Revelation 17:1-18 NIV

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:7

And the angel said unto me ,.... The same as in Revelation 17:1 wherefore didst thou marvel ? which is not said by way of reproof, as questions of this kind sometimes are, Acts 3:12 for John did not wonder at her with a sinful admiration, so as to have her in great veneration, and to do homage and worship to her, as the inhabitants of the world wondered after the beast, Revelation 13:3 but his admiration was an amazement, or stupefaction of mind, joined with indignation at her; and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:8

The beast which thou sawest was, and is not ,.... It is added at the end of the verse where the same description is given, "and yet is"; this beast is to be understood not of the devil, who "was" the god of this world, "is not", being cast out by Christ, and yet is in being; for he, the dragon, is distinguished from this beast, and indeed from him the beast has his seat, power, and authority, Revelation 13:1 nor any particular emperor, as Domitian, a cruel and savage one, who was in power... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:9

And here is the mind which hath wisdom ,.... This refers either to what goes before, concerning the beast, his various states, rise, and ruin, and his admirers; or to what follows after, concerning the meaning of his heads and horns, or to both; and the sense is, that notwithstanding the interpretation of these things by the angel, yet it requires a large share of wisdom to understand them; and here is enough to exercise the mind that is ever so well stored with knowledge and understanding;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:10

And there are seven kings ,.... The Arabic version renders it, "who are seven kings"; and it should be rendered, as it is by the Vulgate Latin, Syriac and Ethiopic versions, "and they are seven kings"; that is, the seven heads signify seven kings also, for they have in them a double representation, first of seven mountains, and then of seven kings; by which are meant not seven ages of the world, as from Adam to Noah; from Noah to Abraham; from Abraham to David; from David to the Babylonish... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:11

And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth ,.... That was in embryo in John's time, and yet was not come to its power and grandeur, is the eighth king; and this is the Papacy, which takes the name of the beast, because it is the head of the beast, and the only surviving head of the beast, or Roman empire, now become Papal: and is of the seven ; one of the seven heads, and the last of them, and is an idolatrous one, as the rest were, requiring and encouraging the worship of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:12

And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings ,.... Not ten Christian emperors, which are reckoned up by Brightman from Constantine to Theodosius; for these did not reign with the beast, or give their kingdoms to him, and much less did they make war with the Lamb; they are rather the angels of Michael, that fought for him, the Lamb, against the dragon, and his angels, Revelation 12:7 nor ten kings that will rise up and divide the Roman empire between them, towards the end of the world,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:13

These have one mind ,.... The princes of these kingdoms, and their subjects, become, in time, of one religion; first they were Arians, and then Papists; and for a long series of time there was great unity between them, with respect to religious sentiments, being zealously attached to the church of Rome, its principles and practices: and shall give their power and strength unto the beast ; the Papal antichrist, the eighth king, and seventh head; to him they have given power to exercise... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:14

These shall make war with the Lamb ,.... The Lord Jesus Christ, so often spoken of in this book under this character, Revelation 5:6 . And this war is not to be understood of a war with him personally, or of that last and decisive, battle at Armageddon, in which will be the kings of the earth; but of a war with his members, of their persecuting of the saints, and faithful witnesses of Christ in all ages, within their jurisdictions, being instigated to it by the beast, under whose influence... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:15

And he saith unto me ,.... That is, the angel, who proposed to give John the interpretation of the vision, he went on with it as follows: the waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth ; see Gill on Revelation 17:1 , are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues ; denoting the vast multitude of people, of which the several kingdoms, of divers languages, consist, which belong to the jurisdiction of Rome Papal: it is an eastern way of speaking, and is particularly used... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:16

And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast ,.... Revelation 17:3 and which are interpreted of ten kings, Revelation 17:12 . The Alexandrian copy, the Complutensian edition, and the Syriac Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, read, "and the beast"; and then the sense is, that the ten kings and states in particular, who have defended antichrist, and the whole empire in general, which has bore up and supported the whore of Rome: these shall hate the whore ; her principles and... read more

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:9

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:10

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:11

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:12

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:13

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:14

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:15

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Revelation 17:16

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