Revelation 17 KJV
The Woman on the Beast
Revelation Chapter 17: The Woman on the Beast
The beast's self-description as the one that 'was, and is not, and yet is' parodies God's title in Revelation 1:8, portraying it as a demonic counterfeit of divine eternity.
1nd there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
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Did You Know?
The beast's self-description as the one that 'was, and is not, and yet is' parodies God's title in Revelation 1:8, portraying it as a demonic counterfeit of divine eternity.
The woman's golden cup filled with abominations echoes the temple vessels carried into Babylonian captivity, but here inverted to indict a corrupt religious-political alliance rather than foreign conquerors.
By calling the seven heads both 'seven mountains' and 'seven kings' with an eighth that 'is of the seven,' the text fuses Roman topography with the Nero redivivus legend circulating in the first century.
The ten horns' sudden hatred for the woman they once supported illustrates the self-consuming logic of evil coalitions, where the beast ultimately devours its own collaborator.
The Levitical penalty of burning for a priest's daughter who becomes a harlot (Leviticus 21:9) supplies the precise imagery for the woman's fiery destruction, framing her as a false sacerdotal figure.