia, and Greece with Macedon): but Egypt and Greece are in both lists. Syria answers to Assyria (from which the name Syria is abbreviated), and Thrace with Bithynia answers to the Gothic-Germanic-Slavonic hordes which, pouring down on Rome from the North, founded the Germanic-Slavonic empire. The woman sitting on the seven hills implies the Old and New Testament Church conforming to, and resting on, the world power, that is, on all the seven world kingdoms. Abraham and Isaac dissembling as to their wives through fear of the kings of Egypt foreshadowed this. Compare Eze. 16:1-63; Eze. 23:1-49, on Israel's whoredoms with Egypt, Assyria, Babylon; and Matthew 7:24; Matthew 24:10-12, Matthew 24:23-26, on the characteristics of the New Testament Church's harlotry, namely, distrust, suspicion, hatred, treachery, divisions into parties, false doctrine.




Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Revelation 17:9:

Revelation 17:3

 

<< Revelation 17:8   Revelation 17:10 >>

DISCLAIMER: Church of the Great God (CGG) provides these resources to aid the individual in studying the Bible. However, it is up to the individual to "prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21). The content of these resources does not necessarily reflect the views of CGG. They are provided for information purposes only.

Join 137,059+ readers

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning

Consistent Bible study is hard to start.

The Berean gives you the starting point: one scripture and a focused commentary in your inbox each morning — read it in minutes, or go as deep as you like.

Free, daily, and spam-free. We never share your address. Unsubscribe anytime.

Close
E-mail This Page